For the majority of us who don’t know what dyslexia is, understanding a dyslexic child could be difficult. Dyslexic children suffer from a learning disability which makes it difficult for them to process words and numbers properly. But it is more than that.
A Dyslexic finds it difficult to read, speak, and write words. Due to this, they have a poor speaking, writing, and reading ability. However, it would be wrong to regard Dyslexic people as less intelligent. In reality, they are extremely creative and intelligent people who prefer to think outside of the box.
What is Dyslexic?
The word ‘Dyslexic’ means a person with Dyslexia. Many people regard dyslexia as a disease. However, being dyslexic is not a disease. There is no bacteria or virus causing it. There is no genetic mutation whatsoever. There is no brain damage.
How to Test for Dyslexia
Dyslexia testing is done with an Educational Psychologist. There is quite a bit of controversy over what constitutes a dyslexic and if the should be labeled. Learn more about Dyslexia Testing and remediation at www.dyslexicstrategies.com
What Causes Dyslexia
For decades it caused professionals to wonder what the cause was. In recent years, better brain scanning equipment has been developed that can scan the active parts of the brain during reading. This allows professionals to see the difference in a good reader vs. a struggling reader. Neurologists have found that it is weaker areas of the brain in the language areas and connection to memory that are contributing to dyslexia and other reading disabilities. There is also weakness between the right and left hemisphere of the brain that makes comprehending difficult.
This is precisely the reason why it does not become automatic to them. They find reading and retaining letters and words such a tedious task.
The good news is, now they know what is causing it which is leading to some wonderful interventions that are helping children all over the world.
Auditory and Dyslexia
Many children have both dyslexia and auditory processing disorder. It is important to get your child into an audiologist that can test hearing and for auditory processing disorder. Helping one can improve the other. There are simple interventions for both.
What Problems do Dyslexic People Generally Face?
Most people believe that dyslexia causes the brain to perceive letters and numbers in a reverse order. However, reversals are one of the less common signs of Dyslexia and normal until around the age of 6. See the full list of Dyslexic Symptoms on our sister site.
Their reading ability is slower as compared to other students in the class. Dyslexic children mix up the letters in words. For example, they read the word “now” as “won”. The words seem to blend all together with no meanings as such. As a result, it is not shocking to see when students with dyslexia make basic spelling errors over and over again.
They also face a lot of problems while expressing themselves in writing and speaking. These negative aspects make the dyslexic students extremely self-conscious. They avoid participating in classrooms and often withdraw socially.
Another characteristic that is commonly observed among dyslexic children is their struggle to remember what they have read. Furthermore, solving basic math problems could be more problematic for dyslexic children.
What Positive Aspects Do Dyslexic People Have?
Dyslexics also exhibit amazing cognitive and intellectual strengths. Dyslexic people are great at analytic reasoning, spatial relations, critical thinking, lateral thinking, visual thinking, and creativity.
They can solve difficult problems with their strong reasoning ability and have a remarkable skill to look at problems from a different perspective. They also possess interests in creative fields like theater, music, and sports.
The key is to strengthen the parts of the brain that are functioning on a lower lever so the words and letters can be recognized, retained in memory and recalled instantly. This is why we are passionate about our movement to Solve Learning Disabilities.
