Dyslexia Organization, Kenya (DOK), is a non-profit NGO established and registered under the NGO Board of Kenya in 2011. Our programme mission is to create public awareness and intervention strategies for dyslexia, a learning condition that affects many school-going children in our country. Quite often the children are referred to as ‘slow learners’ or weak performers. We believe that these are biased references of discouragement in a very competitive environment. These children are the opposite; as has been proved, they are indeed gifted and talented. This realization is the main fuel in our drive to intervene. We work closely with teachers, parents, and the ministry of education or the government.

We aim at making significant changes in the lives of children with this invisible learning difficulty by making dyslexia visible to teachers, parents, the general public, and all in the education system. We bring to the fore the psychosocial and psychological issues that affect children with dyslexia in life. We focus on sensitizing the teachers, parents, and community on the dangers of neglecting children who have challenges in academics but are gifted with other strengths. Our training triggers interest in parents and teachers who seek to identify other strengths that can help the children become successful in life despite their academic performance.

Dyslexia is an unexpected hidden difficulty. It is a specific learning difficulty that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with the inability to read fluently, word recognition, poor spelling and decoding abilities. Children with dyslexia are normally confused with and/or referred to as slow learners. It is the common cause of learning difficulties in schools affecting over 15-17% of the population. A significant number of learners with dyslexia go undiagnosed and their symptoms unaddressed in our schools with tragic results, largely due to lack of awareness and knowledge about this common learning difficulty. In a class of 30 children, at least 4 have dyslexia and subsequently, no support is given.

Since dyslexia is not an obvious difficulty; it is hidden, as a result, people with dyslexia have to overcome numerous barriers to make a full contribution to society. However, it has been demonstrated that when identified early, dyslexia can be managed by transforming and revealing in the child valuable talents and capabilities for a successful life. Teachers play a big role in helping the identification of learning difficulties.