Understanding Dyslexia
Dyslexia is believed to be a neurological condition. The brain has trouble processing images that come in through the eyes and the ears, and then changing them into words. Lack of intelligence is not an issue. Many dyslexics are of average or above average intelligence.
A dyslexic may reverse letters and numbers. Left and right may be confused. They may jumble the letters in a word, saying "nap" instead of "pan".
They may find it hard to write or print. They may not understand what they have read or heard. They may have difficulty writing their thoughts.
It should be noted that very young children may often display these difficulties but also may outgrow them by about age eight. This is very common, and happens to many children. But those who do not outgrow this problem may have dyslexia.
There are three main types of dyslexia: trauma dyslexia, primary dyslexia, and developmental dyslexia.
Trauma dyslexia is what it sounds like. The person has suffered a brain injury which affects the part of the brain that presides over reading, writing and comprehension.
Primary dyslexia is a dysfunction in the left side of the brain, which prevents the person from ever being able to read beyond a grade school level. These folks will always have trouble reading, spelling and writing. This form of dyslexia can be inherited and happens more often in boys than girls.
Developmental dyslexia is caused by a hormone complication during development in the womb. It decreases as the child grows older. It is also found more often in boys.
Dyslexia involves the visual and auditory pathways. Visual problems cause numbers and letters to be reversed, and it is hard to write out what is seen in the proper order. Auditory dyslexia causes difficulty in processing and translating the sounds of words.
Dyslexia can also affect the ability to hold and use a pencil or pen to write or to print. This particular difficulty is known as dysgraphia.
While dyslexia is a difficult condition to deal with, all is not lost. There is a positive side. Many dyslexics, despite problems with processing language, are visual, intuitive and creative.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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Nice, succint piece - my best friend is dyslexic and she was given a really hard time at school, by parents and fellow pupils alike, so it's nice to find people trying to dispel the myths and correct the misconceptions.
December 16, 2009 - 9:07amOne of the things I find most frustrating about a lot of people's view of dyslexia is that there is a single underlying cause that is present in & responsible for all cases: it is just not true. And if you don't know what specific caus elies behind a particular person's reading difficulty, it is very hard to do anything to help them progress towards fulfilling their potential.
There's an article here about the various causal factors involved in reading difficulty:
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-7-Causes-of-Reading-Difficulty-and-Dyslexi...
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Interesting piece and it's correct to highlight the benefits of dyslexia. As this talk from Oxoford University's Professor John Stein points out there are advantages that dyslexics have: http://www.dystalk.com/talks/89-the-dyslexia-benefits
He's also done an interesting talk on the causes of dyslexia: http://www.dystalk.com/talks/86-what-causes-dyslexia
December 18, 2009 - 3:24am