It is referred to as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment, and in its more severe forms, will qualify a student for special education, special accommodations, or extra support services.
Kids with dyslexia often show signs before they start school. They often have trouble learning even simple rhymes. They might talk later than most kids. They may struggle to follow directions or learn left and right.
ADHD symptoms are exacerbated by dyslexia, and vice versa. Both ADHD and dyslexia have several symptoms in common, such as information-processing speed challenges, working memory deficits, naming speed, and motor skills deficits. So it is easy for a parent or a professional to mistake dyslexic symptoms for ADHD.
According to the Australian Dyslexia Association, around 10% of the Australian population are dyslexic – but the figure may be higher, as many dyslexic persons have not been diagnosed. Other countries such as the US, Canada and the UK estimate up to 20% of the population are dyslexic.
Dyslexia symptoms don't 'get worse' with age. That said, the longer children go without support, the more challenging it is for them to overcome their learning difficulties. A key reason for this is that a child's brain plasticity decreases as they mature. This impacts how quickly children adapt to change.
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities.
Nonetheless, as discussed above, being dyslexic may make an individual more sensitive and prone to anxious thoughts in certain situations. Personality traits and psychological profiles too play a key role in anxiety levels.
Avoid background patterns or pictures and distracting surrounds. Use sufficient contrast levels between background and text. Use dark coloured text on a light (not white) background. Avoid green and red/pink, as these colours are difficult for those who have colour vision deficiencies (colour blindness).
Often forget conversations or important dates. Have difficulty with personal organisation, time management and prioritising tasks. Avoid certain types of work or study. Find some tasks really easy but unexpectedly challenged by others.
Tiredness. Dyslexic people have to work harder than others, and often work extra hours, to overcome daily challenges. When they are tired their dyslexic 'symptoms' can be more pronounced as they don't have the energy to employ their usual coping strategies.
In Australia the term SLD (Specific/Significant Learning Difficulty/Disability) or LD (Learning Difficulty) are still commonly being used interchangeably and as an umbrella term for a variety of difficulties which may or may not be dyslexia.
Both mothers and fathers can pass dyslexia on to their children if either parent has it. There is roughly a 50% – 60% chance of a child developing dyslexia if one of their parents has it.
People often confuse dyslexia and autism for one another or conflate them for their similarities. But they are two completely different disorders that affect the brains of people in different ways. While dyslexia is a learning difficulty, autism is a developmental disorder.
Adults with dyslexia often have a wide range of nonspecific mental health, emotional, and work difficulties. They may have low self-esteem, experience shame, humiliation, or lack confidence in their ability to perform at work or school.
Although most children with dyslexia are not depressed, they are at higher risk for intense feelings of sorrow and pain. Perhaps because of their low self-esteem, children with dyslexia are often afraid to turn their anger toward their environment and instead turn it toward themselves, which can result in depression.
The exact cause of dyslexia is unknown, but it often appears to run in families. It's thought certain genes inherited from your parents may act together in a way that affects how some parts of the brain develop during early life.
Yoga, mindfulness activities, meditation, biofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), medication and exercise are among the many ways that individuals (with and without dyslexia) can conquer excessive or debilitating stress.
The 4 types of dyslexia include phonological dyslexia, surface dyslexia, rapid naming deficit, and double deficit dyslexia.
In fact, dyslexia affects as many as 20% of U.S. adults, but most don't know they have it. That may be in part because dyslexia doesn't always present as the expected problems with reading and spelling. Recognizing dyslexia is the first step in learning to live better with it — but it can sometimes be the hardest step.