Do Emotional Disorders cause Dyslexia in Children?

Although dyslexia disorder is not an emotional problem, its frustrating nature can cause serious anxiety issues, anger problems, low confidence, and depression. Studies show dyslexia is caused by biological factors, not family or emotional issues.

The majority of dyslexic kids are happy and adaptable. They start showing emotional issues when early reading instruction does not match their learning style. Over the years, the frustration grows as classmates outperform dyslexic students in reading and learning skills.

Dyslexia Disorder is frustrating

The inability to meet expectations is the main source of anger in children with dyslexia. Parents and instructors notice a bright child who is not learning to read and write. The pain of failing to meet other people’s expectations is surpassed by dyslexic children’s inability to achieve their goals. This is particularly true for people who deal with their anxiety issues by developing perfectionistic expectations. They are raised to believe that making a mistake is “terrible.”

Learning disability, by definition means that children with a learning disorder will make many “careless” mistakes. This is highly frustrating to them, as it makes them feel incapable.

Emotional and Social Issues Related to Dyslexia Disorder

Anxiety Issues

The most common emotional symptom reported by dyslexic people is anxiety. Children with dyslexia become fearful and lose confidence because of their frustration and confusion in the classroom. It can be extremely anxiety-provoking for them to enter new situations because they may anticipate failure.
People with anxiety avoid things that scare them. There is no exception for dyslexics. However, this avoidance behavior is often misinterpreted as laziness by their parents and instructors. The dyslexic children’s avoidance to participate in various school activities like homework is more closely associated with anxiety and confusion than with apathy.

Anger Problem

Many emotional issues that dyslexia disorder causes occur as a result of frustration with school or social situations. Professionals have observed that frustration produces anger.

Instructors would be the obvious target of the dyslexic’s anger. However, dyslexic children generally show their anger toward their parents. Mothers are particularly vulnerable to the negative emotion of their dyslexic children. During school, the child frequently holds on to his anger to the point of being extremely passive. But once he is in a comfortable home environment, these strong feelings come out and generally go toward the mother.

Society expects children to become independent as they enter adolescence stage. The pressure between the expectation of independence and the child’s learned dependence causes serious internal struggles. The dyslexic adolescent uses his anger to distance himself from the people he feels so dependent.

It may be challenging for parents to assist their teenage dyslexic child due to these factors. Peer tutoring or a concerned adult may be better able to assist the child with dyslexia.

Low Self-esteem

Children with dyslexia are vulnerable to frustration and anxiety. During the initial years of schooling, every child must resolve the conflicts between a positive image and feelings of inferiority. If children with dyslexia disorder succeed in their school life, they will develop positive feelings about themselves and believe that they can do well in life.

If dyslexic children face failure, they feel frustrated and learn that they are inferior to others and that their effort makes very little difference. Instead of feeling positive and productive, they learn that their environment controls them. They feel discouraged and demotivated.

Researchers have found that when typical students achieve success, they attribute it to their own efforts. They tell themselves to try harder when they fail. However, children with dyslexia are likely to credit their success to luck when he succeeds. He/she simply considers himself stupid when fails.

Depression

Depression is another common complication of dyslexia. Children with dyslexia are more likely to experience intense feelings of pain and sorrow, although the majority of dyslexic people do not suffer from depression. Children with dyslexia may be afraid to channel their feeling of anger toward the environment and turn it toward themselves.

However, depressed children generally have different symptoms than depressed adults. It is unlikely that the depressed child will be inactive or express feelings of sadness. Instead, he/she may become more active or misbehave to hide their pain.

Offer Consistent Support to Your Child with Dyslexia

Both parents and instructors need to provide consistent, ongoing encouragement and support. Educational and dyslexia professionals guide parents that children with dyslexia should be given Orton Gillingham tutoring.

Orton Gillingham training provides instructors and parents with the exceptional skill set they need to work with struggling readers and children with learning differences like dyslexia. Orton Gillingham tutors help struggling readers build confidence in themselves and help them master the skills they need to read efficiently.

Final thoughts

Helping children with dyslexia feel better about themselves and deal with their feelings is a complex task. Choose someone who can provide your struggling child with effective tutoring. Orton Gillingham tutors turn struggling readers into bookworms by customizing their approach to each student. Tutors work with dyslexic children to improve better reading habits, build stronger reading techniques, and enhance their vocabularies.