For students with dyslexia, school can often be an upstream battle. I say upstream because, if we picture learning as a wide river of opportunity, dyslexic students might experience dams, deltas, and debris where neurotypical students do not, and those blockages can then lead to further difficulties down the way.

Take, for example, letter sounds. For a neurotypical student, associating the letters /th/ with the sound at the beginning of thumb, thimble, and thermometer is generally smooth sailing. Once they’ve learned it, a connection is forever forged. For a dyslexic student, however, the navigation process of sound to letter takes much longer, rapids and whirlpools and waterfalls the student blocking the path. And if that connection remains blocked off, the boat ride only gets rockier from there; streams of phonetics, spelling, and vocabulary trickle away to nothing and the student is left high and dry on a craggy riverbed, with nowhere left to paddle.

This is where the concept of resilience comes in. Resilience is a term often associated with explorers, with daring adventurers who brave dangerous waters and stormy seas in order to make new discoveries and perhaps even find buried treasure along the way. Resilience means both daring and achievement in the face of adversity and, for students with dyslexia, school and the challenge of reading and writing are some of the most adverse environments for young readers afraid of being judged or seen as less than their peers. Dyslexic students can often show great resiliency in a classroom environment, finding work-arounds for their struggles to the point of said struggles not being discovered for years and years, maybe even well into adulthood.

In addition to cognitive resilience, dyslexic students often show socioemotional resilience as well. There is a huge societal stigma associated with those who have learning difficulties or disabilities and dyslexia is no exception. Due to the stress of repeated reading “failure” and insecurity regarding their intelligence and standing with their peers, students with dyslexia can develop maladaptive practices and illnesses such as depression, low-esteem, and anxiety. However, with a supportive framework of family, friends, and community, as well as a healthy appreciation of self, dyslexic students can demonstrate resilience once again and practice self-care throughout their individual learning journeys. Students with dyslexia need to know that they have control of their lives and their academic and personal goals, and to have support and understanding from parents and teachers alike as they work to understand their capabilities and steer their ship into safe and fruitful waters.