Dyslexia Essay

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines dyslexia as a disorder in the brain that makes it difficult for an individual to write, read, and spell. People who have been diagnosed with the learning disability are often thought to be “lazy, dumb, careless, ‘not trying hard enough,’ or [have] behavior problems” according to Ronald D. Davis, founder of the Davis Dyslexia Correction Center.

This means that if a parent has dyslexia, their children will have a greater chance of having the disorder as well. The same essay states that current studies suggest that 15-20% of the U.S. population has a reading disability, and of those 85% have dyslexia. Most of this data is obtained once a child has entered school and reached the age of 9, where reading becomes more vigorous. Most children with dyslexia can learn methods to assist them with their disability and read more fluently, but only if the learning disability is identified, recognized, and treated accurately. Even though dyslexia is a common disorder, obtaining a diagnosis can be difficult because schools are reluctant to spend the money or resources needed to test their

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.

Several studies have shown that when dyslexia is undiagnosed, it can cause a lot of frustrations and anxieties in the individuals involved (Riddick & Edwards as cited in Glazzard, 2012). Dyslexia is a ‘hidden’ disability, as there are no obvious external signs for people to recognize (Riddick as cited in Glazzard, 2012). It is not like some other disabilities, as for example down syndrome, or cerebral palsy which people can recognize from the moment they see them. People can get confused and assume different reasons for the children’s poor performance in school. That is why, when dyslexia is undiagnosed, the characteristics like ‘stupid’, ‘thick’, and ‘lazy’ are commonly used to describe students with dyslexia. People who are not aware about dyslexia cannot find any other explanations for them who are not doing well at school. Lack of assessment may result in low self-esteem compared to non-dyslexic students (Humphrey as cited in Glazzard, 2012 ). On the other hand, lack of appropriate help and support can have long-term effects for people with dyslexia when reaching adulthood (Morgan & Klein,

Dyslexia is the term used to describe a cognitive disability in learning that affects reading, writing and communication despite an average level of intelligence and an equal access to education. (Le Jan et al., 2010). Dyslexia is commonly used as a blanket term that covers many smaller forms of cognitive impairment including surface dyslexia, phonological dyslexia, hyperlexia, letter identification dyslexia and letter position dyslexia. Most dyslexics suffer from multiple forms of these specific dyslexias and cases of pure developmental dyslexia are quite rare. (Castles, Bates, & Coltheart, 2006).

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.

According to the Dyslexia & Learning Disability Centre in Las Vegas, Dyslexia is an ability within the sensory mechanism of the nervous system to perceive the world with a multidimensional view. However it comes with poor word reading, word decoding, oral reading fluency and spelling. Though with appropriate teaching methods, dyslexic individuals can learn successfully throughout their lives. Also, when properly trained and informed, a dyslexic can use their

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

Someone that is growing up with this problem they are having to reteach their self own brain to be able to learn some of the same things that a normal child can do really easy. About “65-80% of school aged children with a learning disabilities. Dyslexia is not something that people just randomly get they are born with it. The background from dyslexia comes from the genes and heredity from families. In Lapkin article it shows that “49 percent of parents with kids with dyslexia may have it too”. Most parents do not realize they have it and are struggling to understand why that their child have dyslexia. But in most cases they parents or family members are the one that are passing it down to their kid or family. In most cases the parents of a child that has dyslexia may not now they have dyslexia until they are having to go through it with their children and really learning about it. The article on Understanding Dyslexia it also show that 40% of siblings with dyslexia may have the same problem on learning. But not all sibling may have dyslexia or some can struggling in diffrent way with

Ten to fifteen percent of people in the U.S have learning disabilities with dyslexia being the most common. Dyslexia has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence just a different style of learning with new learning techniques. There are different cases of dyslexia ranging from mild to severe. Most cases involve the struggle of reading and writing comprehension. They might have difficulty in processing the information they see when looking at the word, a type of brain processing.

People with dyslexia are slow, but that doesn’t mean that they are not intelligent. I think that people with this disorder have the most creative and outgoing minds in the world. People with dyslexia may have intelligent levels over one hundred. Brilliant mind come with brilliant ideas. Athletes, writers, actors, and even characters have or had dyslexia. Here are some of the brilliant minds you may know: Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Mozart, John Lennon, Tom Cruise, Magic Johnson, and Walt Disney. All of these dyslexics have come to be some of the greatest minds and just look were that put them. Don’t put people with dyslexia down encourage then to go on because some day they could do great things for are world. (Sollier)

Growing, developing and learning are the facts of life for all children. Each day children are faced with many new concepts and various challenges. Can you imagine how it feels for a child to face not only new challenges life has, but to face these challenges while living with a learning disability? These challenges are met not just when they begin school either. Students suffer from learning disabilities from the moment they begin learning, not when they start school. Learning disabilities are real and they affect millions of people. “One such disability that affects over approximately 15 percent of the total American population is dyslexia” ( Nosek 5).

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