Dyslexia
Dyslexia
Divergent Thinkers & Problem Solvers!
ETIOLOGY
Dyslexia is a genetic disorder linked to certain genes that affect how the brain processes reading and language. Premature birth or low birth rate may also increase the chances of dyslexia. Moreover, certain risk factors of dyslexia are environmental, such as exposure during pregnancy to nicotine, drugs, alcohol or infection that may alter brain development in the fetus.
ONSET
The earliest signs of dyslexia emerge around 1 to 2 years of age when children first learn to make sounds. Children who don’t say their first words until 15 months of age or their first phrases until 2 years of age have a higher risk of developing dyslexia.
SYMPTOMS
Dyslexia is most commonly noticed and diagnosed in school aged children, or when children begin to learn how to read.
PREVALENCE
Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels. Dyslexia occurs in at least one in 10 people, putting more than 700 million children and adults worldwide. Additionally, as many as 15-20% of the US population suffers from symptoms of dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability that is characterized by difficulties in word recognition, decoding, and spelling due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how to relate to letters and words, and affects areas of the brain that process language.
Physiology
People with dyslexia experience a different distribution of metabolic activation and failure to the left hemisphere rear brain systems to function properly during reading. Moreover, there is a greater activation in the lower frontal areas of the brain. Studies have found that individuals with dyslexia have less gray matter in the left parietotemporal area, which could lead to problems processing the sound structure of language. It has been indicated that there is less white matter in the same area, which could lessen the ability or efficiency of the region of the brain to communicate with one another.
Twice Exceptionality (2e) and Dyslexia
“Twice Exceptional” is a term used to refer to individuals with one or more disabilities presenting alongside one or more exceptional strengths.
Some broad characteristics of highly gifted children overlap with characteristics of students with Dyslexia. For example, many individuals with Dyslexia exhibit traits such as advanced verbal vocabulary, fluid reasoning and nonverbal problem solving. Students with Dyslexia are often considered creative problem-solvers and referred to as out-of-the-box thinkers.
COGx & Dyslexia
Students with Dyslexia often present with difficulties in one or more of the processing skills – attention, working memory, processing speed. The COGx approach to cases of dyslexia is to strengthen any weaknesses in the processing skills using science-based exercises, while teaching the student about the skills and their learning process. As the student’s skills, awareness and stamina develops, they are better able to make progress in speech therapy and reading remediation programs, which they can do concurrently or after COGx.
Nurah
Solomon
The True Gifts of a Dyslexic Mind
Learn about the gifts that dyslexics posses and the societal costs that we incur when school systems fail to identify these students:
