What is dyslexia?
What To Do If You Suspect Your Child Has Dyslexia?
What Causes Dyslexia?
According to the International Dyslexia Association, “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
Teacher preparation programs do not include dyslexia and other language based learning disabilities as a part of their teacher preparation programs. Therefore, since teachers do not have an understanding of children with language based learning disabilities such as dyslexia, students are often viewed as not very smart or lazy. Parents who are concerned about their children’s reading abilities are often told the student needs to try harder or they will grow out of it. These are neuromyths which are commonly held false beliefs about how the mind and brain function. It is very important to know that the earlier a child is diagnosed and receives intervention the better the outcome. In fact children who receive evidence-based reading interventions before third grade have a 90% chance of remediating their reading disorder commensurate with their intellectual abilities. However, if a child receives intervention after 3rd grade remediation drops to 50%. Once a child is diagnosed with dyslexia it is imperative they receive evidence-based intervention based on the science of reading. The science of reading is reading instruction that is based upon a systematic and explicit understanding of language structures, including phonemic awareness. This reading instruction goes by many names, Structured Literacy, Orton-Gillingham, Simultaneous Multisensory, Explicit Phonics, and others.
Dyslexia presents differently in each student and can affect reading rate, reading accuracy, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and spelling. Since dyslexia is a language-based learning disability, many students can have difficulties with word retrieval, grammar and written language. Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person’s life. It is referred to as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed in school without evidence-based reading instruction that is unavailable in most public and private schools.
If you suspect your child has dyslexia or some other language based learning disability, it is very important that you seek an evaluation. You can request an assessment through the local public school system. This is typically referred to as a Psychoeducational Assessment. If your child is diagnosed with a specific learning disability such as dyslexia, they may qualify for an Inidividualized Education Plan (IEP). This would allow for them to receive services. However, given the complexity and variation in the presentation of dyslexia, public school specialists are not rigorously trained in evidence-based interventions. Therefore, the remediation they provide is less than optimal. Private assessments are preferred as neuropsychologists, educational psychologists and speech/language pathologists have much more training and specialization in diagnosis of language based learning disabilities such as dyslexia. It should be noted that all professionals are trained differently. It is only through extensive continuing education, frequent review of the cognitive science literature and ongoing training, that a professional gains the type of expertise to diagnose and appropriately treat 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 person with dyslexia develops and functions. Moreover, most people with dyslexia have been found to have difficulty with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds which is a key factor in their reading difficulties. Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn. With appropriate teaching methods, individuals with dyslexia can learn to read so they can read to learn.
What is Dyslexia?
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