Great Article about Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain's processing

 of graphic symbols. It is a learning disability that alters the way the brain

 processes written material. It is typically characterized by difficulties in word 

recognition, spelling and decoding. People with dyslexia have problems

 with reading comprehension.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities¹ says that dyslexia is a neurological and 

often genetic condition, and not the result of poor teaching, instruction or upbringing.

Dyslexia is not linked to intelligence.

This information article by Medical News Today provides you with the essential details 

about dyslexia - describing what it is, its symptoms, what causes it, how it is

 diagnosed, and what current treatment options are available. You can also read about

 what experts say is the likely outlook for people with dyslexia.

What is dyslexia?

The problem in dyslexia is a linguistic one, not a visual one. Dyslexia in no way

 stems from any lack of intelligence. People with severe dyslexia can be brilliant.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) lived with dyslexia.

The effects of dyslexia, in fact, vary from person to person. The only shared trait among people with dyslexia is that they read at levels significantly lower than typical for people of their age. Dyslexia is different from reading retardation which may reflect mental retardation or cultural deprivation.

According to the University of Michigan Health System, dyslexia is the most common learning disability². Eighty percent of students with learning disabilities have dyslexia.

The International Dyslexia Association³ estimates that 15% to 20% of the American population have some of the symptoms of dyslexia, including slow or inaccurate reading, poor spelling, poor writing, or mixing up similar words.

The National Health Service⁴, UK, estimates that 4-8% of all schoolchildren in England have some degree of dyslexia.

It is estimated that boys are one-and-a-half to three times more likely to develop dyslexia than

 girls.

The Dyslexia Association⁵ in Australia states "A dyslexic individual can be successful

 because of their abilities not in spite of. A dyslexic may struggle to succeed because 

of their negative experiences in the learning environment not because of dyslexia."

Dyslexia affects people of all ethnic backgrounds, although a person's native language can

 play an important role. A language where there is a clear connection between how a word is 

written and how it sounds, and consistent rules grammatical rules, such as in Italian and 

Spanish, can be more straightforward for a person with mild to moderate dyslexia to cope with.

However, languages such as English, where there is often no clear connection between the 

written form and sound, as in words such as 'cough' and 'dough', can be more challenging 

for a person with dyslexia.

What are the signs and symptoms of Dyslexia?

A symptom is something the patient senses and describes, while a sign is something other

 people, such as the doctor notice. For example, drowsiness may be a symptom while dilated

 pupils may be a sign.

Billionaire Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, was born with dyslexia.

The Dyslexia Research Trust⁶ includes these as the most common signs and symptoms associated with dyslexia:

• Learning to read - the child, despite having normal intelligence and receiving proper teaching and parental support, has difficulty learning to read.


• Milestones reached later - the child learns to crawl, walk, talk, throw or catch things, ride a bicycle later than the majority of other kids.


• Speech - apart from being slow to learn to speak, the child commonly mispronounces words, finds rhyming extremely challenging, and does not appear to distinguish between different word sounds.


• Slow at learning sets of data - at school the child takes much longer than the other children to learn the letters of the alphabet and how they are pronounced. There may also be problems remembering the days of the week, months of the year, colors, and some arithmetic tables.


• Coordination - the child may seem clumsier than his or her peers. Catching a ball may be difficult.


• Left and right - the child commonly gets "left" and "right" mixed up.


• Reversal - numbers and letters may be reversed without realizing.


• Spelling - may not follow a pattern of progression seen in other children. The child may
•  learn how to spell a word today, and completely forget the next day. One word may be spelt in a variety of ways on the same page.


• Phonology problems - phonology refers to the speech sounds in a language. If a word has more than two syllables, phonology processing becomes much more difficult. For example, with the word "unfortunately" a person with dyslexia may be able to process the sounds "un" and "ly", but not the ones in between.


• Concentration span - children with dyslexia commonly find it hard to concentrate for long, compared to other children. Many adults with dyslexia say this is because after a few minutes of non-stop struggling, the child is mentally exhausted. A higher number of children with dyslexia also have ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder),compared to the rest of the population.


• Sequencing ideas - when a person with dyslexia expresses a sequence of ideas, they may seem illogical for people without the condition.


• Autoimmune conditions - people with dyslexia are more likely to develop immunological problems, such as hay fever, asthma, eczema, and other allergies.

What are the causes of Dyslexia?

Specialist doctors and researchers are not sure what causes a person to develop dyslexia.
Some evidence points to a possibility that the condition is inherited, as dyslexia often runs in families.

Genetic causes

Genetic defect linked to reading problems - a team at the Yale School of Medicine found
 that defects in a gene, known as DCDC2, were associated with problems in reading
performance. They also
 reported that this defective gene appears to interact with KIAA0319, a second dyslexia gene.

Dutch scientists reported in the journal Dyslexia⁷ that dyslexia is a "highly heritable learning
disorder" that has a complex genetic architecture. Over the past ten years, they added,
scientists have
 identified several candidate genes that may contribute to dyslexia susceptibility.

