What is Dyslexia?

The brain collects all of the messages from all your senses (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting), then uses them like clues to work out what is happening all around you.

If someone has dyslexia, some of the seeing and hearing messages get muddled up, and the brain can’t work things out correctly.

• This means that the person feels confused trying to work out what are the right messages.

• Dyslexia literally means having trouble with reading, but the word is often used for other problems such as spelling problems or trouble with maths.

• People who have dyslexia are often pretty smart or even super smart, so it is really frustrating for them to have problems in reading, spelling, listening and understanding.

Dyslexia is hard to define precisely because dyslexia often overlaps with other types of specific learning difficulties which can also affect spoken language and motor skills.

However, there are typical symptoms which should alert parents, teachers and others to the possibility that a child, or indeed an adult, has dyslexia.

How to recognise dyslexia in children.

First of all, it is important to exclude a range of other reasons why a child is having great difficulty in learning to read and write. These include poor eyesight, hearing difficulties, absence from school through ill health, inadequate or very interrupted schooling or emotional stress at home.

Hearing problems are particularly important. Many young children suffer ear infections and for a minority this is followed by a condition called glue ear. This can significantly reduce a child's hearing ability for a time.

Researchers have found that if children suffer from this condition around the age of two (when they are acquiring spoken language very rapidly) or around five (when they are beginning to learn the skills needed for reading), they are more likely to experience difficulties in learning to read. If they are dyslexic, these difficulties will certainly compound the problem.

Once these reasons have been ruled out, most experts would agree that there are signs even before children start school which indicate that they might be dyslexic. However, young children develop at different rates and it is important to remember this and allow for normal variation.

It is useful to question whether there is a history of reading or spelling difficulties in the family, although a family history does not mean that every child in the family will have dyslexia.

Parents who are concerned should also be aware of other problems that may arise. Some dyslexic children have difficulties finding the appropriate words to express themselves and may be slow to process information. Many such children may become isolated socially and find friendships difficult.

Other children may have motor difficulties. If they are generally clumsy or bad at sport they are often teased and excluded from playground games. Bullying can then be a problem.

It's always worth remembering that suitable help from a young age may prevent children from falling behind.

Experts disagree about which are the most important. However, the following are generally accepted as causes of concern.

Pre-school

Does your child:

• have a relatively short attention span?

• find it hard to remember nursery rhymes and rhyming words, like cat and hat?

• find it difficult to do 'odd one out' games with words?

• show little interest in words and letters even if he or she enjoys stories?

• mix up directional words like up and down, in and out?

• have difficulty putting objects into a sequence, such as coloured beads?

• jumble up letters or whole words in speech, such as saying beddy tear for teddy bear?

• have difficulties with physical skills like catching, throwing and kicking a ball, skipping, hopping, jumping and balancing?

At primary school

Watch out for a child who:

• is doing much less well than expected

• has marked and persistent difficulties with reading and spelling

• enjoys the content of stories and information read to him or her, but when attempting to read, over-uses the content to 'guess' at words

• writes letters and/or numbers the wrong way round

• takes a long time to complete any written work

• leaves letters out of words or puts them in the wrong order

• has difficulty remembering times tables or the alphabet, or putting things like the days of the week in order

• needs to use fingers or written marks to do simple calculations when other children are easily able to do them in their heads

• confuses left and right

• appears careless and inattentive

• has unusual difficulties in dressing or tying shoe-laces.

At secondary school

Is he or she:

• still reading unusually slowly or inaccurately?

• still having marked difficulties with spelling and legible handwriting?

• confusing places, times and dates?

• needing to have instructions and telephone numbers, etc, repeated?

• finding great difficulty in planning work and writing essays?

• taking much longer than other pupils over written assignments?

• having problems with note taking?

• producing disappointing results in exams?

• working inconsistently with marked 'on' and 'off' days?

Dyslexia and the education system

Before it was established that dyslexia was a distinct disability with identifiable features, many children and young people struggled through the education system without help. Some became convinced at an early age that they were failures.

In some cases their frustration led to more serious emotional problems or behavioural difficulties. Alienation and disillusionment could follow, sometimes leading to truancy and crime. Certainly the figures given for illiteracy and dyslexia in the surveys of prison populations suggest that unaddressed learning difficulties may contribute to offending behaviour.

Some children's problems may still go unacknowledged, but a greater recognition of specific learning difficulties means that access to additional help is now more readily available in mainstream education.

All children with dyslexia can benefit if their disability is identified early and appropriate help with reading and writing is provided.

Many mildly dyslexic young people find strategies to help them with their difficulties and cope well. For others, dyslexia becomes more of a problem as they progress through school.

