“PEOPLE need to understand that persons with dyslexia should not be discriminated against.” Olympic sailor Andrew Lewis made this assertion as he spoke last week during the Dyslexia Assistive Technology seminar at the Radisson hotel on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.
“People need to understand that this is what they are going through, this is the reality. They are no less or no more than anyone else; we are all humans. We all need to understand what these people are going through. We need to put ourselves in their shoes as best as possible and spread the message: Dyslexia is something that a lot of people have and they don’t realise and people that do have it give them a chance.”
The two-day seminar focused on technology that would assist persons with learning disabilities, including dyslexia. Students from various schools, along with teachers and parents were briefed on technologies that could assist students and parents and highlighted various applications that would not only assist those with learning abilities in academics, but with daily activities of living and working.
At the Radisson, Lewis called for more seminars such as this one to be conducted in schools.
“I think that more of this needs to take place and more teachers and people in older generations need to understand that this is something that they can’t just leave alone and let kids take care of themselves” said Lewis “They (teachers) need to take initiative and figure out how can we as teachers and parents help these kids learn better and faster.”
Lewis, who competed at the 2012 Olympics laser class had been sailing since he was seven years old, however he admitted that his first love was football, he said that the sport would not take him where he wanted to go — the Olympic arena.
He told Newsday the challenge of dealing with dyslexia has motivated him to become a more determined person.