WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?Robert D. Smith, PhDTheInternationalDyslexiaAssociationdefinesDyslexiaas“Dyslexiaisaspecificlearningdisabilitythatisneurologicalinorigin. Itischaracterizedbydifficultieswithaccurateand/orfluentwordrecognitionandbypoorspellinganddecodingabilities. Thesedifficultiestypicallyresultfromadeficitinthephonologicalcomponentoflanguagethatisoftenunexpectedinrelationto othercognitiveabilitiesandtheprovisionofeffectiveclassroominstruction.Secondaryconsequencesmayincludeproblemsin readingcomprehensionandreducedreadingexperiencethatcanimpedegrowthofvocabularyandbackground knowledge.”(International Dyslexia Association)•Your level of reading is not a reflection of your intelligence. Many smart people have dyslexia. •Contrarytoalong-heldbelief,dyslexiaisnotavisualdisorder,butisactuallyanauditoryprocessingprobleminvolving phonemic information. •DevelopmentalDyslexiaisofficiallyclassifiedasaneurologicallybasedlearningdisorder,meaningthatitisconsidereda physical brain disorder. •However,thatconclusionisnotsoclearcut.Ourbrainsevolvedsothatmostpeoplelearnhowtotalkautomaticallywith noparticularinstruction.However,readingisaskillactivityinventedbyhumanbeings.Peoplearenothardwiredto equallyperformtheskilledactivityofreading.Noteverybodycanlearntothrowafootballequallywell,ordrawequally well or sing equally well (think about American Idol). •Whenreading,youhaveto,simultaneously,domanythings.Ourlanguageismadeofdistinctlydifferentlittlesoundsthat weassembletomakethewordswespeak.Theselittlesoundsarecalledphonemes.Wehumansdevelopedasystemin whicheveryletterofthealphabethasoneormoreofthesesoundsattachedtoit.Thespokenwordismadeupofdistinct buildingblocksofdifferentsoundscalledphonemes.Everyletterofthealphabethasaphonemesoundassociatedwithit. Somelettershavemorethanonesoundsuchastheletter“R”,whichisthelabelnottosound.Thetwosoundsassociated withtheletterRare"ruh"and"ur".Thealternatesoundisuseddependingonwheretheletterisplacedwithintheword. Everyletterofthealphabetthereforestandsforoneofthedistinctlydifferentphonemicsoundsthatmakeupthespoken word.Consequently,thephonemicsystemisusedlikeasecretagent’scodetotranslatetheprintedwordbackintothe spokenword.Initially,allwordsareunfamiliarandrequirelaboriousapplicationofthephonemicsystem,butafterenough practice the process of reading becomes automatic for most words.•However,peoplewithdyslexiahaveahardwiringdifficultylearning,retainingandapplyingthisphonemicsystem.People withoutdyslexiacanprocessphonemicinformationautomaticallywithlittleeffortandcannotrelatetothedyslexicreader’s difficulty.Thedyslexicreader’sstruggleprocessingphonemicinformationisperplexingtothosewithoutdyslexiabecause processingphonemicinformationseemslikesuchasimpleautomatictask,likebreathing.However,readingisaman-madeskill,likethrowingabaseballandnoteveryonecandoitequallywell.ThinkofhowsomecontestantsonAmerican Idolcannotprocesstherelationshipbetweenpitchesandcannotcarryatuneinabucket,whileotherssingwithease.We can get by in life without singing very well, but the same is not true of reading.•Thenon-dyslexicreaderreadilylearnsthephonemicsystemandintuitivelyappliesittoworddecoding.However,the dyslexicreaderhasdifficultyhearingthedifferencebetweenmanyofthephonemicsoundsinasimilarwaytothepoor singerwhobattlestheirtonedeafness.Consequently,standardinstructionprogressestoorapidlyandwithchunksof informationtobigforthedyslexicreadertoprocess.Thedyslexicreaderneedstohavethephonemicsystembrokendown intoitsmostfundamentalsteps,carefullypresented,correctedandrehearsedoveranextendedperiodoftimebyindividual instructors.Everymistakemadebydyslexicreadermustbeimmediatelycorrectedtominimizetheconfusionthatis inevitableforthedyslexicreader.However,mostdyslexicreaderscanlearntoreadindependentlyandadequately, althoughthedegreeoffluencyattainedvariesbetweenindividuals.Readingcomprehension,spellingandwritingproblems are usually the result of the dyslexic reader’s difficulties processing phonemic information. •DyslexiaisoneofthemostcommonproblemsaffectingchildrenandadultsintheUnitedStates.Theprevalenceof dyslexiaisestimatedtorangefrom5to17%ofschool-agechildren.Itisthemostcommonformoflearningdisability. Over40millionAmericanssufferfromdyslexia,makingitanextraordinarilywidespreaddisorder.Itcanaffectbothboys andgirls.Itismorecommoninchildrenandadultswhoseparentsalsohaddifficultywithreadingandwriting.Itisoneof themostcommonlearningdisabilitiesamongpeopleandcandisruptbotheducationandsocialdevelopmentifleft untreated.Dyslexiaisaproblemthatmanypeoplefaceandusuallycausesgreatdifficultycopingwiththeschoolor workingenvironment.Althoughdyslexiaislife-long,individualswithdyslexiafrequentlyrespondsuccessfullyto appropriateintervention.It'snevertoolateforthedyslexicreadertolearntoread.Appropriateinstructioniseffectivefor children and adults of all ages.
Robert D. Smith, PhDDiagnosis of Dyslexia, ADD & Learning DisordersChildren & Adults