Many people assume that dyslexia is a problem with the eyes. This is not true. Reversals are a problem with directionality and it is seen in students who are blind.
Braille consists of a combination of 6 dots to create everything there is in print. This means that there are a lot of symbols that are opposite of each other. For example, ‘r’ and ‘w’ are mirror images, although it tends to be ‘e’ and ‘i’ that students reverse the most often. When someone who struggles with dyslexia tries to read braille they have to first overcome the struggle with directionality because everything in braille has meaning when it is reversed.
It is important for teachers of the visually impaired, school psychologists, and a trained screener to work together to help a student with dyslexia, who is also blind, learn to read.
Lisa was one of these students. She was born with no vision, but reached all milestones on time as expected for someone born with a visual impairment. Most people were not concerned about her success in school. Once enrolled, Lisa started demonstrating problems with reading. People gave her time in case it was related to the visual impairment, but she showed little to no progress. Eventually, the IEP team gave up on her learning to fully read braille and decided to move her into a functional reading program. However, everybody agreed that it was not predicted according to how she tested in other cognitive areas.
After another year of struggling with reading, the IEP team decided to send her to a special school for the blind. The school, luckily, had a few teachers trained in working with students with dyslexia. Her teacher did an assessment and came to the conclusion that Lisa was fighting dyslexia and that the numerous problems braille presented to readers who are directionally challenged was the reason she was not on grade level.
The school had adapted the Barton Reading & Spelling Program for braille readers. It took some creative thinking in helping her overcome the directionality difficulties in braille, but Lisa is now reading fully contracted braille and enjoys the books she picks out for herself. She also enjoys writing her own stories to share with her class.
Dyslexia is not a problem of the visual system as many believe. Dyslexia actually causes problems with directionality and that is why letters are reversed and/or upside down. If a student is struggling with directionality of letters after having been taught for at least 2 years, then the student may be struggling with dyslexia and should be screened for it in order to get the appropriate intervention.