What is dyslexia?
- Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder. Research has shown that brain plasticity decreases through childhood. It takes four times as long to intervene in fourth grade as it does in late kindergarten (NICHD) because of brain development and because of the increase in content for students to learn as they grow older.
- Children at risk for reading failure can be reliably identified even before kindergarten. Extensive evidence exists that supports the fact that early intervention is critical. Struggling readers who do not receive early intervention tend to fall further behind their peers.
- Psychological and clinical implications of poor reading development can be prevented/minimized if we screen and intervene as early as possible.
- While early literacy intervention is the ideal scenario, it is important to know that it is never too late for a child to learn to read.
What are the characteristics of dyslexia?
Some of the distinguishing characteristics of a dyslexic learner are: difficulty learning to read, write, or spell, difficulty in following oral and written instructions, illegible handwriting, difficulty in staying on task, easily distracted, confusion in sequence of letters and symbols, delayed spoken language, and confusion about directions in space.
Some of the disorders related to dyslexia are: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), executive functioning issues, memory impairments, problems with mathematics (dyscalculia), writing problems (dysgraphia), emotional disorders, and behavioral disorders.
