What is Dyslexia?

Reading disabilities are neurological disorders and occur when an individual's reading achievement is markedly below the level expected given the person's intelligence, age, and educational opportunities. This disorder is not due to a physical disability, such as a visual problem. Instead, it is a problem in how the brain processes the information as the individual is reading.

Some common signs of a reading disability are:

Problems with understanding what is read

Lack of awareness of phonemes (or sounds) that make up words, often including a difficulty with blending sounds to make words

Difficulty with spelling correctly (may even spell the same words differently within the same document)

Difficulty with the sequence (or order) of letters in words

Trouble rhyming words

Difficulty with pronouncing words (may reverse sounds)

Delay in speaking as compared to most peers

Delay in learning the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, months, colors, shapes, and other basic information

Difficulty understanding the subtleties of language (such as jokes or slang)

What strategies can help?

Individuals with a reading disability most often benefit from a language program that provides direct and explicit instruction in the area of phonological awareness, or understanding the letter-sound system. The earlier this instruction is given, the greater the chance of the individual becoming a fluent reader.

As a general rule, the more senses that can be employed when learning something, the better the person will learn. For individuals with reading disabilities, it is important to learn as much as possible by seeing, hearing, writing, and speaking. For example, a history teacher of students with this disability can provide a written outline of the day's lecture in addition to speaking. The teacher can also provide students with an in-class writing exercise and ask them questions to further learning.

Using books on tape can help someone with a disability in the area of reading access literature (and all of its benefits, including vocabulary and ideas) that they may have otherwise had difficulty reading.

Parents of children with reading disabilities can encourage their children to read by providing reading materials on subjects in which they have an interest. For example, if a child is interested in volcanoes, that child's parents can use the library, bookstores, and the Internet to find reading materials.