Biological Factors Dyslexia

Today, there is a momentum towards researching the possible hereditary influences of developmental dyslexia. As recently as 2013, The Oxford Dictionary of Social Work and Social Care considers that there is an “inherited component” to dyslexia. (Harris & White, 2013, p. 179) Today’s social work perspective is more flexible with the term itself, as it is considered by to incorporate a range of difficulties with lexical information-processing. However, The Oxford Dictionary does not provide a context for these “difficulties” as they are experienced by the language-learner, and therefore seems to support (perhaps unwittingly) the notion that there is a so-called “normal” way for a person to learn language. Blachman (2013) advances a more orthographical conceptualization of dyslexia, whereby the dyslexic language learner defies common literacy principles in favor of their own. These tend to be more visually-oriented, so that a picture or a feeling is associated with an entire word, as opposed to the sound-to-syllable associations learners are “supposed” to

The cause of dyslexia is not completely known. One of the most widely recognized theories is that dyslexia is a genetically based neurological problem. It has also been argued that dyslexia could be caused during early fetal development. Some researchers have suggested that problems with dyslexia may be caused by defects in the inner ear that cause problems with word and sound decoding. Researchers continue to look for the cause of dyslexia, a possible cure, and ways to cope with the disorder (Wood Grigorenko 503-11).

There is often a child in a class that cannot read, spell, speak, or do math as well as they should for their age level. He or she grows up thinking they are stupid, or are going to be unsuccessful in life because they are not “smart” like their classmates. He or she is not stupid, they are usually incredibly smart, and are possibly just dealing with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a type of learning difference that can affect a person’s ability to read, write, speak, and do math. Dyslexia is very common, with one out of every five U.S. school children suffering from dyslexia. Dyslexic children often discover that their parents or a close relative also have some form of learning disability, supporting the idea that dyslexia is hereditary. Dyslexia is

According to Hull Learning Services (2013), dyslexia continues to be a subject of great debate. The word dyslexia is originated from the Greek dys- meaning ‘difficult’ and -lexia meaning to do with language. There are multiple definitions of dyslexia, because the matter in which in manifest in children and adults vary greatly. Definitions of dyslexia often focus on difficulties with the processes of writing, reading, spelling and general organization of everyday tasks. Dyslexia has been defined as the inability to acquire literacy despite normal intelligence. Other definitions have described dyslexia in terms of a list of symptoms. The symptoms often included are laterality problems; reversals in numbers, letters and/or words; reading

The most recent definition of Dyslexia was published in the DSM-52 as a specific learning disorder; ‘a pattern of difficulties characterised by problems with accurate or fluent word recognition, poor decoding and poor spelling abilities. Dyslexia is understood to be a genetic disorder as many family risk studies on dyslexia have proven3; there is a 50% risk that a child will develop reading difficulties if they have a parent with dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a term regularly bandied about the educational community and is a word that is likely to have been heard by most of the general public. For all its popularity, dyslexia is a term that is shrouded in confusion and ambiguity. This confusion was experienced first hand during SE1 and has been observed as something trainee teachers and teachers alike encounter regularly (PLL, 5/11/11], Appendix 1, pg2).

Dyslexia is a neurological condition that affects ≈15% of the world's population (Ramus et. al, 2013). It is defined as a difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols (Pauc, 2015). This disability is associated with struggles in reading-related tasks such as word identification and spelling in spite of normal intelligence, adequate education and motivation to read proficiently (Ma et.al, 2014). People with dyslexia possess difficulties in taking notes, writing essays, finishing letters or reports, and showing their level of understanding in exams. The right hemisphere is impaired in a dyslexic's brain, which is responsible for speech and reading, and because of this, they have to rely on the left

Shaywitz, S. & Shaywitz, B. (2005). Dyslexia (Specific Reading Disability). Biological Psychiatry, 57(11), 1301-1309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.01.043

Since dyslexia is a neurological condition along with difficulties with different aspects of reading dyslexia can have cognitive aspects as well, such as speech perception, recognizing and manipulating the basic sounds in a language, language memory, and learning the sounds of the letters (citation). All in all, up to 10% of the population is predicted to have some form of dyslexia therefore it is imperative that educators are able to identify these students and know strategies that can help them early on in their formal

“Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability” (“Frequently Asked Questions”). It makes reading, writing, comprehending, summarizing, spelling, and many other things that involve words and letters difficult. Some people with it may even struggle with math while others could be astounding at it. Dyslexia is not a form of retardation, but sadly 80% of people associate dyslexia with some form of retardation (“Dyslexia Facts and Statistics”). In most cases, dyslexia is genetic, but researchers still do not know how it is caused, passed down, or generated with or without a genetic past (“Frequently Asked Questions”). Dyslexia will never go away, so people with it will have to learn to overcome it.

Genetic causes of dyslexia - a team at the Yale School of Medicine found that defects in a gene, known as DCDC2, were associated with problems in reading performance.

The National Centre for Learning Disabilities says that dyslexia is a neurological and often genetic condition, and not the result of poor teaching, instruction or upbringing. Dyslexia is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain's processing of graphic symbols according to the MNT Knowledge Centre. 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.

Dyslexia is a lifelong struggle with constant challenges with reading and speaking. About five to ten percent of the United States population deals with the learning disorder dyslexia (Van den Honert, n.d.). It is a neurological condition that is mainly caused by genetics but there are some rare cases in which it is acquired. Dyslexia interrupts the normal processes of reading and speaking (Van den Honert, n.d.). All of which are used in daily life and this makes life and school so much harder for dyslexics. They must learn to live with the condition for their entire life and there is not really a treatment for it. With the constant struggle and reminder of their

Of the three previously mentioned diseases, Dyslexia impairs a person’s ability to read, write, and spell (NINDS 2003). Although they are of normal intelligence, their reading level is below average. They will usually have “trouble with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds) and/or rapid visual-verbal responding.” (NINDS 2003). Children with dyslexia complain they cannot read their textbooks, do not have enough time to finish tests, cannot take notes, and are unable to read their own handwriting (GVSU 2000). Dyslexia does not affect every person the same way, and signs of the disorder may not be prevalent until later, when grammar and more in-depth writing skills are introduced. Dyslexia can also create a difficulty in processing vocabulary and thoughts correctly when speaking, and understanding what one says when they are spoken to. Dysgraphia is another neurological disorder that focuses on writing. When a child with this disorder is first introduced to writing, they will make unnecessary spaces between their letters, and some letters will be

One of my primary focuses was to find out how different literatures dealt with Dyslexia and how best to support the child. Dyslexia can be described from a number of different perspectives as we see in Ball et al (2007) who explain that it can be “how one learns (Cognition), what parts of the brain are involved (neurology), what genes are involved (genetics) and behaviour (p14). Their book entitled ‘Dyslexia: An Irish perspective’ is very relevant to my research as it gives a great insight into the history of the special education sector in Ireland. It also looks into some of the key debates that are facing the educational sector today.