Frequently asked
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  Dyslexia Parents Resource

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty affecting a person's ability to deal with text, and often numbers as well. Dyslexia is estimated to occur in about 4-8% of the population. Similar to color blindness, it is a permanent disability which needs continuous support through schooling, but which is often accompanied by strengths in areas such as creative work, physical co-ordination and empathy with other people.

Dyslexia is brought about either though inherited traits (developmental dyslexia) or by early ear infections such as 'glue ear' which cause hearing loss (acquired dyslexia). Its cause has not been fully established, but the effect is to create lifelong neurological anomalies in the brain. These anomalies bring about varying degrees of difficulty in learning when using words, and sometimes symbols. For detailed information read the article 'Dyslexia - what causes it?.'

Children or students who are dyslexic have phonological difficulties, that is, they find it difficult to sort out the sounds within words. This means that they have problems with reading, writing and spelling. The majority of dyslexic children have difficulty with text, memory and the sequencing processes of basic mathematics.
Symptoms of Dyslexia

Children are either born with dyslexia, or they acquire the difficulty during early childhood through hearing loss, but it is when they begin to learn using words and sometimes other symbols at school that it becomes a noticeable problem.

Dyslexia can occur in children and students of all abilities, and dyslexic people are frequently of average or above average ability. It is found in all socio-economic groups and in every country in the world. If no help is given, it often results in low self-esteem.

Each dyslexic person's difficulties are different and vary from slight to very severe disruption of the learning process. There is no total cure, but the effects of dyslexia can be alleviated by skilled specialist teaching of phonics, sequencing and techniques to raise the person's self-esteem.

The neurological differences also give some dyslexic people visual, spatial, physical co-ordination and lateral thinking abilities that enable them to be successful in a wide range of careers. One famous architect's practice gives preference to employing people who are dyslexic because of their strong spatial awareness and lateral thinking abilities.

'Glue ear' is a condition which arises when a young child's ear or ears become blocked through colds, 'flu or ear infections. It is also known as 'conductive hearing loss'.

'Glue ear' is the main cause of acquired dyslexia, as a child is not able to hear spoken speech clearly enough to distinguish the separate sounds which make up each word. It is essential at an early age for the brain to be able to hear the separate parts of each word and to learn to recognize these sounds. If this does not happen, then lifelong difficulties with phonemic awareness will result, as well as possible delayed language development and weaker short-term memory. Book: 'Glue Ear' by Lindsay Peer.

It is estimated that between 4% and 7% of the population are dyslexic.

Roughly equal numbers of boys and girls are affected.

As literacy skills are so strongly emphasized during the schooling process, dyslexic children experience a great deal of failure which can easily lower their self-esteem and make them feel that they must be stupid.

This is why it is important for dyslexic children to receive as much praise, credits, certificates, gold stars, etc. as the other children. To complete a piece of written work in class is twice as hard as for a non-dyslexic child.

It is also important for a dyslexic child to have art, crafts, physical education and sports during their week in school, as these are the only areas in which they may excel and experience a feeling of satisfaction in learning.

Having to learn a foreign language - like French - is a virtual impossibility for a dyslexic child, and a sure route to failure: schools need to be flexible and take account of this.

Given proper support, dyslexic students are perfectly able to go on to achieve degrees at university and pursue successful careers. Many dyslexic people find success and fulfillment in:

• creative areas,
  
  
• in areas which allow them to use their physical co-ordination skills, and
  
  
• in areas that allow them to use their ability to empathize with others.

The most important thing you can do is to build up the damaged confidence and self-esteem of your child. Make sure s/he knows s/he is loved for himself, and that this love is not dependent on how well s/he does at school.

• Make it clear that the child's difficulties are not his fault. Be very encouraging and find things he is good at.

• Praise him for effort - remember how hard he has to try to achieve success in reading, writing and math/s.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Help with homework from school, or from any special needs lessons.

• Help him to be organized.

• Encourage areas in which he can experience success, such as creative areas and activities such as sports which involve physical co-ordination.
  
• Encourage hobbies, interests and out of school activities.
  

