Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty in reading and despite normal intelligence. It is also known as reading disorder or alexia. It is important to remember that dyslexia is a persistent chronic condition in growing children and it does not represent a transient developmental lag.

Dyslexia is a language-based Learning Disorder in which the child has problem with reading, word spellings and written expressions. It affects 4 out of every 5 children diagnosed with a learning disorder and dyslexia is first noticed at school. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability and occurs in all areas of the world.

Dyslexia is certainly not caused primarily by cultural, educational, environmental and socioeconomic factors or by mental deficiencies, visual or hearing impairments or emotional disturbances. In fact, it is an important cause of poor school achievement in children.

Causes and Risk Factors

1. First-degree relative with Dyslexia (Familial)
2. Dyslexia that begins in early childhood is called ‘developmental dyslexia’
3. Family history of dyslexia or learning disability
4. Premature birth or low birth weight
5. Genetic and environmental factors
6. About 23-65% of children with dyslexia have a parent reported to have dyslexia
7. Dyslexia that develops due to a traumatic brain injury, stroke, or dementia is called ‘acquired dyslexia’.

The underlying mechanisms of dyslexia are problems within the brain's language processing abilities. The important clues to dyslexia in school-age children are delayed language, trouble in rhyming words, mispronunciations, hesitations and word-finding difficulties.

Symptoms

Before school: The early signs in a young child who may be at risk of dyslexia include:

During School: A person with dyslexia may have difficulties reading aloud. The signs of dyslexia in children at school include:

• The condition often becomes apparent as a child starts learning to read. The child’s phonographic awareness is poor, e.g. identifying the word that would remain if a particular sound was removed; if the ‘k’ sound was taken away from ‘cat’. The child’s reading is slower inaccurate and labored.
• Dyslexic children also have difficulties in learning letters of the alphabet and names of numbers as well as association of sounds with letters.
• The word spellings are also poor with presence of letter reversal. Such children perform poorly when told to a name compared to pointing to the pictured item.
• Problems persist into adolescence and adulthood and may include difficulties with summarizing stories, memorization, reading aloud or learning foreign languages.

Diagnosis

Dyslexia is a neurological issue and it can run in families. It is not the result of poor teaching, instruction, or upbringing of the growing child. People affected with dyslexia are most likely to receive a diagnosis as children or young adults.

Diagnosis of dyslexia is based upon history and tests of reading, spellings and cognitive abilities. No single test score is diagnostic for dyslexia. Early identification is warranted for early intervention.

Best early predictors of later reading skills are print-specific knowledge and abilities of letter identification and concepts of print.

Treatment

Dyslexia is a learning difference that creates challenges in reading and writing. Treatment of dyslexia involves adjusting teaching methods to meet the child’s needs. While not curing the underlying problem, it may decrease the degree or impact of symptoms.