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Dyslexia Facts

Dyslexia: Basic Facts

  • Language based learning disability,
  • Neurobiological in origin,
  • Difficulty with discriminating sounds within words,
  • Difficulty with automatic letters, word recognition.
  • Brain imagery studies have found brain of dyslexic develop and function in a different way.
  • Difficulty learning to speak,
  • Difficulty learning name and sound of letters,
  • Difficulty learning to read and spell.
  • 85% of population with reading difficulties,
  • Occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels,
  • Runs in families.
  • Problems with reading, spelling and writing, leading to poor reading fluency and reading comprehension,
  • Negative self-image, discouraged.
  • With proper help people with dyslexia can learn to read/write,
  • Early identification and intervention is key,
  • Need to be taught by method that involves several senses (hearing, seeing, touch),
  • May need help with emotional issues that arise as a consequence of difficulties in school.

What Science Says​

Using a fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to study the brain activity in children research has confirmed that Dyslexia is neurobiological in origin. Evidence suggests there is a glitch in the neurological wiring to dyslexics that makes reading extremely difficult for them.

Addressing Dyslexia

Years of research has shown that a multi-sensory language program that uses intensive phonics is the only way to teach dyslexic individuals to read. Multi-Sensory programs practice manipulating phonemes, building vocabulary, increasing comprehension and improving the fluency of reading.

What is Taught​

Phonology & Phonological Awareness

Phonology is the study of sounds and how they work within their Environment. Phonological Awareness is the understanding of linguistic structures of words.

Sound-Symbol Awareness

Sound-Symbol association must be taught, and mastered, in two directions, visual to auditory and auditory to visual.

Syllable Instruction

Instructions on the six basic syllable types; syllable division rules must be taught in relation to word structure.

Morphology

A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in language. Morphology is the study of how morphemes (basewords, suffixes and prefixes) are combined into words in a sentence.

Syntax

Syntax is the set of principles that dictate the sequence of functions of words in a sentence.

Semantics

Semantics is the aspect of language concerned with meaning. Instruction in the comprehension of written language is taught.

Dyslexia: Links​

International Dyslexia Association:
www.interdys.org

Canadian Dyslexia Centre:
www.dyslexiacentre.ca

Ontario Chapter of IDA:
www.idaontario.com

Reading Suggestions​

Overcoming Dyslexia – Sally Shaywitz M.D. (ISBN 9780307558893)