Is it true that the word 'dyslexic' is just another word for unintelligent or 'not trying hard enough'?
This is not the case at all. Dyslexia is a neurological condition which some people are born with, comparable to color blindness. It simply means that certain circuits in the brain do not operate in the usual way, and cause learning difficulties - to a greater or lesser degree - particularly with spelling, reading and number work. A dyslexic person has to learn alternative approaches to learning the things which most people take in quite easily. These alternative approaches are often referred to as 'multi-sensory', and involve the use of all the child's senses - especially visual techniques and physical movement - to help remember letters and spellings.

My five-year old daughter confuses 'b' and 'd', as well as 'p' and 'q'. Her father is dyslexic. Can you test children under 7?
It is common for 5- and 6-year olds to reverse their letters, and it is not necessarily a sign of dyslexia. In any case, it is not possible, in our view, to test children under 7 with any accuracy. You can help your daughter to remember the direction of a letter (for example 'b') by drawing it very large with her finger on the carpet, and writing it very large with a thick felt tipped pen on a large piece of paper - each time using a big physical gesture. You can also play 'Say It Backwards' to help his sequencing: say three words, e.g. mummy, dog, cat', and get her to say them backwards: 'cat, dog, mummy.' (You may need to start with two words.) Do continue reading to her each evening, letting her come in with words she knows when she chooses to. Stories with a lot of repetition are the best, e.g. 'The Billy Goats Gruff', 'Chicken Licken', 'Goldilocks' and 'The Enormous Turnip'.

My son is 14 he has had trouble reading since he was in second grade. He had been very good with math but recently that has become a problem (they started algebra). He was held back a grade and is in a special program at school. He does read better, but his spelling is awful. Quite often I am not sure what he is trying to say when he writes something. The school says he is not dyslexic or they couldn't tell me he was, and that he has an auditory processing problem. They say he will always have a spelling problem and will have to learn coping skills. I am quite concerned - he is embarrassed to read or write in front of others. He goes online but will not talk (online) to any of his friends because he won't write to them. I am worried what effect this is going to have on his future. I would appreciate any help you could suggest.
I'm sorry to hear of your son's difficulties. One or two points which might help:
1. an auditory processing problem (usually called 'auditory-linguistic dyslexia') is a form of dyslexia which is acquired through ear infections and subsequent hearing loss at an early age.
2. He does need to learn coping skills, and the best possible way - if you can afford it - is with a specialist private tutor giving one-on-one teaching to build up his skills in reading and spelling.
3. He should make use of any technical help available through the computer's word-processor, e.g. the 'TextHelp' program (www.texthelp.com), etc. or similar programs listed at www.dyslexic.com
4. Keep an eye on his self-confidence - reading and spelling aren't the only things that matter in life, and his other talents need to be focused on.

My husband is dyslexic. Will my 4-year old daughter be dyslexic too?
Dyslexia can be inherited through the family, but this is not always the case by any means. There are many dyslexic adults whose children are not affected at all, so I should wait and see. Provided that you provide your daughter with plenty of books, and read to her each evening, it is most likely that she will learn to read like any other child.

Will a spell-checker do more harm than good?
The following story should answer this questions:

A 4th grade student of mine is dyslexic and struggles very much with spelling. He has the most wonderful ideas for stories, but when it comes time to put those ideas on paper, it looks atrocious. He spells everything phonetically, and at times he doesn’t even do that.

We do a lot of proof-reading when he writes, and he knows that they are wrong, he just doesn’t have a clue of what he needs to do to change it.

I decided that I would try using a spell-checker with him to see if anything improved. His mother was very apprehensive at first, and did not want him relying on a device to help him with his disability. She felt that he needed to learn how to spell on his own, and that by using a spell-checker it was not going to remedy that problem.

I assured her that it was just an experiment and that I wanted to see if it helped him with recognition of what he might need to change.

During the next tutoring session, I started to use the spell-checker with him, and the results were amazing. I had him write down three dictated sentences, and then circle the words that he felt were not spelled correctly.

He was able to circle every word that was wrong, and with the use of the spell checker, he was able to recognize the correct spelling of each word, and do all the self-correcting on his own.

He is now using his spell-checker at school during his writing lessons, and his teacher is very happy with the results. His mother is also pleased that we have found something that he can use, and has realized that some children with disabilities need to have ways that will help them to learn easier, and that it doesn’t mean “failure”. (Nanci Ross, Utah, USA)