Dyslexia is commonly confused by many as a generic ‘reversing of alphabets’ when a child reads or writes. One of the many misconceptions, dyslexia is not as straightforward as it seems, and does not occur only in children.
Some common misconceptions of dyslexia:
- Dyslexia is rare. Dyslexia affects about 10% of the population, and tends to be run in families.
- Dyslexia only affects children. Dyslexia is a life-long condition as it is a difference in the way the brain processes language, and can follow a child to adulthood if not treated promptly. The difficulties caused by dyslexia can be overcome with successful specialist teaching and the use of compensatory strategies.
- Dyslexia only affects those who have low IQ, and can be rectified through hard work. The dyslexic brain is actually larger, typically much more creative than the average brain, and has the ability to be highly innovative.Children with dyslexia are often very smart, and are already working harder than the average student because the way the teacher is presenting information is not effective for the dyslexic student.Specialised language therapists can help children with dyslexia to overcome this obstacle and ease the information processing.
- There is only one kind of dyslexia. There are a few varieties of dyslexia, and can range from auditory to visual processing disabilities. More on the key different types of dyslexia found below.
Phonological dyslexia
- It affects auditory processing. It is not a disorder of the ears, but a disorder of the entire process of transmitting what is heard to what is understood.
- Involves difficulty with sounds, or groups of letters.
- Sounds are perceived as jumbled or misheard, making it difficult to link the auditory equivalent of a word to the visual component.
- Example, when reciting the word “unfortunately”, someone with phonological dyslexia may be able to grasp first and last sounds of the word “un” and “ly”, but the middle composition will be jumbled, “unfurchently”.
- A child with such difficulties will have difficulty spelling words correctly even when an adult dictates letter by letter to her e.g. “e,c,h,o” because she may not be able to process the sequence when she hears a few letters and may end up with ‘hoce’ instead
Visual dyslexia
- As seen from its name, it affects the visual process of transmitting what is read to what is understood.
- Incomplete information to the brain results in poor comprehension of what is read, or poor memory of the visual information.
- Sometimes, it results in numbers or alphabet reversals, or the inability to write in the correct sequence.
- Example, reading ‘bad’ as ‘dad’, and reading ’13’ as ‘thirty one’. Dyslexia ranges from mild to severe and often occurs alongside other specific learning difficulties, such as Specific Language Impairment, resulting in a variation in the degree and nature of individuals’ strengths and weaknesses.It is necessary to seek intervention by a trained specialist to assess your child’s needs. These trained specialists can help to achieve the best results in the quickest possible time, helping your child advance further in life by lowering the hurdles set by dyslexia.