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The Dyslexia Spectrum
There used to be very little known about dyslexia, but advances in modern medicine, especially in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have led to a greater understanding of the human brain and this condition.
Here are some interesting facts:-
More than 25 million Americans struggle with dyslexia
- Approximately half of all diagnosed cases of dyslexia have a genetic basis (family member)
- One in twenty (5%) children have a severe case of dyslexia
- About one in five (17% - 20%) has a milder case of dyslexia, in degrees of severity
- Mild cases may not need intervention, but moderate to severe cases do
- Phonics programs are not appropriate for dyslexics
- The most avid reader reads in 2 DAYS what the most reluctant reads in a YEAR!
- What you know is directly related to the amount you read
Severe Dyslexia
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Permanent type of dyslexia that improves little with age
- Found in 2-5% of the population
- Family history
- Intensive early training can raise most to a reading level between 4th and 6th grade level
- Spelling skills rarely rise over 4th grade
- Students often are referred to special education as gap between peers grows
Mild to Moderate Dyslexia
- With proper intervention can seem to diminish as a person matures
- Equal ratio- boys to girls
- Family history
Types of Dyslexia
Visual dyslexia- visual interpretation of printed symbols
- Most easily diagnosed
- Has nothing to do with visual acuity
- Information is scrambled in the language portion of the left side of the brain
- Reversals, transpositions, inversions, mirror images, and scrambled sequences ARE NOT the sole determination of dyslexia...it is only one of many indicators
Auditory dyslexia- inability to hear separate sounds within spoken language
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Most common type of dyslexia, also known as phonological deficit
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Cortex does not process speech sounds accurately
- Sounds do not register well, out of order or incorrect
- Use of similar sounding words
- Chunks of message are left out
- Blocks development of spelling
- Tone deafness
Dysgraphia- poor graphmotor or writing ability
- Dysgraphia is not sloppy handwriting
- It is a lack of automaticity in the writing process
- Awkward control of the pencil; odd pencil grip, thumb crosses over
- Can't make letters "sit" on a straight line
- Inconsistent letter slant, sizing, and spacing
- Odd beginning and ending points for letters
- Cannot copy from board; copies letter by letter (poor visual memory)
- Cramped or illegible handwriting
- Many suffer from hand cramps
- Handwriting gets more illegible the longer they write
- Appears to draw the letters
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