Dyslexi A Learning Disability Characterized By Difficulty

Discussions of dyslexia require a definition of the term, and this is where we can come into some confusion if we are not careful. In fact, the “problem” itself exists in the defining of the word, and thus the labeling of those to whom the definition applies. However, with some knowledge of the etiology of “dyslexia” we can begin to ply our beliefs off the population of “dyslexics” and start to gain some understanding of their experiences with language learning. This is, after all, the intention of this research. Guardiola (2001) also assisted in redirecting the academic focus in this direction, towards the etiology of the term and how its history has shaped current social work, education, neurobiology, and psychology perspectives.

     Dyslexia is a disorder in which someone has difficulty reading, which is not caused from a

However within the documentary there was no definition of dyslexia given; instead the documentary focused on dyslexia as a ‘myth’, stating that the term was coined hundreds of years ago because puzzled doctors could not understand why intelligent children failed to learn to read. The documentary focused on dyslexia as mainly an ‘emotional’ construct which is far from what current research suggests.

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

Gersons-Wolfensberger, D. & Ruijssenaars, W. (1997). Definition and Treatment of Dyslexia: A Report by the Committee on Dyslexia of the Health Council of the Netherlands. Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 30(2), 209-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002221949703000208

Dyslexia was first diagnosed in 1896: since then there have been many new developments in its diagnosis and treatment (French, 2013). Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects reading, writing, and spelling in children and adults. Depending on the individual the diagnosis of dyslexia can be mild or severe (French, 2013). The following word “cat”, is a simple word to read, however a dyslexic would read it “ Tac, act, tca, atc”. Now that was not as easy as reading it as a person with no dyslexic disorder. Oftentimes, dyslexics confuse the letters of a word, and they are turned around or jumbled up because they look too similar. Dyslexic Individuals have to put more energy and effort into reading and are more easily distracted than the average person. When a person has dyslexia, his/her brain takes longer to make connections, and he/she has trouble matching the letters on the page with the sounds the letters make. Christian Boer, a graduate of the Utrecht Art Academy, created a new font to make reading easier for people, like himself, who have dyslexia.

The term “dyslexia” was first introduced in 1887 by Dr. Rudolf Berlin when he suggested that difficulty with reading may be caused by “cerebral disease instead of brain injury” (Hennigh 1995).

When hearing the word Dyslexia what comes to mind? Nothing? Knowing the basic concepts about dyslexia can help teacher get a better understanding to help students improve and excel in school. It helps the students with improving their comprehension skills and getting a better grasp on phonics skills. Lastly, it can improve preparations for test and or quizzes. The problems caused by dyslexia will be reviewed with the goal of better understanding the condition so that we can better help students who have dyslexia improve in their reading comprehension skills, improve their ability to study better, and do better in school.

Lampkin (2015) describes Dyslexia as a common condition that affects the way the brain processes written and spoken language. However, Handler and Fierson (2011), go a bit deeper and define it as a receptive language-based learning disability that is characterized by difficulties with decoding, fluent word recognition, rapid automatic naming, and/or reading-comprehension skills. In short, Dyslexia is a complex reading disability that many children and adults suffer from.

Causes of dyslexia or reading disabilities have been hotly debated by researchers and educators. Knowledge regarding the causes of reading disabilities is important as they define the strategies that will used to help students with dyslexia learn. Dyslexia is caused by differences in the information processing patterns of learning disability students. Language and phonological skills have been found to be the main cause of reading problems. This paper presents a critique and summarizes a paper dealing with phonological skills and how they affect the ability to read. Besides this the paper will highlight the main findings of

Dyslexia is a widespread and well-known disease that affects many. First of all, some symptoms are difficulty comprehending spoken, written, and language (DCU). Secondly, some children can take special classes if the disease is severe. Dyslexia can be mild to severe (DCU) depending on which the child was born with. Children may have to see a phonics teacher for help. These classes teach children sounds of letters and how the letters look (Silverstein 30). Third, this disease affects all nationalities and all races (Silverstein 9). Surprisingly, in the United States, twenty percent of the current population has dyslexia (DCU). In addition, one in ten adults has dyslexia (Austin Learning). Dyslexia is sometimes connected to attention deficit disorder and short term memory (Silverstein 25). Most children with dyslexia learn best by sight and touch.

According to the International Dyslexia Association (n.d.), “15-20% of the population has a language-based learning disability. Of the students with specific learning disabilities receiving special education services, 70-80% have deficits in reading” Language-based learning disabilities affect and impacts an individual throughout their lives. One of the most common diagnosis is specific learning disorder with impairment in reading, which is commonly referred to as dyslexia. Patients with dyslexia usually experience difficulty in reading and writing. They are often confused when pronouncing words and phrases, and usually have difficulty in reading fluency, comprehension, writing, spelling, recognizing and processing certain types of information.

One might not believe when a group of doctors figured that kids can have difficulties reading, despite their intelligence quotient. This neurological disorder is called dyslexia. Now one might wonder: Why this name for a disorder like this one? The word dyslexia is derived from the ancient language of Greek, dys (meaning poor or inadequate) and lexis (words or language), which ultimately means inadequate with words or languages, which absolutely makes sense because people with dyslexia does have a hard time reading context.

There are a significant amount of people in the world today who have dyslexia, and most of those people don’t even realize they have it. Dyslexia is usually affiliated with having little intelligence or being considered slow, but neither of those assumptions are true. The word dyslexia comes from the Greek language. ‘Dys’ meaning impaired, and ‘lexis’ meaning word. When people hear the term, they will probably think of someone mixing up the letters ‘m’ and ‘w’ or the letters ‘f’ and ‘t’, but there is a lot more to the disability. Learning disabilities are extremely common, especially in children, but dyslexia is one that people hear about quite often. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that involves having trouble clarifying letters,

As incidences of identification of Learning Disabilities grows research into specific Learning Disabilities, such as Dyslexia, has increased. According to Shaywitz et al. (2002), “Dyslexia is characterized by an unexpected difficulty in reading in children and adults who otherwise possess the intelligence, motivation and schooling considered necessary for accurate and fluent reading” (p.101). Recent scientific evidence has accumulated surrounding a potential cause of Dyslexia. Multiple findings have indicated that adults with Dyslexia show a lack of activation in the parieto-occipital region of the left-brain hemisphere. The intention behind Shaywitzs’ 2002 study was to prove or disprove scientific evidence of these same brain activation patterns in young children with Dyslexia.