What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.
Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge. Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002. This Definition is also used by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Dyslexia is a lifelong condition that makes it difficult for people to read. It’s very common, although it’s not clear what percentage of kids have it. Some experts believe the number is between 5 and 10 percent. Others say as many as 17 percent of people show signs of reading challenges. The reason for the wide range is that experts may define dyslexia in different ways.
Dyslexia is mainly a problem with reading accurately and fluently. Kids with dyslexia may have trouble answering questions about something they’ve read. But when it’s read to them, they may have no difficulty at all.
Dyslexia can create difficulty with other skills, too. These include:
- Reading comprehension
- Spelling
- Writing
- Math
People sometimes believe dyslexia is a visual issue. They think of it as kids reversing letters or writing backwards. But dyslexia is not a problem with visionor with seeing letters in the wrong direction.
It’s important to know that while dyslexia impacts learning, it’s not a problem of intelligence. Kids with dyslexia are just as smart as their peers.
Kids don’t outgrow dyslexia. But there are supports, teaching approaches, and strategies to help them manage their challenges and thrive in school and beyond. There are countless dyslexia success stories, including actors, entrepreneurs, and elected officials with dyslexia. www.understood.org
Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia
The signs and symptoms of dyslexia vary from person to person. Listed are the most common signs at each stage of schooling.
Pre-School Years
- Trouble learning common nursery rhymes, such as “Jack and Jill”
- Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet
- Seems unable to recognize letters in his/her own name
- Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
- Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat
- A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties (dyslexia often runs in families)
Kindergarten and First Grade
- Trouble learning common nursery rhymes, such as “Jack and Jill”
- Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet
- Seems unable to recognize letters in his/her own name
- Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
- Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat
- A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties (dyslexia often runs in families)
Second Grade through High School
Reading
- Very slow in acquiring reading skills. Reading is slow and awkward
- Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild guesses because he cannot sound out the word
- Doesn’t seem to have a strategy for reading new words
- Avoids reading out loud
Speaking
- Searches for a specific word and ends up using vague language, such as “stuff” or “thing,” without naming the object
- Pauses, hesitates, and/or uses lots of “um’s” when speaking
- Confuses words that sound alike, such as saying “tornado” for “volcano,” substituting “lotion” for “ocean”
- Mispronunciation of long, unfamiliar or complicated words
- Seems to need extra time to respond to questions
School and Life
- Trouble remembering dates, names, telephone numbers, random lists
- Struggles to finish tests on time
- Extreme difficulty learning a foreign language
- Poor spelling
- Messy handwriting
- Low self-esteem that may not be immediately visible
Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia were taken from Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity ©Sally Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, p. 122