Dyslexia is a life-long condition and people at the severe end of the spectrum are likely to need specialist help on a long-term basis as education throws up new challenges.

Dyslexia is one of the specific learning difficulties which may entitle a child to a Statement of special educational needs if the problem is sufficiently serious. (For further discussion about Special Educational Needs, see the section Does your child need special help? and the feature when a child has special educational needs in the children room of the health house.)

Dyslexia in adults

The diagnosis of dyslexia has been a hit-and-miss affair in the past. There are many adults with dyslexia who read and write far less well than they should. They probably feel disappointed and inadequate and may blame themselves unnecessarily.

It is important to stress that it is never too late to get help. The first thing is to identify the problem.

A checklist for adults

Answer 'yes' or 'no' to each question.

• Do you find it hard to follow a detailed discussion?

• Do you take much longer than most people to read a page in a book?

• Do you find it hard to work out sums in your head?

• Do you find it hard to get started on any written work?

• Is your spelling poor?

• When you have to say a long word, do you frequently find it difficult to get the sounds in the right order?

• Do you find it more difficult to fill in forms than others do?

• Do you frequently mix up bus numbers like 85 and 58?

• When you use the telephone, do you often make mistakes in dialling?

• Do you have more difficulty than others in taking and passing on phone messages?

• Do you frequently mix up dates and times and miss appointments?

If you answer 'yes' to many of these questions, and in particular those to do with reading and spelling, you may be dyslexic. You may feel angry that this wasn't recognised before or relieved that your difficulties may be linked to an identified condition and are not your fault.

How widespread is dyslexia?

About 13-14% of the school population nationwide has a handicapping condition that qualifies them for special education. Current studies indicate that one-half of all the students who qualify for special education are classified as having a learning disability (LD) (6-7%). About 85% of those LD students have a primary learning disability in reading and language processing. Nevertheless, many more people — perhaps as many as 15-20% of the population as a whole — have some of the symptoms of dyslexia, including slow or inaccurate reading, poor spelling, poor writing, or mixing up similar words. Not all of these will qualify for special education, but they are likely to struggle with many aspects of academic learning and are likely to benefit from systematic, explicit, instruction in reading, writing, and language.

Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels. People who are very bright can be dyslexic. They are often capable or even gifted in areas that do not require strong language skills, such as art, computer science, design, drama, electronics, math, mechanics, music, physics, sales, and sports.

In addition, dyslexia runs in families; dyslexic parents are very likely to have children who are dyslexic. Some people are identified as dyslexic early in their lives, but for others, their dyslexia goes unidentified until they get older.

What are the effects of dyslexia?

The impact that dyslexia has is different for each person and depends on the severity of the condition and the effectiveness of instruction or remediation. The core difficulty is with word recognition and reading fluency, spelling, and writing. Some dyslexics manage to learn early reading and spelling tasks, especially with excellent instruction, but later experience their most debilitating problems when more complex language skills are required, such as grammar, understanding textbook material, and writing essays.

People with dyslexia can also have problems with spoken language, even after they have been exposed to good language models in their homes and good language instruction in school. They may find it difficult to express themselves clearly, or to fully comprehend what others mean when they speak. Such language problems are often difficult to recognize, but they can lead to major problems in school, in the workplace, and in relating to other people. The effects of dyslexia reach well beyond the classroom.

Dyslexia can also affect a person's self-image. Students with dyslexia often end up feeling «dumb» and less capable than they actually are. After experiencing a great deal of stress due to academic problems, a student may become discouraged about continuing in school.

How is dyslexia treated?

Dyslexia is a life-long condition. With proper help, many people with dyslexia can learn to read and write well. Early identification and treatment is the key to helping dyslexics achieve in school and in life. Most people with dyslexia need help from a teacher, tutor, or therapist specially trained in using a multisensory, structured language approach. It is important for these individuals to be taught by a systematic and explicit method that involves several senses (hearing, seeing, touching) at the same time. Many individuals with dyslexia need one-on-one help so that they can move forward at their own pace. In addition, students with dyslexia often need a great deal of structured practice and immediate, corrective feedback to develop automatic word recognition skills. For students with dyslexia, it is helpful if their outside academic therapists work closely with classroom teachers.

Schools can implement academic accommodations and modifications to help dyslexic students succeed. For example, a student with dyslexia can be given extra time to complete tasks, help with taking notes, and work assignments that are modified appropriately. Teachers can give taped tests or allow dyslexic students to use alternative means of assessment. Students can benefit from listening to books on tape, using text reading computer programs, and from writing on computers.

Students may also need help with emotional issues that sometimes arise as a consequence of difficulties in school. Mental health specialists can help students cope with their struggles.