 Around 5-10% of all children are born with dyslexia. In school, they tend to read slowly, have difficulty understanding simple texts, or make a lot of spelling mistakes when writing. Now, while they are as intelligent as others, having received years of instruction, doesn't change the fact that their brains struggle organizing symbols in their heads. Minds of children with dyslexia may switch numbers when reading, swap letters as they appear, or skip words when writing. Some see their handwritten letters backwards, and others struggle with grammar rules. Spelling correctly is often impossible. Before we learn what to do about that, we can hear the true story of a dyslexic boy who overcame his weakness, used his disability to an advantage, and became a self-made billionaire. Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ingvar. He grew up on a small farm. Ingvar's grandfather died after realizing he could no longer afford to pay the mortgage. But the grandmother's dedication and hard work saved the farm, and the boy learned that perseverance can lead to a better life, and a better life he wanted. But when Ingvar started school, he struggled, and at one point, his father told him he would never amount to anything. What nobody knew back then was, Ingvar had dyslexia, inherited from his ancestors, just like the color of his hair. Regardless, he didn't let his problems get him down, and at age six, Ingvar started selling single matches to his neighbors. Soon after, he asked his aunt in Stockholm to send him matches from the wholesale market. Ingvar then split the boxes into smaller packages, and resold them at a greater profit. Seeking his father's support, the young entrepreneur soon reached an entirely new level. By the age of 10, Ingvar would cross the neighborhood on his bicycle, selling fish and pencils. At 14, he sold belts, watches, and wallets stocked under his bed at his boarding school. In 1943, when he was 17 years old, his father helped him to register his company. He named it after himself, Ingvar Kamprad, plus the initials from the farm and village he grew up in. Expanding his line of furniture, Ingvar soon had trouble dealing with the product codes. To help him overcome his weakness, he created a system where he, instead of numbers, gave names to each object. Tables were named after places, garden chairs after islands. Now, Ingvar was able to remember and visualize each product. By making shopping memorable, IKEA became the world's largest furniture company, and Ingvar Kamprad one of the richest men in the world. But not all children are as lucky as our protagonist, and some need our support. To help children with dyslexia, we can strengthen their speech perception, which children begin to form at about six months old when they start to pay attention to the sounds of spoken language. This usually happens as they focus on the movements of their parents' lips to link visual with auditory input. Lip reading is important because our mind usually prioritizes what we see over what we hear. Children who were raised with little to no exposure to one-on-one conversations can have problems connecting auditory inputs with lip and tongue movements. Some may not even realize that it takes a completely different mouth, tongue, and lip movement to produce letters as similar as B and D. They lack what's called phonological awareness, and if they are also dyslexic, they have it especially hard. Practicing phonological awareness can help children train their minds to understand their own mouth movements, sounds, and word structures. Hence, professional therapists often focus first on the basics, such as speaking and listening. Only later do they move on to the more complex forms of communication, such as reading and writing. By the way, in Finland, children learn reading at age six or seven, and only 4% are diagnosed with dyslexia. Kids in the UK start school at age four, but the National Health Service estimates 10% to be dyslexic. Later, Finnish students rank top as the world's most literate people, while British pupils rank somewhere in the middle. What are your thoughts about and experiences with dyslexia? Did your teachers punish kids for making spelling mistakes, or did they try to help them? Share your thoughts in the comments below. To experience phonological awareness yourself, do the famous McGurk Effect experiment. It demonstrates how our visual perception beats our auditory one, and shows the importance of one-on-one conversations. Links are in the descriptions. This and all other Sprouts videos are licensed under Creative Commons. That means teachers from all around the world can use them in classrooms, online courses, or to start projects, and today, thousands already do. 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