dyslexia

Phonological dyslexia

• The main impairment is in pronouncing novel letter strings such as 'Blut'

• The main impairment is in reading irregularly-pronounced words such as 'knight'
• Can read phonetically (by sounding out words one or a few letters at a time)
• Can therefore read regularly pronounced words and non-words.
• Have difficulty with irregularly pronounced words (e.g. the AVE in HAVE would be pronounced as in the AVE in GAVE).
• They do not seem to access the meaning of what is read.

Deep dyslexics

• The main impairment is semantic paraphasias such as pronouncing 'sympathy' as 'orchestra'
• Cannot read phonetically
• Cannot make rhyme judgements on words
• Cannot read any non-words at all.
• Seem to read by first doing whole-word recognition, and then accessing the phonology.
• Can read words to some degree.
• Make a lot of semantic substitutions (e.g. PEACH read as APRICOT).

Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by problems in the oral or written language. The word dyslexia is comes from the Greek "dys" (meaning poor) and "lexis" (language).

Problems may begin to show up in reading, spelling, writing, speaking, or listening. Dyslexia is not the result of low intelligence. Dyslexia results from differences in the structure and function of the brain. Their problems in language processing distinguish them as a group. This means that the dyslexic has problems translating language to thought or thought to language.

Some common signs of Dyslexia are:

• Lack of awareness of sounds in words
• Difficulty with word identification
• Difficulty with spelling
• Poor sequencing of numbers or letters
• Problems with reading comprehension
• Difficulty expressing thoughts both in written and oral form
• Delayed spoken language
• Confusion about directions in space or time
• Confusion about right or left handedness
• Similar problems among relative
• Difficulty with handwriting
• Difficulty in mathematics

The NIH estimates that approximately 15% of the U.S. population is affected by learning disabilities. Dyslexia occurs among all groups regardless of age, race, or income. Many successful people are dyslexic. Recent research has shown that dyslexia is genetic.

Individuals with dyslexia need special programs to learn to read, write, and spell. Traditional educational programs are not always effective. Tutors and schools specializing in Dyslexia are often used, as well as Psychotherapy and multi-sensory teaching and strategies.

• Persitently jumbling up phrases ie. "toddler's club" becomes "cobbler's club"

Substituting words such as "lampshade" for "lamppost".

• Difficulty learning nursery rhymes and rhyming words, eg "cat", "sat" and "mat".

Later than normal speech development.

• May have walked early but did not crawl.

Persistent difficulties getting dressed effieciently and putting shoes on the correct feet.
Enjoys to read but shows no interest in words and letters. Is often accused of not listening or paying attention.

• Difficulty with catching, kicking or throwing a ball; with hopping and/or skipping.


• Difficulty clapping a simple rhythm.

• Has particular difficulty with reading and spelling.


• Puts letters and figures the wrong way round.


• Has difficulty remembering multiplication tables, alphabet, formulae etc.


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


• Still occasionally confuses `b' and `d' and words such as `no/on'.


• Still needs to use fingers or marks on paper to make simple calculations.


• Poor concentration.


• Has problems understanding what he/she has read.


• Takes longer than average to do written work.


• Problems processing language at speed.

• Has difficulty with tying shoe laces, tie, dressing.


• Has difficulty telling left from right, order of days of the week, months of the year etc.


• Surprises you because in other ways he/she is bright and alert.


• Has a poor sense of direction and still confuses left and right.
  
• Lacks confidence and has a poor self image.

• Still reads inaccurately.


• Still has difficulties in spelling.


• Needs to have instructions and telephone numbers repeated.


• Gets `tied up' using long words, e.g. `preliminary', `philosophical'.


• Confuses places, times, dates.


• Has difficulty with planning and writing essays.


• Has difficulty processing complex language or long series of instructions at speed.

• Has poor confidence and self-esteem.


• Has areas of strength as well as weakness.

For some more details of symptoms in adults, check out the BDA checklist at http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/d02adult/a03check.htm

• Slow/laboured reading single words in isolation ie. not accompanied by a picture or in a story.

Reading aloud is slow and with irregular cadence.
• Sometime ignoring puctuation.


• May have low reading comprehension because of spending too much effort in reading the words. Listening comprehension may be significantly higher than reading.


• Often reverses, transposes, inverts letters. For example dog and bog, ded and bed or we and me for inverting or transposing with gril for girl.


• Substitute similar looking words even if it changes the meaning of the sentence. Sunrise for surprise.


• When reading, sometimes transpose words with similar meanings that do not look similar.

• The way the pen is held can be a clue. The writer may either hold it very high or very low or even in a fist grip.


• Writing letters is a slow, laboured chore.


• Letters sometimes have unusual start and end points.


• Finds it hard to get the letters to 'sit' on the line.


• Unusual spacial organisation on the page.


• Shows confusion when learning cursive letters especially with similarly shaped cursive letters.

• Extrememly short sentences.


• Might suffer from dysphraxia. This can take the form of slow and/or illegible writing.


• Poor mastery of syntax, grammer and punctuation.


• Poor spelling.


• Missing mistakes on the page even after proof-reading.

• Difficulty in tying shoelaces. This may be not only to do with having difficulty in using sequences and steps but with directions as well.


• Long division can often be a problem due to the fact that you have to do the same 5 steps in the correct order over and over again.


• Touch typing is essential for people with dysgraphia. Unfortunately, this tends to be more difficult for people with dyslexia. They often find that the letters are all placed randomly which requires rote memorization. Also, there is a problem with sequencing when having to work out the actions for using capitals ie using shift then typing the key. Direction comes into it with difficulties deciding which key for which hand.

• artistic skill


• musical ability


• 3-D visual-spatial skills


• mechanical ability


• vivid imagination


• athletic ability


• math conceptualization skills


• creative, global thinking


• curiosity and tenacity


• intuition

The damage appears to be different in females and males, with males having more ectopias (these are also called nodules in some books) and women less so, although they showed other evidence of "neuronal loss" in the cerebral cortex.

These nodules occur during embryonic development, and their cause is unknown, although many believe it to be genetic, perhaps having to do with chromosome 6.

Much of this was adapted from an International Dyslexia Association article. Most books discuss the fact that structure plays into it, but few have any specifics. http://www.interdys.org/servlet/compose?section_id=5&page_id=47