Children with dyslexia are at increased risk for conduct and anxiety disorders, withdrawal, poor self-esteem, and depression.
Children who have dyslexia are at increased risk of having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and vice versa. ADHD can cause difficulty keeping attention. It can also cause hyperactivity and impulsive behavior, which can make dyslexia harder to treat.
We wanted to take this conversation a step further and dig into some common co-occurring struggles we see in our students with dyslexia. Specifically language, attention, mathematics, and social-emotional difficulties.
Although anxiety is not a specific learning difficulty (SpLD), it is included here as studies have found that young people with learning difficulties are more likely to experience feelings of anxiety, depression and low self esteem.
Although dyslexia is not an emotional disorder, it can lead to feelings of anxiety, anger, low self-esteem and depression. Anxiety is the emotional symptom that adults with dyslexia experience the most. They become fearful because of their constant confusion and frustration at work or an educational setting.
They can get easily overwhelmed
Dyslexic people tend to compare themselves to what they think of as 'normal', but being dyslexic means that you are processing the world in a fundamentally different way. Different, not wrong, and most neuro-typical people can't begin to do the things that dyslexic people find easy.
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.
Individuals with dyslexia may experience marked anxiety in situations in which they feel they will make mistakes, be ridiculed, or made to feel foolish in front of others. Severe anxiety or fears are known as phobias.
Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words.
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.
One of the more advantageous qualities in many dyslexic people is their ability to think outside of the box. They come up with excellent, unorthodox ideas that are not only fresh, but lucrative as well. Critical thinkers: Another trait that some dyslexics possess is their ability to use logical reasoning.
Dyslexia, in its most common form, is a very intractable reading problem caused by a genetic, hereditary difference in the way the brain processes language. Recent advances in brain scanning technology have confirmed this neurological signature.
Most people associate dyslexia with letter reversal and reading difficulty. While these commonly appear in dyslexic individuals, dyslexia can affect so much more than just reading skills. Another common trait in dyslexic individuals is higher emotional intelligence.
Dyslexia is not an emotional disorder, but the frustrating nature of this learning disability can lead to feelings of anxiety, anger, low self–esteem and depression. Read scenarios in the dyslexic child's life that can give rise to social and emotional difficulties.
Dyslexia is recognised in Australian under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and under the Human Rights Commission.
It is very common for people diagnosed with autism to also be diagnosed with one or more of ADHD, Dyslexia or Dyspraxia. Autism is very strongly associated with these conditions, although you can have Dyslexia or Dyspraxia without having autism.
ADHD and dyslexia are separate conditions; however, if a person has both, it means they have broad executive function impairments (problems focusing, using working memory, etc.), as well as an impairment of the particular skills needed for reading, for example, processing symbols swiftly.
Many of the emotional problems caused by dyslexia occur out of frustration with school or social situations. Social scientists have frequently observed that frustration produces anger. This can be clearly seen in many children with dyslexia. Anger is also a common manifestation of anxiety and depression.
Dyslexics Struggle with Automated Processes
For dyslexics, however, these automatic processes can be more difficult due to poor memory recall. This may explain why dyslexics' bedrooms are often particularly messy!
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.
Some dyslexic people find that their mind races, and they struggle to find the right words to express themselves or to verbally keep up with the speed of their thoughts. Conversely, they often know the answer but need time to retrieve it from their memory.
Imaging research has demonstrated that the brains of people with dyslexia show different, less efficient, patterns of processing (including under and over activation) during tasks involving sounds in speech and letter sounds in words.
Most people with dyslexia are, at least, average or above-average intelligence. Often children who fail to read and spell don't think of themselves as bright. It's very important that “dyslexic” students develop all their strengths.
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.
Dyslexie font is a typeface – specially designed for people with dyslexia – which enhances the ease of reading and comprehension.