Dr Astrid Kopp-Duller
In short: thoughts of the Austrian dyslexia specialist Dr Astrid Kopp-Duller — on the strengths of people with dyslexia and on the fact that not every reading difficulty is dyslexia.
Who Dr Astrid Kopp-Duller is
Dr Astrid Kopp-Duller is an Austrian educator and dyslexia specialist and the author of books on working with children who have difficulties with reading, writing and arithmetic. Her words below show the approach she supports: looking for the child’s strengths, not only the mistakes.
In her words
Happy is the one who has a person with dyslexia for a friend. People with dyslexia are creative and gifted in technology. I can tell you that my computer was set up perfectly by a child with dyslexia.
Be patient, so that I can tell you more about dyslexia.
Every person with dyslexia has an exceptionally strong sense of fairness. In our time I find this extremely important, and I am very glad that such people exist. A person with dyslexia is a loyal friend for life.
Difficulties with reading, writing and arithmetic are not always caused by dyslexia. There are other causes too – and different causes call for different ways of overcoming them.
Different causes — a different approach
Difficulties with reading, writing and arithmetic can have different causes:
- problems with sight or hearing;
- attention difficulties;
- difficulties in speech and language development;
- fewer chances to read and learn, or learning in a second language;
- anxiety and lack of confidence built up through failure;
- specific learning difficulties — dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia.
That is why a child should be assessed by specialists — a speech therapist, psychologist or resource teacher — before deciding what support is needed. See What is dyslexia.