I was going to blog about this last week but I was too sick to concentrate. I nearly choked on an article carried by the dailies. Apparently a psychologist from Durham University claimed that Dyslexia is being used by parents to cover for ‘thick children’. Prof Julian Elliot said that the condition is a convenient excuse, particularly for middle-class parents, to stop children being thought of as ‘lazy, thick or stupid’.

This day and age this is very un-PC. Of course, Elliot gained a few hours of media time. When I googled him, turns out he’s opinion has been out there since 2005. I don’t remember hearing about this two years ago, and I am curious as to why he’s suddenly in our faces but that’s not my topic.

Elliot wants dyslexia to be re-classified as a reading difficulty rather than a medical condition. But Dyslexia Action has responded with statistics and counter-arguments that you can read here.

What really caught my attention is not whether dyslexia exists or not, because personally I believe dyslexia exists. Sometimes I think I suffer a mild (?) form of dyslexia as I tend to read some words wrong or see weird/incorrect letters. But I digress – again.

My real point really is the difference between the have’s & have-not’s when it comes to their priorities. In Pinas, a typical child is likely to be labeled ‘slow’ when he/she’s unable to read at a certain age. If the child comes from a poor family, the label sticks & his/her condition will remain unchecked. Ganun na lang “bobo for life”. But if the child comes from a middle-class family (upwards) the kid is likely to be seen by an expert & a proper evaluation conducted, or a private tutor is hired to help or even both. The child is saved with good measures in place.

I know we have the capacity to know if someone is suffering from any learning disability, or indeed any illness. But so few have the means or access to specialists and facilities. Sometimes it is interesting to know how many Filipinos actually suffer from these unseen disabilities, because for sure even they themselves don’t know.