What you should know about dyslexia

What You Should Know About Dyslexia

There are several things that a person needs to know about dyslexia. If a loved one suffers from this condition, read through the following info ASAP.

1. What is it?
Dyslexia is a combination of a Latin word meaning difficulty and a Greek word meaning words. Therefore, the word dyslexia means that a person has difficulty with certain words. However, it specifically refers to how some cannot read letters or words as they appear. Instead, they seem backwards. This can be very confusing, for example, when it comes to the word body. It is a LEARNING DISABILITY – nothing more and nothing less.

2. Family History
If a child has any history of dyslexia in their family, then they are more likely to have dyslexia. The chance of onset is about 50 to 75 percent more likely if only one of the parents has dyslexia. If one child suffers from dyslexia, then any siblings of the child are probably going to be dyslexic too.

3. What to Look Out For
There are certain signs that a parent should be on the look out for. Some signs of dyslexia are delayed language acquisition, trouble learning nursery rhymes, mispronouncing words, difficulty learning the names of letters and not knowing how to spell his or her own name. If a child has any of these signs and other kids their age do not, it would be worth consulting a doctor.

4. Misconceptions
There are many misconceptions about dyslexia that many people believe. For instance, the most common misconceptions are that people write words backwards, all have bad handwriting, are clumsy or tend to be left-handed. Many also believe that dyslexia can be fixed if a person starts to take vitamins. Most of the time, these myths will come from the lack of knowledge that people have about dyslexia.

5. Diagnosing Dyslexia
There is no actual test that a doctor can use to diagnose dyslexia, but there are plenty of tools that doctors can use to monitor children (and young adults) that they think might have it. If a child is older than seven, then they will have to go through several tests before the doctor is able to diagnose dyslexia firmly.


6. Treatments
Several treatments can be given to a child to help improve symptoms of dyslexia or at least help them to deal with it. Some of these treatments include educational planning, speech/language therapy, oral administration of tests and presentations in school, and even the use of electronic spelling devices. The best thing that a parent can do for their child is to get a tutor or a counselor with a specialty in the condition.

7. Help
Encourage anyone that you think might have dyslexia to get help. Let the child or adult know that just because they have dyslexia, it does not mean that they are not smart, crippled or anything else beyond dyslexic. Dyslexic people are normal too, and in this day and age, there are many tools to make their life just as successful, productive & happy as anyone else’.

Troy Glover writes about health, parenting & saving cash at www.dentalinsurance.net.