Dyslexia

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words.

·        Affects reading and related language-based processing skills.

The severity of this specific learning disability can differ in each individual but can affect reading fluency, decoding, reading comprehension, recall, writing, spelling, and sometimes speech and can exist along with other related disorders.

 Dyslexia is sometimes referred to as a Language-Based Learning Disability.

Causes of dyslexia

The exact causes of dyslexia are still not completely clear, but anatomical and brain imagery studies show differences in the way the brain of a dyslexic person develops and functions. Moreover, most people with dyslexia have been found to have problems with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds, a key factor in their reading difficulties. Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn; with appropriate teaching methods, dyslexics can learn successfully.

Dyslexia diagnosed Before referring a student for a comprehensive evaluation, a school or district may choose to track a student's progress with a brief screening test and identify whether the student is progressing at a "benchmark" level that predicts success in reading.

Signs and Symptoms

·        Reads slowly and painfully

·        Experiences decoding errors, especially with the order of letters

·        Shows wide disparity between listening comprehension and reading comprehension of some text

·        Has trouble with spelling

·        May have difficulty with handwriting

·        Exhibits difficulty recalling known words

·        Has difficulty with written language

·        May experience difficulty with math computations

·        Decoding real words is better than nonsense words

·        Substitutes one small sight word for another: a, I, he, the, there, was

Strategies

·        Provide a quiet area for activities like reading, answering comprehension questions

·        Use books on tape

·        Use books with large print and big spaces between lines

·        Provide a copy of lecture notes

·        Don’t count spelling on history, science or other similar tests

·        Allow alternative forms for book reports

·        Allow the use of a laptop or other computer for in-class essays

·        Use multi-sensory teaching methods,

·        Present material in small units

·        Teach students to use logic rather than rote memory.