Definition of Dyslexia

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By Nannette Richford
eHow Contributing Writer

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According to the World Federation of Neurology, dyslexia is "a disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and socio-cultural opportunity." It effects 4 percent of the general population and up to 10 percent of those who have parents with dyslexia. For many school children, dyslexia can cause difficulties in learning to read and write.

Misconceptions

It is a common belief among parents and the general population that children with dyslexia see words and numbers backwards and write them this way. Although repeated reversals in writing or spelling that occur for children over 7 or 8 years of age may be a sign of dyslexia, the problem is not a result of seeing things backwards.
It is believed that the difficulty lies in an impairment of the brain that causes difficulty in translating what is seen or heard into language.

Types

Dyslexia can take the form of visual dyslexia, which is likely to be characterized by reversals in numbers and letters. Writing letters or numbers in sequence is likely to be a difficult task and spelling may consist of transposed letters or word parts.
Auditory dyslexia is characterized by difficulty with sounds of letters or letter combinations. The child does not hear words correctly and may exhibit unusual pronunciations or use words incorrectly. Recalling the sequence of events in a story may pose extreme difficulty and remembering facts may be erratic. The child knows what he wants to say but may have difficulty with word retrieval, causing a great deal of frustration.

Effects

Difficulty with spacial relationships may result in the child being awkward or clumsy, struggling with sports and other childhood activities that involve physical performance.
Low self-esteem often develops as the child makes honest attempts to do his work, but the work is disorganized and often incomplete. He knows that he is smart but cannot communicate what he knows.
He may be shunned by peers because of his lack of physical skills.

Identification

A diagnosis of dyslexia involves a battery of tests completed by a psychological examiner. The examiner will also require a parent and teacher survey be completed to assist him in diagnosis.

Significance

Early intervention greatly increases the prognosis for a child with dyslexia. Once a diagnosis is made, a plan for specialized instruction will be developed by a team consisting of the examiner, the child's teacher, a special education teacher and the parent.

Prevention/Solution

Providing specialized instruction and maintaining the expectation that the child will succeed while rewarding efforts as well as successes will go a long way to assist the child in learning to overcome the challenges dyslexia imposes.