Dyslexia- what is it?

What is Dyslexia?

A lady called out to me 'Dyslexia is a curse'! A colleague and I were giving a talk on dyslexia at Remploy, a centre to help get adults back into work. I had to say I agreed with her. It often runs in families, destroying confidence and in its most severe form causes the victim to be unable to read and write.

Dyslexia has also been referred to as word blindness as it affects the literacy skills of reading, writing and spelling at a word level.

Dyslexia Action defines dyslexia as a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. (www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk)

Dyslexia causes problems in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. It can also affect concentration, organization and mathematical ability. Dyslexia is not linked to intelligence and some people show strengths in creative ability and problem solving.

Dyslexia need not be a barrier to learning if suitable teaching is available. It is generally accepted that teaching should have a phonic approach and be multisensory (using many sensory pathways to the brain: sight, hearing, speech and movement), structured (moves in small steps with constant reviewing built in), cumulative (skills are built up gradually) and thorough. Daily revision of the word patterns or spelling rules must be carried out must be carried out so that students respond automatically.

Schools do recognize dyslexia today but do not always provide the extra tuition that is needed. Often some one to one tuition is needed on a daily basis. It is difficult for schools to provide this, however a few schools do this very successfully. All schools need to meet the needs of their dyslexic pupils. Children should learn to read in primary school and too many are being sent on to secondary education with an unacceptably low reading age. Research shows that early intervention is more effective.

Many children with dyslexia are subjected to bullying. They are called names and made to feel stupid. Anger is a natural response and behavioral problems may soon follow. Teachers can be unsympathetic and think that the child is lazy. Just because a child is good verbally does not mean they can read and write. Teachers try to push the problem to the next year by saying that the child is a late developer. Parents who try to get the help needed for their children become unpopular at the school. In fact the pain suffered by the children and families involved has been totally unrecognized.

If dyslexia was addressed successfully in primary schools it would reduce the problems in secondary schools of absenteeism and behavior. It would reduce the number of unemployed and even the number of the prison population. In fact if the education in our primary schools was excellent it would have a positive effect on the whole of society.