Dyslexia
Medical Professionals Say that dyslexia is a “defect” in the way the brain processes information causing children to reverse, transpose, or view letters backwards. I had concluded that dyslexics were mentally challenged and not capable of reading or learning like “normal” children.
The World Federation of Neurology—“a disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read…” (1968; cited in Critchley 1970).
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke—“a brain-based type of learning disability” (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dyslexia/dyslexia.htm)
According to Mayo Clinic:
Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.
Dyslexia is not due to problems with intelligence, hearing or vision. Most children with dyslexia can succeed in school with tutoring or a specialized education program. Emotional support also plays an important role.
Though there’s no cure for dyslexia*, early assessment and intervention result in the best outcome. Sometimes dyslexia goes undiagnosed for years and isn’t recognized until adulthood, but it’s never too late to seek help.
Symptoms of dyslexia can be difficult to recognize before your child enters school, but some early clues may indicate a problem. Once your child reaches school age, your child’s teacher may be the first to notice a problem. Severity varies, but the condition often becomes apparent as a child starts learning to read.
Before school
Signs that a young child may be at risk of dyslexia include:
- late talking
- learning new words slowly
- problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike
- problems remembering or naming letters, numbers and colors
- difficulty learning nursery rhymes or playing rhyming games
School age
Once your child is in school, dyslexia symptoms may become more apparent, including:
- reading well below the expected level for age
- problems processing and understanding what is heard
- difficulty finding the right word or forming answers to questions
- problems remembering the sequence of things
- difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words
- inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word
- difficulty spelling
- spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing
- avoiding activities that involve reading
Teens and adults
Some common dyslexia symptoms in teens and adults include:
- difficulty reading, including reading aloud
- slow and labor-intensive reading and writing
- problems spelling
- avoiding activities that involve reading
- mispronouncing names or words, or problems retrieving words
- spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing
- difficulty summarizing a story
- trouble learning a foreign language
- difficulty doing math word problems
Work Cited: Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/symptoms-causes/syc-20353552
* There is no cure because dyslexia is not a disease. Is there help? Yes!
(See Is Dyslexia a Gift?)
If your child shows symptoms of dyslexia, Training Gifted Minds offers the Davis® Dyslexia program.
Professional services described as Davis®, including Davis Dyslexia Correction®, Davis Symbol Mastery®, Davis Orientation Counseling®, Davis® Attention Mastery, Davis® Math Mastery, and Davis® Reading Program for Young Learners may only be provided by persons who are trained and licensed as Davis Facilitators or Specialists by Davis Dyslexia Association International.
