Dyslexia is a diminished ability to read and understand what has been read. The hearing and vision is not affected. Dyslexia often occurs as a result of dyslexia or a reading-spelling weakness. Read all important information about dyslexia here.
Dyslexia: description
Dyslexia is a disorder of reading ability. It occurs in about five to 15 percent of the total population and can vary in severity. Mostly a dyslexia is discovered in the first years of school. Genetic factors seem to favor the development of reading difficulties. The dyslexia can also occur after a traumatic brain injury or stroke.
Alexie
Under Alexie one understands the complete loss of the reading ability. It is usually caused by a disruption of those nerve tracts that are responsible for reading. The reason for this is usually damage to the brain due to traumatic brain injury, stroke or tumors.
One distinguishes between a phonological and a semantic Alexie:
- phonological Alexie: In phonetic Alexie, individual letters (graphemes) can be recognized, but not combined into a word structure.
- semantic Alexie: Although people with semantic Alexie can read the letters, they can not understand the reading.
Dyslexia: symptoms
People with dyslexia read very slowly and not fluently, but haltingly. Often they slip in the line or swap the letters. Those affected also have problems understanding what they read.
Dyslexia: causes
Experts distinguish a congenital and an acquired dyslexia regarding the development:
Lesion dyslexia can have various causes. Because it occurs in families more frequently, it is believed that genetic factors in the onset of one of them is largely inherited, with a change on chromosome six could be detected.
Congenital dyslexia
It is believed to be due to genetic alterations (mutations) on chromosome 6: as a result, certain areas in the brain are less active than in people with intact reading comprehension. Those affected can read the letters, but can not put them together in one word.
Inborn dyslexia is usually recognized in elementary school when the child has trouble learning how to read.
Acquired dyslexia
Acquired dyslexia is much more common than congenital dyslexia. It can arise when the brain region responsible for reading has been damaged by, for example, a stroke or an accident. But mostly other brain regions are also affected. Thus, acquired dyslexia is often associated with speech or spelling disorders.
Dyslexia: examination and diagnosis
If your child is suspected of dyslexia, you should consult a pediatrician as soon as possible. The longer the child suffers from the reading disorder, the more likely it is for anxiety and other mental health problems that complicate therapy.
First, the doctor will talk to you for important information. Possible questions during this conversation are:
- What are the problems reading?
- Is another family member already suffering from dyslexia?
- How has your child developed so far (walking, talking)?
- How big is his learning motivation?
- Does your child have spelling problems as well?
- Are there mental or other illnesses in the child?
investigations
The doctor will then examine your child. He must exclude some diseases, which can also lead to a reading disorder. For example, he can use a visual and hearing test to check whether the difficulty of reading is due to poor eyesight or hearing loss.
In addition, the doctor will use electrodes on the scalp to measure and record your child’s brain waves (electroencephalography, EEG). Thus, structural or functional disorders of the brain can often be visualized.
An intelligence test is designed to rule out that in your child a diminished intelligence hinders reading-learning.
Dyslexia Test
The reading ability can be checked with a dyslexia test. The child is asked to read a small text. Depending on how safe the child can reproduce the text, the test is positive or negative.
Dyslexia: treatment
If the diagnosis is dyslexic, the child’s social environment should be informed about the disorder (teachers, classmates, relatives, friends). The problems of reading often exert tremendous psychological pressure on the children concerned. Many are ashamed of the reading disorder, have fear of failure and self-doubt. The pressure to perform at school can add to the reading difficulties. If the environment reacts with patience and understanding to the reading disorder, it can relieve the child considerably and prevent stigmatization.
Children with dyslexia should be specifically promoted and supported at school and outside. When the initial successes come through the individual support, the child finds more self-confidence and enjoyment of reading. This helps to learn to read.
Change compensation
In the case of existing dyslexia, a so-called disadvantage compensation can be applied for at the Ministry of Culture. This is intended to compensate for the educational disadvantages of the affected children by evaluating their performance differently. For example, reading exercises are not or better graded to protect the child from further disappointment. For a compensation of disadvantages a medical certificate is necessary, which is submitted to the school psychologist.
Most children experience the disadvantage compensation as a relief. You no longer have to read aloud to the class or bring bad grades home. This strengthens their self-confidence and self-esteem. The better grades also influence later educational opportunities of the children.
On the other hand, some children feel degraded by the balance, so that their learning motivation decreases.
Dyslexia: course and prognosis
The sooner a dyslexia is detected and treated, the better the prognosis looks. It is also important to professionally treat any psychological problems that may accompany you. If kids with dyslexia For example, suffering from school and failure fears, a visit to the child psychologist may be useful.