When most people think about Dyslexia, they think of a childhood disorder. The truth is that many adults have dyslexia since it is not something you grow out of. Most adults have learned to cope with the symptoms, but they still have the disorder.
Dyslexia causes the brain to have trouble processing symbols and recognizing that they have meaning. This can cause severe disruption in the reading, or learning to read, process. It can also cause major issues with math. This is just one type of learning disability. There are several others that the physician should rule out before diagnosing a child to be Dyslexic.
Dyslexia is not connected to mental retardation or low IQ.
Many people who are Dyslexic have average, above average, or even exceptional intelligence. This disorder relates to processing one type of information. Dyslexic people still have the functionality to process complex ideas, think rationally, and learn high-level concepts.
Symptomology
- A child may have trouble viewing the alphabet, and verbalizing the sound that goes with each letter. Many times this is the first signal that there may be a problem.
- They may also have problems understanding a simple sentence and cannot explain the meaning.
- Rhyming words can be especially difficult, since the words may be very similar.
- Frustration learning to recognize “sight” words or other symbols in school can result in behavior problems.
- The dyslexic child may also have trouble in math since symbols are the main processing problem.
- Dyslexic children may have trouble writing on a line, or words may be scattered throughout the page.
Visual or Auditory Dyslexia?
Dyslexia may be visual or auditory. A patient who has visual dyslexia reverses numbers or letters in words. Symbols just don’t end up in the right order. Auditory Dyslexia causes sounds to be interpreted incorrectly. This patient has trouble identifying letters or groups of letters by sound. The spoken sounds sometimes are described as jumbled.
Alphabet or numbers that are written backwards or out of order may be an early sign that a teacher may alert you to. However, this is very common in young children, and they should not be allowed to tag your child at this stage.
Dyslexic Emotional Problems
A major problem with dyslexic children is anxiety and depression. They may become disruptive in class and at home. They may turn in incomplete work or refuse to work at all to cover up the problems they are having understanding the work. The child may also become withdrawn. Parent intervention is crucial at this stage. The parent needs to keep the lines of communication open, and the child needs to feel like they can tell their parent anything.
The school can help parents understand what testing should be done, and what help is available. To overcome Dyslexia, it is critical to do whatever it takes to protect the child’s self-esteem and confidence.
Dyslexia Causes
The causes of Dyslexia are not completely understood, and there are a lot researchers working on the issue. It is believed to have some genetic links. Though a dyslexic child will need to work hard to overcome the disorder, it is important to not push them to the point of adding to their stress. The increased stress just makes their problem worse.
There are new ways being developed of teaching these kids so that they progress, and at the same time preserves their dignity. If you suspect that your child has Dyslexia, look into the more successful teaching methods and make sure your child’s school utilizes them.
As a parent, make it a point to keep up with all of the new research being done. If your child is Dyslexic, they have the ability to grow up as happy and intelligent as any other child does.
