What Is Dyslexia?
Prior to the researching done in the 1980s by the National Institutes of Health, there was only one exclusive definition of dyslexia. If it was noticed that a child had difficulty in reading and this could not be explained because of below average intelligence, weak eyesight, defective hearing or insufficient opportunities to pursue education, then it was thought that the child must be dyslexic.
The explanation did not satisfy either the parents or the teachers; the researches too were unhappy with it. Today there are three distinct definitions for dyslexia.
Dyslexia is something that is inherited by the child that makes reading, writing and spelling in their mother tongue very difficult for the afflicted although the intelligence of the child is average.
Dyslexia – What Increases Your Risk:
There is only one recognized risk factor pertaining to dyslexia – to have either a parent or a sibling in this condition. Research shows that dyslexia is not partial towards any gender.
Symptoms of Dyslexia:
Disclaimer: There are no two persons with exactly the same type of dyslexia because its intensity swings from the mild to the acute; sometimes it is profound. Some dyslexics are also burdened with AD/HD.
The symptoms enumerated below show that the child may be dyslexic and therefore require extra assistance from Dyslexia Treatment Centre. Some of the symptoms are enumerated. It is rare for all of these to be present in one person.
1. Reading Difficulties: For some reading can be slow and tiring as well as erroneous. Some parents say “their child is really struggling with their reading.” It is also said that they have noticed their child to be careless and finding it difficult to manage the big words; moreover they repeatedly make the same mistakes even on small words.
2. Spelling problems: The child finds it difficult to remember the right spelling.
3. Poor writing and grammar: Poor handwriting is a common problem with some dyslexics. It is known as dysgraphia.
4. Poor mathematical skills: For some mathematics becomes something impossible. It seems totally alien and might never be grasped even when the dyslexic child becomes an adult. This may lead to inferiority complex.
5. Concentration: The dyslexic suffers from attention problems and cannot stay focused on any subject for a span of time.
6. Memory lapses: Dyslexics tend to forget some things easily and quickly while retaining other things in their memory. For instance they go upstairs but forget why they have gone there.
7. Balance or co-ordination problems: The dyslexic tends to be clumsy and faces difficulties in taking part in some sports.
8. Fear and anxiety of learning:
9. Low self-esteem and under-achieving: Many of the dyslexics are erroneously called “thick”, “stupid” and even “lazy”. But this is incorrect. Nearly all those who attended the Dyslexia Treatment Centre are much brighter than what others had previously estimated. The parents are often overcome by a feeling of helplessness – they feel inadequate to be of assistance to their child. This leads to a feeling of frustration amongst both the parents and the child.
- Directional Confusion: This phenomenon takes on many types. The dyslexic is sometimes confused about what is left and what is right. Some say this is why they write letters in reverse order and confuse numbers. It is often referred to as mirror-writing.
- Sequence difficulties: This can become a significant problem with some dyslexics. They fail to grasp the sequence of remembering. This invariably affects their reading and writing capabilities adversely.
