Decoding dyslexia

DECODING DYSLEXIA

First recognized in the late 1800s, dyslexia is a reading disorder that makes it difficult for people to process letters into sounds and words—a skill sometimes called reading fluency. Dyslexia affects about 15 percent of people in the United States and is found in all societies globally. 

Though it’s first noticed in childhood (because that’s when most people first learn to read), dyslexia is a life-long condition; people learn skills to work around it. It occurs among people who speak and read all languages (including those that don’t use the western alphabet), in locations on all continents. 

Research has found a statistical correlation between dyslexia and certain learning disabilities, especially Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). That doesn’t mean one condition causes the other. It just means that they sometimes co-occur: a person diagnosed with dyslexia might be also be diagnosed with a learning disability.

What dyslexia is—and isn’t

Dyslexia is widely misunderstood—and sometimes misdiagnosed. People with dyslexia might be wrongly described initially as having:

• poor vision

• low intelligence

• laziness

• bad upbringing

• lack of motivation

• exposure to environmental hazards like lead poisoning

Because it affects a basic skill, reading fluency, dyslexia can be mistaken for other problems associated with reading deficits. Like comprehension, understanding, spelling, math and writing. 

Diagnosing dyslexia

The only way to get a definitive diagnosis is with a professional evaluation in a medical or educational setting. If you’re concerned that someone might be dyslexic, try this tip with someone who has trouble understanding a sentence they read on a page: Try reading the same sentence to them out loud. If they understand the same sentence in spoken form, it’s worth evaluating. 

As children age, the signs of possible dyslexia may progress. In preschoolers, signs might include:

• mispronouncing words

• problems following step-by-step instructions 

• trouble learning rhyming patterns like poems and song lyrics

• trouble with sequences of letters or numbers

• using “wiggle words” for objects they know (e.g., calling a baseball a “thing”)

In grade school, signs can include:

• avoiding reading whenever possible

• confusion about the sounds of individual letters

• forgetting how to spell familiar words correctly

• not pronouncing conjunctions and prepositions when reading aloud

• repeating mistakes that involve transposing letters, numbers or words

• struggling to break down individual sounds or syllables contained in a word

• trouble pronouncing words they already know—or sounding out words that are unfamiliar

For teens and adults, look for these signs:

• forgetting common online abbreviations like lol

• inconsistent misspelling (getting it right and wrong in the same document)

• needing extra time to complete a task that involves reading

• not understanding basic elements of language like grammar or sentence construction

• struggling to remember words they intend to use

• trouble with expressions, idioms or puns 

What causes dyslexia?

Science lacks a single conclusive answer, but a few correlations are emerging. Among them:

• Genetics: Dyslexia is more common in children whose sibling(s) and/or parents have it. 

• Brain activity: When researchers scanned the brains of children with dyslexia, they noticed certain differences compared to brain scans of non-dyslexic children. Those differences centered in the areas where the brain processes what words sound like and what written words look like.

 Treating dyslexia

There’s no medication or magic bullet to “cure” dyslexia. But it’s possible to re-train the brain to compensate for the challenges the condition creates. It’s a painstaking process that requires support from educators, family members, tutors and therapists. Many schools, including The Discovery School, offer proven accommodations that support students with dyslexia, so they can achieve their full potential. Accommodations include:

• large-print printed material

• partnering with another student

• text-to-speech and speech-to-text technology

• visual cues to keep eyes aligned on text

Dyslexia doesn’t have to be debilitating and, with practice and patience, can often be reduced to a mere inconvenience. Children who have been diagnosed with dyslexia are in good company. Famous people who have overcome dyslexia include novelist John Irving, director Steven Spielberg, business leader Charles Schwab, entrepreneur Richard Branson, political leader Gavin Newsom, designer Tommy Hilfiger, and entertainers Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Octavia Spencer, Billy Bob Thornton and Loretta Young.

For more on getting someone evaluated for dyslexia or arranging for tutoring services, call us at 904-346-5100.