Dyslexia (Developmental reading disorder)

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What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia, also commonly known as Developmental Reading Disorder, is a reading disability resulting from the inability of an individual to process and interpret symbols.

The widely accepted view today is that dyslexia is a verbal deficit and can be considered part of the continuum of language disorders.

Who gets Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is common. Studies have demonstrated that there are approximately 2 to 8% of primary school aged children who have some degree of reading disability. The exact figures are unknown.

Predisposing Factors

Dyslexia tends to runs in families, and relatives of dyslexic individuals often have other language problems. Dyslexia is more common in boys than girls.

There is strong evidence that there is an inherited component; the probability of a boy becoming dyslexic if his father is dyslexic can be as high as 50%.

Progression

Dyslexia is a developmental disorder that affects people of all ages. Studies of children at risk of dyslexia have reported difficulties in speech production during infancy, followed by slower learning of vocabulary during the preschool years, and finally problems with pronunciation and alphabet knowledge in young schoolchildren. In addition, parents often report delayed speech and language among children with reading difficulties.

Most children who are diagnosed with dyslexia have normal or above average intelligence. For this reason dyslexia is thought to be caused by a problem in parts of the brain responsible for processing symbols (written language).

Dyslexia may appear in combination with a writing or arithmetic disorder. All of these activities involve the understanding and processing of symbols in order to understand them.

Other causes of developmental disorders must be ruled out before dyslexia is diagnosed. Cultural and educational shortfalls, emotional problems, mental retardation, and diseases of the brain (for example AIDS) can all cause learning disabilities.

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