Why we need to talk about anxiety during Dyslexia Awareness Week

One in five dyslexic children suffers with anxiety. More needs to be done to make sure mental health support is in place.

Dyslexia Awareness Week is upon us, and the British Dyslexia Association is doing everything it can to raise awareness of learning difficulties. Between 7 – 13 October (2019), the British Dyslexia Association is asking schools and companies to put aside half an hour to discuss how to empower the skills dyslexic people offer.

Awareness of dyslexia is critical. We need parents, teachers, and employers to appreciate the incredible strengths and diversity dyslexia brings.  However, I also want to bring attention to the connection between dyslexia and anxiety.

There is significant evidence and research that shows dyslexic pupils have anxiety levels way above those without learning difficulties.  Many studies show a higher percentage of people with dyslexia suffer from depression too. 

In my personal and professional experience, I’ve observed that specific learning difficulties can lead to chronic anxiety. It’s a huge barrier to learning, as well as the overall wellbeing of the child.

Imagine struggling every day with things family and friends seem to be able to do with ease such as following instructions, finding the right words to use in a conversation, remembering daily tasks.  Or imagine finding the straightforward things at school hard, such as remembering what sound is attached to a letter, which way round words are spelt or how to read the simplest of words.

Add to this a dyslexic’s need for time to process symbols and sounds while everyone’s telling you to hurry up! Not forgetting the shame that a child feels when they hear phrases like “I’ve taught you this so many times”, “why aren’t you listening” and “hurry up, or you’ll have to do this in your break time”.

It’s no wonder many dyslexic children feel a constant state of anxiousness throughout their day. Especially when put in the same scenario again and again. Our bodies are designed to react when faced with something scary – the ‘fight, fright, flight ‘response.  Sadly, for dyslexic’s this panic happens when they’re faced with something as simple as a word, sentence or number.  The reaction may be:

• Fight - aggression, argumentation
• Flight - distractibility, avoidance, daydreaming
• Or fright - boredom, unable to start an activity

What’s then important to understand is the side effects of anxiety. Anxiety affects those same cognitive abilities that people with dyslexia struggle with. Anxiety also affects higher-order thinking skills such a logic reasoning something dyslexics are typically brilliant at – reducing the strength to a weakness.

Mix the effects of dyslexia and anxiety , and it ends up becoming one vicious circle. The more anxious a dyslexic child is, the more dyslexic they’ll appear, the more their self-esteem drops.  That’s why it’s vital we do everything we can to manage a child’s anxiety. Do this, and their learning can and will – improve.

Illustrations by Kim Wyrley-Birch

THE EFFECTS DYSLEXIA AND ANXIETY HAVE ON CHILDREN

Dyslexia

There are six common (cognitive) abilities that are typically weaker in people with dyslexia. It’s these abilities that we use to learn to read, write and spell:

1. Short-term memory – how your brain takes on new information
2. Working memory – how your brain processes new and old information together
3. Phonological awareness – how your mind identifies words and sounds
4. Rapid naming – your brain’s ability to name items quickly
5. Visual processing – your brain’s ability to interpret and give meaning to what it sees
6. Visual-motor coordination – how well your hands and eyes coordinate

Anxiety

When someone is suffering from anxiety, the side effects are:

• A reduction in short-term memory - how your brain takes on new information
• A reduction in working memory - how your brain processes new and old information together
• A decrease in concentration – how well you can focus on one subject at a time
• A reduction in processing efficiency – how quickly your brain can process information
• A reduction in phonological awareness - how your mind identifies words and sounds
• A change in spatial awareness – how your brain correlates the distance between you and objects
• An increase in muscle tension – your muscles in your body, tightening up (making it harder to write)
• Higher-order thinking skills get shut down
• Hyper-sensitivity – oversensitive to the environment around you. Sounds, colours, and light become very distracting

You can see that almost all the cognitive areas dyslexic children have difficulty with are also the areas anxiety affects. Dyslexic’s strengths are also usually their higher-order thinking skills – however, this is completely diminished by anxiety.

If learners with dyslexia are to reach their potential, anxiety needs to be recognised, and practices need to be put in place to alleviate the effects.

Illustration by Kim Wyrley-Birch

WHAT ARE THE ANXIETY WARNING SIGNS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN CHILDREN?

Anxiety can be difficult to detect, especially in children who find it hard to explain how they feel. Signs can be physical or emotional, but it’s important to realise they’re not always obvious. The most commons signs to recognise are:

Physical symptoms of anxiety in children

• Increased heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Dilated pupils
• Sweating
• Constant headaches
• Stomach pains
• Frequency to use the bathroom
• Sleep problems
• Bedwetting
• Repetitive behaviour
  
  

Emotional signs of anxiety in children are harder to identify as they may be seen as unfavourable or “naughty” behaviour:

• Reluctance to go to school
• Reluctance to do homework or try anything new
• Unusual outbursts and anger
• Withdrawal, becoming unusually quiet and shy
• Avoidance, not wanting to do specific tasks
• Boredom, pretending to find everything ‘boring.’
• Distraction, mainly when doing any school-related work
• Needing frequent reassurance
• Tearful and clingy
• Aggression and resistance, these are often dealt with very strictly, which can further enhance anxiety
  
  

The Dyslexia Portrait, a project organised by Kate Harr

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP AN ANXIOUS CHILD?

Unfortunately, there’s not a one size fits all answer very much like with the support a dyslexic child needs. Every anxious child has their areas to work on.

I’ll go into more detail about ways to help children with anxiety in a later post. However, for now, here are a few options to explore:

• Support at home – talk to your child about their worries and help them to recognise the signs. Help them understand the nature of their dyslexia and why it makes things a little confusing.  Also, stress how their strengths will help them as they get older.  I think it is essential to keep reinforcing the mantra ‘slow and steady’ - they will get there it is simply going to take a little longer. 
• Don’t overload your child with homework – home needs to be a sanctuary. Keep work at home fun and different to school.
• Support at school – work with the school to put plans in place to support them appropriately in a learning environment. Ask your child’s teacher to adjust their homework to manageable, achievable activities (e.g. three spellings instead of 10).
• Fun activities – an activity that your child enjoys and regularly take them out of their anxious loop is very important e.g. martial arts, ballet, art, drama, trampolining etc.
• Eating well – healthy, nutritious food (cut down on sugar) and lots and lots of water have a positive influence on anxiety levels.
• Sleeping well – anxiety can make sleep very difficult, and lack of sleep exacerbates the anxiety. Develop a good night time routine and a calm bedroom space without any distractions.  Keep the workspace away from a bedroom if you can.
• Mindfulness – is a great discipline and offers excellent coping mechanisms and breathing techniques to help with anxiety. Have a look at the Mindfulness programme. It’s a charity programme with advice for supporting children with mental health struggles.  I also like the book ‘Sitting Still Like a Frog’ by Eline Snel, it is brilliant for younger children. 
• Growth Mindset - developed by Dr C. Dwek, offers excellent strategies and techniques to change negative perceptions and support children with learning difficulties and anxiety.
• Talk to your GP – if anxiety is severely affecting your child’s day to day life, it’s essential to seek advice from a professional. Talk to your GP; they may recommend a psychiatrist or a psychologist for specific intervention. 
• Cognitive Behavioural Psychology (CBT) – this very effective method allows children to become aware of their negative thought patterns and teaches them positive, constructive ways to deal with them.
  
  

If you’d like to chat further about your child who you believe is struggling with anxiety, do drop me a line. I have a lot of experience with the children I teach, and my children, in this area so I’ll hopefully be able to lend a hand – or an ear.