Probably one of the biggest challenges kids with dyslexia face isn't actually reading or writing. Kids with dyslexia often feel isolated, discouraged and alone. Imagine wanting something so badly in your life and no matter how hard you work for it, you can't get it. What's worse is that no one else seems to be able to help you.

Kids with dyslexia do not have lower IQs than kids without it. To think otherwise is a falsehood. A child can have above average intelligence but still fall short of their expected reading, writing or math level. A kid with dyslexia could be a straight "A" student in every subject but still be reading on level two or three grades below where they actually are. This doesn't make them stupid or even mean they have a learning disability; their other scores do not reflect that at all. What it means is that they have a unique challenge that needs to be overcome.

It has been noted by psychologists that kids with dyslexia often exhibit negative behavior. There are often issues with anger and an anti-establishment attitude. In a way, for a child who has undiagnosed dyslexia, it is justified. The establishment has let them down in their minds—why should they live up to those standards? What is the payoff forthem?

Kids with dyslexia often suffer from feelings inadequacy, loss of interest in even non-school related activities and feel as if they are completely alone. They feel they are different from their classmates, and that is because they are. In some instances children who have been diagnosed as having dyslexia are put into "special education" classes which do not meet their needs and further alienate and frustrate them.

People who have made it through their scholastic career refer to dyslexia as a "gift." That might not be as trite a concept as it appears; kids with dyslexia who manage to make adjustments to the way they learn (through help or on their own) often excel in life. Some even thrive. Notable people who have or had dyslexia of one sort or another are Tom Cruise, Gen. George Patton and inventor Thomas Edison. Edison was actually thrown out of school and thought to be stupid by his teachers. We can all be thankful that his mother saw her son's brilliance and continued to encourage him.

Encouragement and how to give that encouragement are huge factors in the equation of success for these kids. It has been estimated that as many as 1 of every 5 school-age children have dyslexia in one form or another and in varying degrees. In a startling statistic released in 2007 it was stated that 27% of children with learning disabilities drop out of school or never complete their high school education. We can do better by our kids as parents, individuals and as a global community. Awareness and understanding of what they are going through is the first step.