THE INFLUENCE OF DYSLEXIA ON CHILDRENS' SELF-ESTEEM IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Abstract

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that is characterized by children's impaired ability to read and spell words.Self-esteem is confidence and belief in one's own worth. Strong self-esteem is associated with good psychologicalhealth. Children spend most of their days in school and this environment forms the sense of worth for manychildren. Dyslexia regularly causes failure in school and is usually accompanied by behavioral and emotionalproblems: instability, lack of discipline, resistance, passive or aggressive attitude, refusal of school, isolation, andfeelings of inferiority (Shaywitz S.E., Shaywitz J.E., Shaywitz B.A. (2021). The most common mistakes, such asblaming the child for poor school performance or attributing the cause to psychological problems, regularly lead topoor self-image, affect their confidence, or low self-esteem (Chica, 2017). School can quickly shatter the self-esteemof a dyslexic child. Dyslexia has a negative effect on self-esteem, but this effect depends on levels of support athome and at school. Clinical research shows the emotional and motivational factors associated with dyslexia.The purpose of the present study is to investigate the factors that influence the self-esteem of students with dyslexia.Provides a brief overview of some of the key literature in this area and then describes a study conducted in threemainstream primary schools in the eastern part of the Republic of North Macedonia.Methodology: data were collected using semi-structured interviews with students who received an official diagnosisof dyslexia. Eleven students voluntarily participated in an interview. The study looked at the influence of factorssuch as comparisons with other students and the influence of teachers, peers and family on students' self-esteem.The results of the study show that these factors contribute significantly to the self-esteem of students with dyslexia.The most significant contributor to students' self-esteem is being diagnosed with dyslexia and being labeled.Conclusions: Dyslexic children with high self-esteem display more confidence and will volunteer answers or try outnew subjects/tasks than lower self-esteem children. These high self-esteem children expect to succeed and attributesuccess to their skill/ability.Recommendations: early diagnosis of dyslexia is essential to creating a positive self-image and recommends thatfurther research is needed on the meaning of the diagnosis for these learners. Children with dyslexia can achievehigher self-esteem, not just developed communication and writing competence.