dyslexia

Dyslexia is an impairment of the ability to read caused by an abnormality in brain function.

 

Dyslexia, also known as developmental reading disorder, is a learning disability. Its effects may not be obvious until a child is well into his or her school years. The impact of this learning disability, however, can grow as a child advances in school and can cause significant difficulty.

 

The ability to decode and understand a new word is dependent on the person's ability to break it down into phonemes, the basic units of sound. Dyslexia is the result of a deficiency in this phonemic processing. Approximately 20% of the population has some degree of dyslexia.

 

A child with dyslexia may be slow to reach language milestones in the first several years of life. He or she may be delayed in acquiring new words. Young children with dyslexia may also have difficulty in finding the word they want to say. They may not pronounce words properly. They might have trouble learning the names of colors and letters.

 

When dyslexic children reach school age, they experience difficulty in learning to read and soon fall behind their peers in reading. This may not be obvious at first. Parents and teachers may suspect the child is not paying attention or is not motivated to do schoolwork.

 

Inattentiveness can also be seen in a child with dyslexia. It takes much more mental energy for a child with dyslexia to read, because the process is not very efficient. The child can become easily fatigued by the process.

 

Although many instances of dyslexia are genetically determined, others may be related to damage to the brain of the unborn child or young infant. Dyslexia can be seen as a part of fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb. Infants born prematurely, especially those who are quite premature or have significant complications, may be at increased risk for dyslexia.

Pregnant women should avoid the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and any unnecessary medications while pregnant. Counseling to avoid teen pregnancy and comprehensive prenatal care for all pregnant women may help prevent some instances of dyslexia.

Many children with dyslexia may not be identified until they have had several years of difficulty in school. If suspected, however, dyslexia can be diagnosed by the end of second grade. The oral reading of a child with dyslexia, when compared with that of their classmates, will be slow and halting. They will have difficulty comprehending the meaning of what they are reading.