Dyslexia Facts

Dyslexia: Basic Facts
What is Dyslexia?
- Language based learning disability,
- Neurobiological in origin,
- Difficulty with discriminating sounds within words,
- Difficulty with automatic letters, word recognition.
What Causes Dyslexia?
- Brain imagery studies have found brain of dyslexic develop and function in a different way.
What are the signs of Dyslexia?
- Difficulty learning to speak,
- Difficulty learning name and sound of letters,
- Difficulty learning to read and spell.
How Common is Dyslexia?
- 85% of population with reading difficulties,
- Occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels,
- Runs in families.
What are the effects of Dyslexia?
- Problems with reading, spelling and writing, leading to poor reading fluency and reading comprehension,
- Negative self-image, discouraged.
How is a Dyslexic learning style addressed?
- 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)