Dyslexia

Dyslexia is impairment in the brain's ability to translate written images received from eyes into meaningful language. Dyslexia is also known as specific reading disability. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children, affecting 5 percent or more of all elementary-age children. Dyslexia may occur in children with normal vision and normal intelligence. Children with dyslexia usually have normal speech, but often have difficulty interpreting spoken language and writing. Treatment for dyslexia may involve a multisensory education program. Emotional support to the child plays an important role. Dyslexia can be difficult to recognize before the child enters school, but some early clues may indicate a problem. If the child begins talking late, learns to use new words slowly and has difficulty in rhyming the words, the child may be at a risk of dyslexia. Once the child is in school, dyslexia symptoms may become more apparent, which may include child's inability to recognize words and letters on a printed page and / or reading ability level well below the expected level for the age of the child. Children with dyslexia commonly have problems processing and understanding what they hear. They may have difficulty understanding rapid instructions, following more than one command at a time or remembering the sequence of things. Some mistakes in writing like reversals of letters (b for d) and a reversal of words (saw for was) are typical among children who have dyslexia. Reversals are also common for children under age 6 who don't have dyslexia. But with dyslexia, the reversals persist. Children with dyslexia may fail to see (and occasionally to hear) similarities and differences in letters and words. They may not recognize the spacing that organizes letters into separate words, and may be unable to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word. A learning disability is a condition that produces a gap between someone's ability and his or her performance. Most people with dyslexia are of average or above-average intelligence, but they read at levels significantly lower than expected. Other types of learning disabilities include attention difficulties, an inability to perform well at writing skills and an inability to perform well at math skills. The cause of dyslexia seems to be a malfunction in certain areas of the brain concerned with language. The condition frequently runs in families.

If the child has dyslexia:

Talk to the child: Explain the child what dyslexia is and that it's not a failure on his or her part. The better the child understands this, the more likely he or she will cope with and compensate for this learning disability

Parent teacher relations: Stay in close touch with the child's teachers so that they're fully aware of the child's situation and so that you as parents and they as teachers can reinforce one another's actions. If available, tutoring sessions with a reading-disorders specialist can be very helpful for many children with dyslexia.

Be supportive: Having difficulty learning to read may affect your child's self-esteem. Be sure to provide love and to support his or her talents and strengths.

Support group: Consideration of joining a support group to stay in contact with parents who face similar learning disabilities in their children is an important aspect. Belonging to a support group can provide you with both good information and emotional support

Take steps at home to make it easier for the child to study: Provide a clean, quiet, organized place for the child to study, and designate a study time. Also, make sure that the child gets enough rest, good nutrition and family support through outings and activities to provide a better environment in which he or she can learn.