Words actually spin around and disappear from your field of vision when you are reading – or trying to read – and it is so distracting that it’s hard to get the information into your head as you’re reading. It’s also really hard to get your thoughts on to paper.

It’s unclear what actually causes Dyslexia. Therefore, trying to fix the problem is difficult and it still has all the experts disagreeing over the best approach to fix the disorder:

• Some say it’s caused by the skull not meeting at birth, therefore the left and right sides of the brain don’t communicate normally.
• Some believe this can be adjusted by physiotherapy.
• Others believe it’s the eyes that cause it, hence the “amazing” rose coloured glasses.
• It has also been mentioned that the cause could be environmental, social, or inherited.

If these are all possible, doesn't it make sense to consider a variety of approaches in working out what works best on an individual basis? 

Maybe most importantly, we need to make some changes to our education system and introduce more flexibility and acceptance of the fact that people learn in different ways, and they should be allowed to learn in the way that works best for them.

Not being able to read as easily as others causes enormous frustration, often resulting in disruptive behaviour, acting out, and these days, frequently being labelled as having “ADD”. But what a lot of people do not understand is that all this “unacceptable” behavior often stems from the initial frustration of not being able to read “normally”.  

Currently, the education system spends little or no time or resources to train teachers how to work with students who have learning difficulties.  As a result, an already misunderstood group of students have their problems made even more complex in the early stages of their education.  

The spin-offs of this can be extremely negative and a nightmare to control – but they don’t have to be.

Adopting a different approach – as John O’Shea was shown – can make all the difference.