Diving Into Dyslexia: What You Need To Know and How LearningRx Can Help
Does your child struggle with reading? If so, it can be hard to know if their struggles are part of normal learning and development or if they indicate a more serious reading disability like dyslexia.
As the most common learning disorder, dyslexia affects anywhere from 5-12% of the population. And it’s also the most well-known: the majority of people have at least heard of it. But contrary to what many people think, dyslexia involves much more than reversing letters on the page. There are many other signs that could point to dyslexia.
Read on to learn more about this learning disorder, including causes, symptoms, and treatments for dyslexia.
What Is Dyslexia?
Before we discuss what dyslexia is, let’s first make clear what it’s not:
Dyslexia is not an indication of low intelligence. To the contrary, it has nothing to do with intelligence, and is considered to be a gap between a person’s ability and their achievement.
When someone struggles with dyslexia, they find it difficult to recognize and manipulate the sounds in language. They might struggle with reversing letters, sounding out new words, or remembering words they’ve previously learned.
They may also struggle with reading fluency, often reading slowly and making many mistakes. This can make reading comprehension difficult (though when others read to them they often don’t have a problem understanding the text).
In addition to reading struggles, children with dyslexia often have difficulty with spelling, writing, and math.
And while there is no cure for dyslexia, there is hope for those who struggle with it. With proper help, kids and adults with dyslexia can thrive.
What Causes Dyslexia?
Science hasn’t yet determined what causes reading struggles like dyslexia. But it’s clear that genetics and differences in brain activity play a role.
Dyslexia is often hereditary. In fact, the child of a parent with dyslexia has a 40-60% risk of developing dyslexia themselves. This percentage increases when they have other family members with dyslexia.
In addition, scientists have found that there are differences in brain activity between people who have a reading disability like dyslexia and those who don’t. These differences happen in the areas of the brain involved with key reading skills, such as recognizing written words and understanding how sounds are represented in words.
Dyslexia Signs and Symptoms
It’s not uncommon for kids to have trouble with reading at one point or another. But if reading is an ongoing struggle for your child and they are falling behind their peers, they could have dyslexia.
Many kids struggle longer than they need to because their symptoms are attributed to their intelligence, level of effort, or environmental factors. That’s why it’s important to know the signs and symptoms of dyslexia, so you can recognize them and get your child the help they need early on.
If you notice your child struggling with these common signs of dyslexia, you may want to have them tested:
- Trouble decoding words (matching letters to sounds)
- Difficulty with phonemic awareness (recognizing the sounds in words)
- Speech delays
- Trouble following directions
- Often repeating or omitting short words (and, the, but, etc.)
- Struggling to learn left from right
- Trouble with spelling (reversing letters, spelling phonetically), grammar, or sentence structure
- Difficulty with rhyming
- Trouble with reading comprehension or reading fluency
- Avoiding reading (out loud and silently), or getting anxious or frustrated when they read
- Struggling with social interactions
- Memory issues
- Trouble managing stress
People of all ages can be tested for dyslexia, though the tests for children and adults are different. If your child has reached first grade and still struggles with reading, consider having them evaluated.
Evaluation can be done at school by a school psychologist or through a private option by professionals like reading specialists, speech and language therapists, clinical psychologists, and neuropsychologists. They’ll use a series of tests for dyslexia and may test other areas as well to determine your child’s strengths and weaknesses.
Treatments for Dyslexia
Dyslexia is not something kids grow out of, and there is no cure. But there are treatments for dyslexia: strategies and teaching techniques that can help people with dyslexia improve their reading skills and learn to manage their challenges.
In fact, proper treatment can increase brain activity in the areas of the brain used for reading and language skills.
Support at School
To begin with, kids who have dyslexia may need extra support at school, such as:
- Extra time on tests
- A quiet place to work
- The option to record lessons and give verbal answers (where appropriate)
These things won’t necessarily improve their dyslexia symptoms, but they will help them cope and do better in school, boosting their confidence and self-esteem.
Emotional Support
Kids with dyslexia need emotional support as well. Children who have dyslexia often struggle with low self-esteem because they can’t keep up with their peers and think there may be something wrong with them. To improve, they need to be reminded that they are smart and capable.
- Praising how hard they work
- Celebrating wins
- Pointing out strengths (in all areas—not just academics), and
- Reminding them that dyslexia isn’t related to their intelligence
All of these things can help a child with dyslexia rebuild their confidence and set them on the path to improvement.
Treatment for Co-Occurring Issues
Many kids who are diagnosed with dyslexia also have other disabilities and mental health struggles, such as ADHD, anxiety, or depression.
Treating these issues won’t necessarily improve their dyslexia symptoms, but is crucial nonetheless. If these issues are managed well, kids will be able to get the most out of the treatment they’re receiving for their reading struggles.
Brain Training With LearningRx Raleigh
Reading programs that build up reading skills and help kids catch up with their peers are vital as well. But traditional tutoring often fails to help children with dyslexia, as it doesn’t address the root issues at play: namely, weak cognitive skills.
That’s where brain training with LearningRx comes in.
Brain training helps people with dyslexia become stronger readers by strengthening the cognitive skills associated with reading, such as auditory and visual processing.
Our brain training plans are tailored to each learner’s individual needs. We’ll first review their history and perform a Brain Skills Assessment. Based on that information, we’ll identify, target, and strengthen the right cognitive skills for each reader using brain games and mental exercises.
Over the years, LearningRx has helped more than 2,276 school-aged learners with dyslexia improve their learning, thinking, and sound awareness skills through brain training.
Curious if brain training with LearningRx is right for your child? Contact us today to get started!
