Thread by @GaabLab

Today, myth #9 for #DyslexiaAwarenessMonth: "Struggling with learning to read is only affecting your academic outcome, but has no influence on your mental health!" NOT TRUE! Difficulty with reading at grade-level can lead to low self-esteem, feelings of shame, inadequacy...1/6

Difficulty with learning to read can lead to helplessness, frustration often leading to a variety of mental health problems and individuals with #dyslexia, #reading impairments or other learning disabilities show higher rates of #depression and #anxiety 2/6

Individuals with #dyslexia /#reading impairments are often perceived by others as being ‘lazy’ or as those who ‘do not try enough'. Teachers/parents/peers often misinterpret the ‘dyslexic’ child’s struggle as negative attitude or poor behavior[Saracoglu, 1989; Riddick,1999] 3/6

Negative experiences leave children with learning disabilities vulnerable to feelings of shame failure, inadequacy, helplessness, depression & loneliness [e.g.; Valas et al., 1999] which can lead to possible anti-social behavior with long-standing consequences [Baker, 2007]. 4/6

Without proper remediation, it's less likely that children with learning disabilities such as #dyslexia will complete high school [Marder, 1992], join programs of higher education [Quinn, 2001], & increased probability they will enter the juvenile justice system [Wagner, 1993]5/6

Want to read more about the relationship between #dyslexia & #reading impairments & mental health? Take a look at u.org/2AMJRrv by @UnderstoodOrg featuring @FumikoHoeft and also today's article in the @nytimes "At Risk in the Culture of ‘Normal’" nyti.ms/2p0SACR