Causes, Symptoms and Difficulties Associated with Dyslexia

Dyslexics suffer from mental symptoms, such as low self esteem from being taunted and rejected by other people (73). They also have problems remembering things such as somebody's name (Bronswick 46). The people have physical symptoms also, so when they speak, they cannot find the right words to say (30) which makes them struggle in school with spelling and reading (Moragne 47). They may have trouble figuring out which letter makes which sound or they may mishear a word from directions and do something else by accident. They might also write words out of sequence in homework (25

Channel 4 Dispatches programme entitled ‘The Dyslexia Myth’¹ was aired in September 2005. The purpose of the documentary was to inform society of the proposed misconceptions and myths of the condition which affects 1 in 5 people. The programme details how the common understanding of the learning impairment is not only false, but how this particular diagnosis makes it harder for children with reading difficulties to receive help. The director of the documentary clearly wants to get across the message that dyslexia is a myth. The documentary has since faced a lot of backlash from the media and families affected by the developmental disorder.

On that basis the rationale behind this assignment is to further understand the term ‘dyslexia’, to consider the definition and diagnosis, as well as the barriers to learning it can generate. Consideration will also be given to the strategies that can be employed to assist learning, as well as promote the

Whenever you think of dyslexia, you may think of people confusing their left from their right or mixing run with fun or the number six with nine, but dyslexia is more than that.

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

Furthermore, students with dyslexia have trouble with understanding and hearing how sounds make up words in the spoken language, phonological memory and automaticity. Consequently, problems with these rudimentary processes result in subsequent issues with reading comprehension and written expression (Keller ISD, 2008). The TEA Dyslexia Handbook outlines the characteristics of dyslexia by grade level:

A child with dyslexia has difficulty recognizing words, spelling and decoding which may cause problems at school when reading or writing is involved. If a child with dyslexia is asked to read out loud they may be perceived as a slow reader and also labeled as less

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability in reading. Students with dyslexia have trouble reading accurately and fluently. Reading fluency is can be thought as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Children must be able to read fluently, whether they are reading aloud or silently because fluency influences the ability to understand what they have read. Children with dyslexia may also have trouble with reading comprehension, spelling and writing. Many people believe the misconception that dyslexia is just seeing the letters in reverse form or writing letters backwards. Dyslexia like many other learning disabilities is not something that can be cured or outgrown, but with the

Dyslexia is a disorder that makes it difficult to learn how to read or interpret words, letters, and/or symbols. This disorder does not affect the over all intelligence of the person who is diagnosed (“What Is Dyslexia”, 13). Having dyslexia does not mean you are dumb or slow. Dyslexia means you have some trouble fully understanding or interpreting what is written in front of you. Often times letters, numbers, and symbols may seem to be mixed up. For example, confusing the capitol letter E and seeing a 3 or mixing up a b with a d. Dyslexia is also not a visual disorder, which many falsely assume. Your brain has trouble deciphering what it is actually seeing. Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities and impacts up to 17% of

Dyslexia is one of of the many sad disabilities that makes learning harder. As many as forty million people suffer from dyslexia (“Helping Children Dyslexia”). Some people think that dyslexics are untalented or unintelligent. These facts are simply not true. Many dyslexics lack in reading and comprehension skills but, are very talented with arts, sciences, mathematics, and history (Clark 15). Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States and he had a mild form of Dyslexia.

This paper explores articles that inform about the condition of dyslexia, like the possible causes, the various signs and symptoms that can be noticed at different ranges of age, the skills affected by dyslexia and the different ways to improve affected skills, the ways to diagnose dyslexia and the importance of doing so, and last but not least, the different professional and un-professional help that can be provided to someone who lives with life-long condition of dyslexia.

Research suggests that while there is no cure for Dyslexia, students can adapt through multi-sensory instruction and become successful members of society (Allen, 2010). In order to instruct students with dyslexia, it is crucial that educators understand what dyslexia is, what causes it, and the steps to identifying a student who struggles with reading and shows signs of dyslexia (Allen, 2010). According to Allen (2010), of those who have identified as having a learning disability, 80% are affected by a reading disability. According to Dejerine, Dyslexia is suspected to be neurobiological in origin. This is confirmed by way of “functional magnetic resonance imaging (Allen, 2010).

Dyslexia is a learning disorder. It is difficult to read due to the the difficulty to speech sounds and learning how to relate

Dyslexia can affect different learners in different ways, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities.