Dyslexia – causes, types, symptoms and diagnosis. How to help a child with dyslexia?

Dyslexia – what is it? This term requires some explanation, as many parents whose children have learning difficulties encounter a teacher or psychologist with such a diagnosis of school failure. So what is developmental dyslexia?

Dyslexia – characteristics

Dyslexia is a condition that we talk about when a child has difficulty learning to read and write, although he or she is intellectually capable. The term dyslexia was first described in 1968 at the Conference of Neurologists. In ours, about 12 percent struggle with dyslexia. students, more boys than girls. Children suffering from dyslexia do not distinguish sounds or shapes, and they do not see the difference in written numbers and letters, and consequently make many spelling mistakes in one sentence. The handwriting of dyslexics is considered ugly and fuzzy.

Often such children are wrongly considered lazy and poorly assessed, they receive worse grades than other children (especially in Polish). Dyslexia is a disorder that must be treated professionally, otherwise children will have increasing learning difficulties as they get older. Dyslexics often feel inferior to the rest and develop complexes.

The term is used in two senses. The first, general and broad concept is the child’s specific learning difficulties, covering several areas: dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysorthography, dyscalculia.

1. Dysleksya in a narrower sense, it means difficulties in learning to read. The child confuses similar looking letters (p, b, d), rearranges sounds, skips syllables, reads the beginning of a word, guesses the rest, the reading pace is very slow.
2. Dysgraphy – the letters are large and misshapen, going beyond the lines, the child confuses similar-looking letters, leaves and rearranges letters and syllables, he writes one word in several ways, e.g. syja, shja, sja (neck), and he does not see the difference.
3. Dysortografia – lack of writing skills in terms of spelling correctness, despite the knowledge of spelling rules. The child writes, for example, mountain and gura in one text and does not notice the difference.
4. Dyscalculia are disorders in learning mathematics (difficulties in naming numbers, writing signs, numbers and symbols, confusing actions, e.g. the child should divide and multiply, although he sees the sign of division).

Dyslexia – personality dyslexic

Children with dyslexia are often shy and feel insecure among their peers. The feeling of helplessness causes the fear of failure and subsequent failure. Often, such children do not believe in their own abilities and strength or in achieving success. Many people with dyslexia have difficulty concentrating and tire quickly while studying. Many children seem to be excluded.

Children with dyslexia often do not feel safe and try to avoid situations that may cause them discomfort, i.e. those related to reading and writing. Problems also arise in dealing with peers, as dyslexic children can discharge the tensions associated with school failure through fights and conflicts with their peers.

Check it out: Can dysgraphia result in gentler treatment of a student at school?

Dyslexia – Additional Children’s Rights at School

Children with diagnosed dyslexia can count on additional support at school. First, they have the right to extend the duration of the exams. In addition, they cannot be downgraded for spelling and punctuation errors, and the texts they write are analyzed and assessed only for compliance with the topic and content. In addition, dyslexic children have different assessment criteria adapted to their abilities and identified writing and reading difficulties.

The dyslexia certificate is valid from the moment you submit it to the school. However, it should be remembered that the adjustments will apply, for example, to the final exams, only after the information is submitted to the examination committees on specific dates.

Dyslexia – causes

Dyslexia is the most commonly diagnosed cognitive development disorder in children, and only 3-4 percent. all cases are difficult cases. For most people, dyslexia is associated with confusing letters, endings, or making spelling mistakes. However, it is not so obvious. While these abilities are a natural stage in the development of any child, in children with dyslexia, the number of phonemes, the sound units that make up speech, is associated with the onset of dyslexia. At the same time, it is not a disorder directly related to speech. Dyslexia means both reading difficulties and a number of difficulties in learning both to write and read.

Research on the causes of dyslexia more and more often indicates that its source may be microdamages to the brainthat happened during both pregnancy and childbirth. They may be a consequence of too long and too short labor, hypoxia in the area of ​​the cerebral cortex, severe postpartum jaundice in a child, or an inadequate diet of a pregnant woman. As a result of the damage, the central nervous system is disrupted. Genetic factors may also contribute to the appearance of dyslexia, especially on the part of its male members. If you have a family history of dyslexia, your risk of developing dyslexia is much greater.

Before you go with your child to a psychologist, consult your pediatrician. Do not wait and make an e-visit today.

Dyslexia – symptoms of developmental dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is a learning disability that occurs from birth. Of course, this problem does not mean that the child is less intelligent or is developing abnormally. This problem occurs even in children with normal development, who can achieve very high results in intelligence tests.

How is childhood dyslexia diagnosed? Symptoms of dyslexia in children appear already in early childhood. Developmental dyslexia can be diagnosed by a psychologist only in a 10-year-old child (4th grade). You can suspect this disorder earlier. Even in infancy, the fact that a child skips crawling and only walks at once may raise suspicions of dyslexia. Symptoms are full in early school age, but can already be noticed earlier.

In terms of self-service, a preschool child has difficulties fastening buttons, cannot tie shoelaces with a bow, and it is difficult to use a knife and fork.

In terms of mobility, the child runs awkwardly, falls over, cannot catch the ball, has difficulties learning to ride a bike, and avoids physical activities.

In addition, a child with dyslexia:

1. has difficulty learning a poem by heart,
2. cannot remember the sequence of words, e.g. consecutive seasons or days of the week,
3. cannot arrange a puzzle or blocks according to a pattern,
4. he often twists words, for example, “green belt” instead of “umbrella” (occasional mistakes do not herald dysgraphia),
5. has difficulties with identifying sides: left, right,
6. confuses prepositions: below, above, from, to etc.,
7. does not like to draw, draws awkwardly, the drawings contain little detail,
8. cannot arrange items in the recommended order, e.g. from smallest to largest.

In addition, a child with undetermined or mixed laterality shows difficulties in writing, i.e. when he uses one or the other hand to write or has a more efficient, e.g. left hand and right leg. A child may also be suspected of dyslexia when it becomes late talking.

At school age, these difficulties cause learning difficulties. Despite their diligence and efforts, the child does not achieve good results, gets discouraged quickly, feels “inferior”, does not like school.

Check it out: “Invisible disability”. A child’s laxity could mean dyspraxia

Dyslexia – therapy

In the pre-school and early-school period, we can only talk about the risk of dyslexia, not about specific learning difficulties. Nevertheless, you can start therapy already then. It can be done by a trained person, most often it is an educator or psychologist. On the other hand, the child must not be punished for the lack of progress, the smallest successes must be noticed and rewarded, giving the child self-confidence. Therapy reduces learning difficulties, but remains dyslexic for the rest of your life.

Dyslexia requires constant and regular classes with a psychologist. However, if the concentration problems in children are severe, drug treatment may also be necessary. Its commencement, however, depends on the doctor’s decision. It is very important not to take any medications without consulting your doctor.

It should also be borne in mind that dyslexia is not a cured disease. However, it can be corrected, thanks to which the child functions better in adulthood. The Warnke method appears among the most frequently recommended methods. It is especially recommended for people with specific reading and writing difficulties. This method affects vision, hearing and motor skills. A person with dyslexia is heavily involved in this method because it must both listen and respond to stimuli. Moreover, most importantly, this method is up to the ability of the patient at any given time.

Dyslexia — test

The sooner dyslexia is diagnosed, the better the effects of the therapy will be. Do not listen to statements such as that your child will outgrow or pass it as he grows up. That is why the vigilance of parents and teachers is so important, as they should easily distinguish between ordinary laziness and dyslexia. A child in whom certain changes are noticed should be referred to a psychological and pedagogical clinic as soon as possible. In order to diagnose dyslexia, it is necessary to conduct specific tests aimed at the overall assessment of the child’s abilities.

Dyslexia tests include speech therapy, ENT, pediatric, ophthalmological and psychological examinations. Only after the tests are completed, can your child be issued a certificate of dyslexia to help them continue their studies without stress.

Thanks to the dyslexia certificate, the child will not be assessed for spelling errors and will have more time during the lesson to copy the information from the blackboard to the notebook. Also during tests / exams, the child will have more time to solve the tasks.

Check it out: Where does dysorthography come from?

Dyslexia – exercises

You should work on the spelling with your child. Various types of compilations and puzzles help to develop the synthesis of eyesight. It is worth practicing with the child the coordination of the eye and hand, for this purpose the child can use a finger and then a marker to outline the contours of the pattern. It is also recommended to use the language, e.g. extracting sounds from words or dividing a word into sounds. During therapy, speech therapists not only exercise the speech apparatus, but also engage the child’s body to exercise. For example, the so-called alternating movements, i.e. the child touches the raised left knee with his right elbow, and vice versa. However, before the gymnastics is implemented, the child should be loosened up and relaxed. In addition to exercise, the diet is also important – it should not contain a large amount of sweets and animal fats.

Other sample exercises for dyslexics:

1. Telling the story visible in the pictures.

2. Matching individual parts to the whole.

3. Drawing pictures from memory.

4. Search for the same letter within the text.

5. Matching pairs of identical pictures.

6. Hiding other words from words such as anchor, sun, whale.

7. Gra w scrabble.

8. Picture dominoes.

9. Removing unnecessary words from the text.

Dyslexia – failures and their consequences

Dyslexia can occur in several different forms of the disorder that are associated with the different causes of dyslexia. Various pathogenic factors disrupting the proper development of a child may lead to permanent or relatively permanent changes in the structure of the central nervous system, including the brain.

Permanent changes take the form of a deformation of the brain structure in the prenatal period, e.g. due to blocking the process of cell migration. The cells then remain in the wrong positions, typical of the early stages of development of the cerebral cortex, or as a result of brain damage (due to hypoxia during childbirth). These changes usually take the form of microdamages and are located in places responsible for speech, reading and writing. The changes may also have unstable forms, such as immaturity of the brain tissue or delayed processes in the development of functional asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres.

Determining the cause of dyslexia is very important in treating a child with dyslexia. It is also worth remembering that dyslexia can have many causes. Unfortunately, in Poland, determining the cause of dyslexia is still delayed. This attitude is often the cause of many child failures at school. The first years of a child’s education are a difficult period for many dyslexics, and this time is not used to improve the child’s language skills. Then it is very easy to build a reluctance to learn in the child, and it becomes very difficult to eliminate the effects of neglect and language delays with which the child came to school.

Covering a child with therapeutic care should be a priority already in kindergarten, where it is possible to improve the child’s understanding and speaking skills, as deficiencies in this area are typical of many dyslexics.

Children with dyslexia who enter therapy late experience many school failures. They achieve much lower grades, which builds their reluctance towards school. The child not only does not like going to school, but also avoids talking about it. School failures affect the child’s contacts with peers, and the child feels spurned and misunderstood. Over time, the child may begin to rebel, be aggressive, and thus try to defuse bad emotions.

If the child receives help in a timely manner, the child will learn to cope with the situation. Properly selected exercises and professional help will make the dyslexic child’s functions work more efficiently and the child’s development better.

Due to dyslexia, the child often begins to omit certain content of the material that makes it difficult for him to fear making a mistake, e.g. spelling mistakes. Proper exercise can help your child control difficulties and focus on what is communicated. The feeling of being in control will vary depending on the causes of dyslexia, the dyslexic environment, therapy, and the individual characteristics of the child.

Check it out: What could be the causes and effects of school failure?

Dyslexia – adults

People are now more aware of what dyslexia is. Children are also diagnosed much faster than before. Many adults who have reading and writing difficulties have never heard of dyslexia before. Very often they are unfortunately unaware that they have a problem.

Untreated dyslexia in adulthood leads to many problems, such as low self-esteem, aggression, withdrawal from society or behavioral disorders. Conscious adults often try to hide their condition because they are simply ashamed of the mistakes they make. Unfortunately, diagnosis of dyslexia in adults is very difficult.

Dyslexia symptoms in adults

While early diagnosis of dyslexia is most beneficial, it is never too late to help. However, as already mentioned, the diagnosis of this problem in adults is a greater challenge. Professionals usually carefully analyze an adult patient’s genealogical history for evidence of family history of dyslexia, and questions about school years are also asked.

The symptoms of dyslexia in adults are very similar to those in children. These are:

1. trouble solving math problems,
2. trouble reading (also aloud),
3. difficulties in understanding jokes or the so-called idioms,
4. problems with distinguishing the right side from the left side.

Dyslexia – advice for parents

1. A dyslexic child can be really exhausted after a day of schooling – he has to work much harder to operate with simple letters and sounds, so when he comes home from school, he must rest before starting his homework.
2. A dyslexic child may have better days and bad days for no reason – he may forget things he has just learned and mastered. It takes patience for it to get the desired results.
3. A child with dyslexia may have different problems – dyslexia can have different symptoms for each child. Understand and work on your child’s strengths and weaknesses.
4. A child with dyslexia will never be cured of it – thanks to the therapy, it is possible to help them learn to read and write, but it is impossible to remove dyslexia. The child learns to cope in school despite this disorder.
5. A child with dyslexia will take longer to learn to read and write – for example, it is worth working with the teacher to reduce the time spent on homework.
6. A child with dyslexia often does not believe in their abilities – because of worse academic performance, they consider themselves inferior to others, so the child should be noticed and praised for even the smallest successes.
7. Dyslexia can be inherited – talking to an older family member who has gone through the same difficulties at school will help your child overcome them.
8. Children with dyslexia are often very creative – it is worth developing artistic or musical talents in the child.