WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?
Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words. Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person’s life. It is considered a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment, and in its more severe forms, will qualify a student for special education, special accommodations, or extra support services. Dyslexia tends to run in families.
...The exact causes of dyslexia are still not completely clear, but anatomical and brain imagery studies show differences in the way the brain of a dyslexic person develops and functions. Moreover, most people with dyslexia have been found to have problems with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds, a key factor in their reading difficulties. Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn; with appropriate teaching methods, dyslexics can learn successfully. (International Dyslexia Association)
Brain imaging and behavioral research has changed our understanding of best practices for literacy instruction, however, this information is not being utilized in most classrooms. The first step to good remediation is recognizing whether dyslexia is at the root of a struggling reader and writer.
Possible Signs of Dyslexia:
...The exact causes of dyslexia are still not completely clear, but anatomical and brain imagery studies show differences in the way the brain of a dyslexic person develops and functions. Moreover, most people with dyslexia have been found to have problems with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds, a key factor in their reading difficulties. Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn; with appropriate teaching methods, dyslexics can learn successfully. (International Dyslexia Association)
Brain imaging and behavioral research has changed our understanding of best practices for literacy instruction, however, this information is not being utilized in most classrooms. The first step to good remediation is recognizing whether dyslexia is at the root of a struggling reader and writer.
Possible Signs of Dyslexia:
- trouble memorizing address, phone number, alphabet
- confusion over left and right
- has trouble with rhyming games
- slow, non-automatic handwriting
- inconsistent spacing of letters and words in sentences
- letter or number reversals past seven years of age
- slow, choppy, inaccurate reading
- poor spelling
- spells same word different ways
- has trouble remembering the same word from page to page
- difficulty with sight (non-phonetic) words
- difficulty memorizing multiplication tables and other math facts
- difficulty with learning foreign languages
- when speaking, difficulty finding the right word
WHAT IS NOT DYSLEXIA?
There are many things that are not part of dyslexia. Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence - in fact, many individuals have very strong visual and spatial strengths and learning gifts. Dyslexia is not a vision problem or just flipping letters and words in a sentence. It does not affect boys more than girls, although behaviors in classrooms seem to make a difference in boys being tested earlier. You do not "outgrow" dyslexia. You don't have to wait until second or third grade to diagnose it - there are often signs before a child is in school.