Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a learning disorder which can differ in severity and majorly affects an individuals reading fluency, reading comprehension, writing, spelling, general vocabulary skills and sometimes speech. These issues in reading and comprehension have been identified to be resulting from problems in identifying speech sounds and decoding how they relate to letters and words. Their intelligence is not lacking in any manner and they often have normal vision but require more effort in deciphering words and connecting what they hear to what they see. Similar to other learning disorders, there is no cure for dyslexia, and it is also possible for it to go undiagnosed for years, but early assessment and intervention can give the best possible scenario.

This disorder becomes apparent in children by the age of 6 or 7 and often kids are diagnosed in 2nd or 3rd Grade. However, this does not mean that the disorder cannot be diagnosed at a later age, such as in middle or high school. The disorder is linked to genes, ergo being a hereditary disorder that can be tracked within a family tree and is said to stem from differences in the language processing areas of the brain. The rates of dyslexia within a country vary with respect to the native language, for example, a language where the same meaningful sounds can be spelled in a limited number of ways like Italian will have lower rates of dyslexia. Meanwhile, languages where the sound to letter combination is vaster and more differentiated, like in the case of English and French speakers, rates are likely to be much higher.

The symptoms can be slightly different according to the age group of the subject, but there are some commonly observed signs that can be observed easily. Children with this learning disorder may struggle to organize or even recognize basic words that they read, or they may read at an abnormally slow or halting pace. While reading, they often face great difficulty, and may distort, omit or substitute words while reading out loud. They may also perceive letters incorrectly by seeing them as upside down, like being puzzled between m and w, or in reversed images, like d for b.