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.
INTELLIGENCE MATTERS WHEN TESTING FOR DYSLEXIA
Testing for phonological awareness is important for students, but so are many other things, especially intelligence. Dyslexia is a specific LD, meaning students have average or above-average intelligence.
Using this approach, a child with an IQ of 80 falls below the "average" range, and I would need scores at or below the 1st percentile in the other areas, particularly in phonological processing, to diagnose that child with dyslexia.
Current research indicates that dyslexia has no relationship to intelligence and individuals with dyslexia are neither more nor less intelligent than the general population.
Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points.
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.
The mental function that causes dyslexia is a gift in the truest sense of the word : it is a natural ability, a talent. It is something special that enhances the individual. Dyslexics don't all develop the same gifts but they do have certain mental functions in common.
Does ADHD affect IQ? A popular misconception is that all children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are naturally smarter and have a higher IQ than children without ADHD. However, there is no correlation between this condition and intelligence.
Gifted students with dyslexia often have big ideas, are often perceptive to high level conceptual connections, and are often very creative thinkers. Their access to content and their ability to express their ideas are often hindered by reading and writing inefficiencies.
The 4 types of dyslexia include phonological dyslexia, surface dyslexia, rapid naming deficit, and double deficit dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning disorder where the person often has difficulty reading and interpreting what they read. It is neither infectious nor brought on by vaccinations.
Research from the National Institutes of Health as well as Yale University shows that around 1 in 5 people struggle with reading despite having average to superior intelligence. That means that in every classroom in the United States there are between 2-4 children who need help with reading, writing and/or spelling.
85 to 114: Average intelligence. 115 to 129: Above average or bright. 130 to 144: Moderately gifted. 145 to 159: Highly gifted.
Autism Prevalence
31% of children with ASD have an intellectual disability (intelligence quotient [IQ] <70), 25% are in the borderline range (IQ 71–85), and 44% have IQ scores in the average to above average range (i.e., IQ >85).
Dyslexia Definition: Neurological Disorder
The World Federation of Neurology defines dyslexia as “a disorder in children who, despite conventional classroom experience, fail to attain the language skills of reading, writing, and spelling commensurate with their intellectual abilities.”
Dyslexia can have a substantial and long term adverse effect on normal day to day activities, and is therefore a recognised disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do.
High IQ may “mask” the diagnosis of ADHD by compensating for deficits in executive functions in treatment-naïve adults with ADHD.
The mean IQ test scores were 61.8 ± 5.4 for the ADHD + ID group and 87.8 ± 11.4 for the ADHD-only group; the range of scores was 50-69 for the ADHD + ID group and 70-139 for the ADHD-only group. The scores were normally distributed for the sample as a whole.
Perhaps one of the most famous figures known to have dyslexia is Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 and has become synonymous with intelligence and wit.
People with dyslexia have the ability to see how things connect to form complex systems, and to identify similarities among multiple things. Such strengths are likely to be of particular significance for fields like science and mathematics, where pictures are key.
The National Sleep Foundations notes that ADHD is linked with a variety of sleep issues. A recent study found that children with ADHD and people with dyslexia had higher rates of daytime sleepiness than children without ADHD. Why Sleep disturbances caused by ADHD have been overlooked for a number of reasons.
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.
Dyslexic brains process information differently. We are naturally creative, good at problem solving and talented communicators. Our heightened abilities in areas like visualisation and logical reasoning skills and natural entrepreneurial traits bring a fresh and intuitive perspective.
Moreover, high fatigue levels may also be contributed to by a dyslexic potentially trying to hide and mask how much work, determination and stress that has occurred during their day (BDA: Living with a Dyslexic Partner). Secondly, high fatigue and tiredness levels can be linked to the 'secondary symptoms of dyslexia'.