Is Your Child Dyslexic?
Tips to Figuring Out If Your Child Has Dyslexia
Dyslexia is more common than most parents realize. Here are a few signs to watch for if you think your child may be dyslexic.
Is your child having reading problems? Are you wondering if those reading problems could be a sign of something more? One out of 20 people in the United States is dyslexic. Is your child one of them?
Before you can even begin to figure out whether you should have your child tested for this common reading disorder, your first must understand what it is -- and what it is not.
What is Dyslexia?
It is common for people to think that dyslexia means seeing things backwards, that people with dyslexia actually see things backwards, a “b” for a “d” and a “p” for a “q”. This is a misconception.
The true definition of dyslexia is a difficulty reading, writing and spelling without a lack of intelligence to justify such difficulties. In other words, a child that has difficulties reading, writing and spelling, but has an average to superior intelligence level, may be dyslexic. Dyslexia is not a mental disorder and it is not a form of retardation.
Dyslexia is a neurological disorder. The brain of the dyslexic doesn’t work the same way the brain of a non-dyslexic does; that is to say, the part of the brain that non-dyslexics use to read is actually different from the part of the brain that is used to read by a dyslexic. Functional MRIs, have been used to actually map these differences
Warning Signs of Dyslexia
There are many things to look for when trying to determine whether your child might be dyslexic. Areas that will need to be considered are reading, spelling, handwriting, quality of written work, and organizational skills.
Reading is the most well recognized area of dyslexia. One of the problems a dyslexic might have when it comes to reading is a lack of fluency. The child may read a sentence one word at a time instead of reading a sentence fluidly across the paper. Their eyes fixate on each word trying to sound out each syllable as the reading, as opposed to someone who’s not dyslexic, whose eyes glide easily across the page and give them a nice fluid sentence to understand.
Another concern is trying to actually sound out words, they may know the phonetic rules, but not be all to apply them in a reading setting. The dyslexic child may also be able to read a word on a page that, but may have difficulty reading the word on the next page. They’ll often omit words while reading, or substitute words that start with the same letter such as substituting watch for water or substituting words with the same letters, but in different orders such as was for saw.
Spelling and the Dyslexic
Spelling for dyslexics is very difficult. The ability to manipulate the sounds that make up our language proves to be very challenging. It is common for a dyslexic child to leave out vowels when spelling. It can also be expected for them to misspell words that are being copied from a book or the board. High-frequency words that have no phonetic map to follow are also often misspelled, even with much practice. These children may, with much effort, be able to master a spelling test on Friday, having studied all week but the words will be memorized, not learned. and therefore the children are often unable to spell those words correctly, the following week.
Writing Issues
Handwriting for dyslexics is also a difficulty. Copying off the board is a very slow tedious task, in which they will often lose their place, have to start over reading the board from the very beginning. Some words may appear close together, while others are spread apart. They may only be able to grasp a few letters at a time and may not pay attention to the margins or letter spacing.
A child with dyslexia may have a very difficult time expressing himself in written form. With a problem spelling words correctly and difficulty with correct spacing on the page, many dyslexic children choose to use very small words, and therefore do not represent themselves well on the written page. If you were to ask the child to tell you the same information you are asking he or she to have written, you would see a huge difference in the vocabulary level and over all ability of the child. When a child actually has to write down their thoughts they’re forced to use small words and limit their descriptions of what’s going on in the story they are writing. The child will also have a difficult time proofreading the work, reading in words that may have been omitted and skipping words that are included.
Dyslexics Lack Organizational Skills
Another area that might be a problem for the dyslexic child is organizational skills. The ability to organize one’s room, notebook and writing on a page, all of these things prove to be quite challenging for the dyslexic child.
It’s very important to understand that not all dyslexics exhibit all symptoms explained above. No two people with dyslexia are exactly alike because dyslexia ranges from mild to moderate to severe to profound. The information above will give you a starting point of things to look for and to help you decide if further tests would be needed. The sooner your child gets help, if they have a learning disability, the better it is for the child and their self esteem.
