What is Dyslexia?

What is Dyslexia? (Mayo Clinic)

Dyslexia is a learning disorder/reading disability that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words. It is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.

Dyslexia is not due to problems with intelligence, hearing or vision. Most children with dyslexia can succeed in school with tutoring or a specialized education program. Emotional support also plays an important role.

What are the signs?

Before school

• Late talking

• Learning new words slowly

• Problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike

• Problems remembering or naming letters, numbers and colors

• Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or playing rhyming games

School age

• Once your child is in school, dyslexia symptoms may become more apparent, including:

• Reading well below the expected level for age

• Problems processing and understanding what is heard

• Difficulty finding the right word or forming answers to questions

• Problems remembering the sequence of things

• Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words

• Inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word

• Difficulty spelling

• Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing

• Avoiding activities that involve reading

If you think your child may have Dyslexia, ask your doctor to conduct a test. If they are, indeed, diagnosed with Dyslexia, contact us and we’ll help your family achieve a learning success with our specialists in the Barton Reading & Spelling System.