Your Health Blog

Posts Tagged ‘learning disabilities’

1. There are many common symptoms of dyslexia. Some of these include a child who is late to recognize letters, has weak spelling, has trouble learning to recognize words, has difficult rhyming, and reads slowly and deliberately. It is important to remember that a complete examination is needed to truly determine rather or not there is a dyslexic problem.

2. Research has informed us that dyslexia is a problem within the brain, but we do not know exactly what causes the disorder. For unknown reasons, letters and sounds are not able to be remembered easily. It does not mean that they are not smart, because many of these children have the ability to speak with excellent vocabulary and understand text that is read to them. However, they may have a difficult time with reading, spelling and writing even after becoming adults.

3. No two dyslexic people are alike. One may have a slight case of dyslexia, only struggling with one aspect of the learning disability. Another person may have dyslexia on a much greater level, causing many learning problems. To take this one step further, another individual can have dyslexia and also other learning disabilities such as Attention Deficit Disorder. Do not assume, therefore, that you understand the full scope of a person’s problems because they have dyslexia. Only a professional is able to truly diagnosis learning disabilities.

4. Dyslexia is either present at birth or is acquired due to hearing loss. However, because dyslexia is related to writing and reading words and other forms of communication, parents often do not know that there are problems until their children are older.

5. People do not outgrow dyslexia, because the source of the problem is within the brain. However, many people learn to overcome the obstacles of dyslexia and are able to read and write well and have successful careers. Because the disability has become recognized and understood, it has become much easier to get help for dyslexia.

6. The main problem with this disability is not a visual problem, as many assume. The problem with dyslexia is the processing of sounds. For example, just because a child reverses their letters sometimes does not mean that he or she is dyslexic. Many children do this when they are first learning to write. It could be an indication of a bigger problem, but is certainly not enough evidence to give a diagnosis.

7. There are many ways to help dyslexics today. For example, online grammar checker has been found to be extremely beneficial to dyslexic people. This is because even though dyslexics make many spelling errors, even ones that they recognize, they do not know how to correct the mistakes. With the use of a spelling checker, people are able to see what they have done wrong and how to correct the mistakes. Another way they can be helped is through text to speech online programs. These programs read typed words back to the writer, letting them know when they have made errors in their writing.

8. Contrary to popular belief, boys are not necessarily more prone to dyslexia than girls. Studies show us that there is a fairly equal number of boys and girls who have the disability. The only thing that may cause this to appear so, is because boys tend to act out more as a result of their problems, while girls will often try to hide their problem quietly.

9. Studies vary of how much of the population suffers from this disorder. Some studies show figures as high as 17% of the population, while others believe there is only about 4-8% of people with the disability.

10. People with dyslexia tend to suffer with low self esteem because of their learning problems. The best way to help them is to give them much praise, credit and encouragement. Understanding that they have a disability, do not expect too much, but do everything to set them up for success.