The pain associated with reading difficulties

Earlier this week, we met Genesis, an extremely talented 10-year-old artist. Genesis struggles with reading, writing and spelling in school, but she definitely possesses the "super powers" or gifts in other areas we so commonly see associated with dyslexia.

Our psychologist Dr. Brian Stone defines dyslexia as a really bright person who doesn't care much for reading. Research has proven these bright people often have extreme talent in creative areas like art, building, design and other visual-spatial activities. Sometimes the super powers present themselves in things like attention to detail, emotional intelligence, athletics and science.

Unfortunately, when children with dyslexia are in a regular school environment, they often end up feeling like they are not as smart as the other children due to the different way they need to learn to read, write and spell. In actuality, these children's intelligence is expressed in different ways. Because adults and other students in the schools do not understand dyslexia, the children with dyslexia sometimes struggle with self esteem problems that affect them throughout their lives.

Genesis used her gift of artistic ability to share how she sometimes feels in school. She and her parents hope her artwork will help other kids who have dyslexia.