3 Negative Coping Strategies To Look For In A Student With Dyslexia

Students with dyslexia can be incredibly clever at hiding their problems. While they may not be reading as well as their classmates, they tend to have a high degree of intellect that often overshadows the core issues at hand. 

In fact, some of the smartest people in history struggled with dyslexia and still reached a high level of achievement. From Leonardo da Vinci to Albert Einstein, Henry Winkler to Keanu Reeves, Richard Branson to Pablo Picasso, many famous people did not allow their dyslexia to define their lives or careers. You can even read about Pablo Picasso abilities to know more about dyslexia’s impact.

Students with dyslexia often develop negative coping mechanisms to cover up their inability to read. These can include:

Getting Others to Read to Them

Children with dyslexia can often encourage adults, siblings, and even their peers to read things for them, using charm to compliment and encourage. e.g. “It’s so much better, Dad when you read it with your special voices.”

Misbehaving in Class

It is far easier and far cooler to be punished for being the class clown than to call attention to reading issues. Students with dyslexia may use deviant behavior to hide their academic struggles.

Appearing to be Lazy or Daydreaming a Lot

All kids can be lazy, but children with dyslexia are pros at avoiding homework. It is all too easy to dismiss it as lazy behavior and not see the underlying problem. If a child is disinterested in schoolwork and reading or claims to understand something without putting the effort forth to master the material, it's likely a sign that an academic issue like dyslexia is present.