Acquired dyslexia

A small minority of people with dyslexia acquired the condition after they were born.
 The most common causes of acquired dyslexia are brain injuries, stroke or some other type
of trauma.

Phonological processing

According to the National Health Service⁸, people with dyslexia find reading and writing
difficult because of "phonological processing impairment".

Humans have the ability to understand spoken language, it is something the brain
 acquires easily and naturally from a very early age. That is why during very early
 childhood (3 years) we can utter
 and understand relatively complicated sentences.

This natural ability to acquire language, which most linguists call the LAD (language
acquisition device), explains the reason why, when we listen to verbal communication,
we do not consciously
 register that words are made up of phonemes, we only hear the word itself. Phonemes are the
smallest units of
 sound that words are made of.

For example, when we hear the word "Kangaroo", we hear it as a whole, seamless
utterance. We do not need to break it down into the phonemes - "kan" "ga" "roo", then
 put them together again
in order to make sense of it.

This is the case only when we learn to utter and hear speech, not when we are learning to
 read and write. When we learn reading/writing we need to be able to initially recognize the
letters that make
 up a word, and then use them to identify the phonemes, and put them together to make sense
 of the
 word - this is called phonological processing.

Experts say that people with dyslexia have problems with phonological processing.

Diagnosing Dyslexia

If a parent, guardian or teacher suspects a child may have dyslexia, a professional evaluation
can lead to a better understanding of the problem and will more likely lead to effective treatment.

The test results may also open the door to more support for the child, he or she may
 become eligible for special education services, support programs, and services later on in
 colleges and universities.

The National Center for Learning and Disabilities⁹ says that people may be tested for
dyslexia at any age. The type of test and how it is carried out will vary, depending on the
age of the person
 and what problems they have.

When testing young children, the examiner will usually focus on phonological processing,
how well the child expresses himself/herself, their receptive language abilities, and their
ability to make
sound-symbol associations.

The International Dyslexia Association¹⁰ says a diagnostic test should cover the following areas:

• Background information.
• Intelligence.
• Oral language skills.
• Word recognition.
• Decoding - the ability to read new words by using letter-sound knowledge.
• Phonological processing.
• Automaticity/fluency skills.
• Reading comprehension.
• Vocabulary knowledge.
• Family history and early development.

During the assessment process, the examiner needs to be able to rule out other
 conditions, problems or illnesses which may show similar symptoms.
 Examples include vision problems, hearing impairment, lack of instruction, and social and
economic factors.

Diagnosing poor pre-reading skills with MRI scans - medical technology may soon be able
 to help in the early diagnosis of dyslexia. Scientists at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of
Technology) found
a link between the size of an area of the brain involved in language processing and poor
pre-reading skills
in kindergarten children.

What are the treatment options for Dyslexia?

It is important for family members and the person with dyslexia to remember that
DYSLEXIA IS NOT A DISEASE. We live in a society where reading and writing are
 integral parts of everyday life - interventions that help people with dyslexia are aimed
 at improving their coping skills.

There is currently no "cure" for dyslexia. There are, however, a range of specialist
and well targeted interventions that can help children and adults improve their reading and
writing skills.

The majority of children diagnosed with dyslexia will only need to miss a few hours of
their regular school classes each week to receive specialist educational support, which may
consist of one-on-one teaching or small-group classes.

In some cases, if the dyslexia is severe, moving the child to a specialist school
 may be advised. Unfortunately, such schools are not available everywhere.

The sooner a child is diagnosed and receives support, the more likely he or she will
 achieve long-term improvements.

Psychological testing helps the teacher develop a better-targeted teaching program for the
child.

A teacher who is trained in helping children with dyslexia will use a range of techniques to
improve the child's reading skills. These techniques usually involve tapping into the child's
senses, including
touch, vision and hearing.

Some children find that tracing their finger around the shape of letters helps them
process data more effectively.

The child will receive help in improving the following skills:

• Learning to recognize phonemes.
• Understanding that these phonemes are represented by letters or groups of letters
•  strung together.
• Reading out aloud.
• Vocabulary building.
• Reading comprehension.

It is vital for the child's self-esteem and personal ambition that he or she is reminded
 that even though reading and writing may be problem, millions of people with dyslexia
 worldwide have thrived
and become successful and productive citizens.

E-readers help people with dyslexia read better - a study performed at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Laboratory for Visual Learning and published
 in the journal PLoS
 ONE reported that e-readers can help people with dyslexia read more easily, more rapidly,
and with better
understanding.

Outlook (prognosis)

For individuals with dyslexia prognosis varies enormously. Dyslexia affects such a wide
range of people, producing different symptoms and varying degrees of severity, that predicting individual
 outcomes is extremely difficult.

Outcomes tend to be better for people who are diagnosed early and receive effective
 support from professionals and family members. Psychologists and teaching experts emphasize that
helping the child maintain good self-esteem and self-image is vital.

According to the Brain Foundation¹¹, Australia, "Although the outlook for people with dyslexia
 depends on the severity of their disorder, the majority live normal, productive lives."

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