From 3 April a new TV series “The Chronicles of Nanarìa” tells the universe of dyslexia in children. The protagonist is a dyslexic eleven-year-old struggling with school performance, self-esteem crisis and bullying episodes
The letters get tangled together and the words often don’t make sense. In elementary school, for Arianna, it was hell because no teacher understood what her problem was in her poor academic performance. She tried… and a lot, but it didn’t help. Finally stories like hers come to the screen to speak clearly of dyslexia. It happens on tv with The chronicles of Nanaría, a series broadcast from 3 April on Rai Gulp (at 2.10 pm and 7.10 pm) and on RaiPlay which enjoys the patronage of AID (Italian Dyslexia Association). The project follows the growth path of 11-year-old Arianna, but above all her meeting with Nora, a teacher capable of listening and guiding her. Thanks to the sensitivity of the young director Matteo Gentiloni (in the past winner of the Cinemaster project of Studio Universal in Los Angeles), the story evolves naturally. You don’t go up to the desk to watch the kids from above but you follow their step for an equal dialogue. In this very delicate process, the crucial role of the theater course stands out, which at first seems counterproductive, but then allows the protagonist to find her place, with a rhythm and a modality that finally belongs to her.
What is dyslexia
This term refers to a learning difficulty in reading, characterized by a difficulty in reading fluently, quickly and without errors. It occurs in children without visual, hearing or intelligence deficits and falls within the specific learning disabilities (DSA). It concerns one pupil per class in Italy (about three million people) and is an invisible disorder that is often not diagnosed in adequate time. Dyslexic children present difficulty identifying letters with similar shapes or soundstend to reverse letters in the same syllable or syllables in the same word.
The “other” DSAs
Dyscalculia: specific disorder of number and calculation ability, manifested by a difficulty in understanding and working with numbers.
Dysortography: specific writing disorder that manifests itself with difficulty in spelling, therefore with the presence of more or less frequent errors in writing.
Dysgraphia: specific handwriting disorder that manifests itself with a difficulty in the graphic stroke of writing, which is therefore difficult to read.
Specific learning disabilities can occur together.
Features
DSA is not a disease: they depend on the peculiar functioning modalities of the neuronal networks and do not prevent the realization of the specific skill, but involve longer times and greater loads of attention.
DSAs can be considered specific characteristics of the individual, as well as other aspects of behavior (such as musical ear or sense of direction). SLDs are an innate characteristic that persists throughout life. So it cannot be said that a person «was» dyslexic (or «had a DSA»). So Specific Learning Disabilities are not “cured” but the difficulties that accompany them can be compensated often with a good rehabilitation activity and compensatory tools.
The most common mistakes
In reading, people with dyslexia often make errors such as reversing letters, substituting letters (m/nv/fb/d), omitting, repeating, or adding words.
The disturbances are sometimes accompanied by psychological issues, psychological problemsdue to the feeling of helplessness learned, especially at school where often the efforts of children with SLD are not recognized and only errors are underlined instead of successes and progress.
At school
Once established the difficulty related to dyslexia can be implemented specific aids, for example speech therapy rehabilitation courses. The most important provisions concern the school environment, to allow the student to achieve educational success through inclusive teaching methodologies. Law number 170 of 2010 changed the school life of children with SLD. In fact, the legislation provides that for each student with DSA a Personalized Learning Plan (PDP), with specific compensatory tools and dispensatory measures. In 2022 the Istituto Superiore di Sanità published an update «Guideline on the management of Specific Learning Disorders. Update and additions» to improve and standardize diagnostic and rehabilitation protocols on DSA. Concretely (and briefly) the standard provides for the use of computers with speech synthesis and corrector, calculator, concept maps, diagrams and forms. The student can be exempted: from reading aloud, from writing quickly under dictation, from writing on the blackboard, from the mnemonic study of the multiplication tables. The student is also entitled to longer times during the written tests (or in a reduced task).
The teachers
Also the 170 provides that teachers organize for the student with DSA scheduled queries; in Italian or foreign language homework they must also give priority to the content without taking spelling errors into account.
It is recommended that they use multiple learning channels in the lessonnot only reading and written text, but also videos and concrete experimentation of some activities.
April 3, 2023 (change April 3, 2023 | 08:52)
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