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What is Dyslexia?
Recent research has proved that dyslexia is certainly a difference in
the way the brain works.
Dyslexics have strengths in areas other than literacy. They may be
exceedingly creative and artistic, excellent engineers and scientists or
have great entrepreneurial skills (including the 'gift of the gab').
Dyslexia does not 'go away', but strategies can be successfully learnt
to overcome the problems it causes. If not helped, these people do not
reach their full potential. What a waste of this country's most precious
resource!
There are many reasons why a child does not succeed at school, and
dyslexia is just one of them. A professional diagnosis is always
necessary.
INDICATORS OF DYSLEXIA
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The child has
always seemed to be of at least average intelligence outside the
school situation.
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S/he has a far
greater difficulty than other children in learning to read and
write.
-
Teachers and
parents are puzzled by the apparent gap between the child's innate
ability. and the lack of ability to read and/or get things down on
paper.
-
Older children
may read adequately, but always seem to have more knowledge in their
heads than they can commit to paper.
-
The child has
trouble with sequencing - which leads to difficulties with
multiplication tables, remembering days of the week, months of the
year etc.
-
The child has a
problem with a string of commands, often only remembering the first
one or two.
-
S/he had trouble
learning to tell the time, tie shoe laces and riding a bike.
-
S/he had trouble
learning to talk. If a good speaker, then may sometimes stumble with
the pronunciation of multi-syllable words.
-
The child has
word finding difficulties, e.g. s/he can describe an object, but
cannot remember what that object is called.
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S/he reverses
letters and numbers for far longer than expected.
-
There is a
family history of difficulties with reading and spelling.
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Slow reading and need to re-read
several times before understanding
-
Misreads small words
-
Missing out lines and confuses
words that are similar
-
Making spelling mistakes
-
Dreads giving and receiving
complicated instructions
-
Problems with personal
organisation
-
Difficulty planning and writing
essays
-
Trouble with short-term rather than
long-term memory
-
Poor confidence and low self-esteem
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