• Interesting Facts


    For some dyslexics, the words are one big jumble of letters.

    There used to be very little known about dyslexia, but advances in modern medicine, especially in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have led to a greater understanding of the human brain and this condition.

     

    Here are some interesting facts:

     

    • More than 25 million Americans struggle with dyslexia
    • Approximately half of all diagnosed cases of dyslexia have a genetic basis (family member)
    • One in twenty (5%) children have a severe case of dyslexia
    • About one in five (17% - 20%) has a milder case of dyslexia, in degrees of severity
    • Mild cases may not need intervention, but moderate to severe cases do
    • Phonics programs are not appropriate for dyslexics
    • The most avid reader reads in 2 DAYS what the most reluctant reads in a YEAR!
    • What you know is directly related to the amount you read

     

    Severe Dyslexia

    • Permanent type of dyslexia that improves little with age
    • Found in 2-5% of the population
    • Family history
    • Intensive early training can raise most to a reading level between 4th and 6th grade level
    • Spelling skills rarely rise over 4th grade
    • Students often are referred to special education as gap between peers grows

     

     

    Mild to Moderate Dyslexia

    • With proper intervention can seem to diminish as a person matures 
    • Equal ratio- boys to girls
      • More identification in boys (4:1) due simply to increased activity and behavior issues
    • Family history

     

     

    Types of Dyslexia

    • Visual dyslexia- visual interpretation of printed symbols
      • Most easily diagnosed
      • Has nothing to do with visual acuity
      • Information is scrambled in the language portion of the left side of the brain
      • Reversals, transpositions, inversions, mirror images, and scrambled sequences
      • Scotopic Sensitivity or Irlen Syndrome

     

    • Auditory dyslexia- inability to hear separate sounds within spoken language
      • Most common type of dyslexia, also known as phonological deficit 
      • Cortex does not process speech sounds accurately
      • Sounds do not register well, out of order or incorrect
      • Use of similar sounding words
      • Chunks of message are left out
      • Blocks development of spelling
      • Tone deafness
    • Dysgraphia- poor graphmotor or writing ability
      • Dysgraphia is not sloppy handwriting
      • It is a lack of automaticity in the writing process
      • Awkward control of the pencil; odd pencil grip, thumb crosses over
      • Can't make letters "sit" on a straight line
      • inconsistent letter slant, sizing, and spacing
      • Odd beginning and ending points for letters
      • Cannot copy from board; copies letter by letter (poor visual memory) 
      • Cramped or illegible handwriting
      • Many suffer from hand cramps
      • Handwriting gets more illegible the longer they write
      • Appears to draw the letters

     

    • Combination of any of these types of dyslexia