What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-based processing skills. Those with dyslexia have differences in the areas of the brain that process language.
Despite popular belief, people with dyslexia do not see letters backward. They often have difficulty naming and writing letters. (In fact, writing letters backward is something that many kids do when they’re learning to write, whether they have dyslexia or not.)
Yale researchers have shown that when people with dyslexia try to read, the front part of the brain is overstimulated, while crucial portions in the center and back are under-stimulated.
Dyslexia is not a pigeonhole to say you can’t do anything. It is an opportunity and a possibility to learn differently. You have magical brains; they just process differently. Don’t feel like you should be held back by it.
Princess Beatrice
Signs of dyslexia:
Younger than school age
- Late talking
- Learning new words slowly
- Difficulty forming words correctly
- Problems remembering or naming letters, numbers and colors
- Difficulty with rhyming
School age
- Reading well below the expected level
- Difficulty processing and understanding language
- Trouble finding the right word or answering questions
- Problems remembering a sequence
- Difficulty seeing similarities and differences in letters and words
- Inability to sound out an unfamiliar word
- Difficulty spelling
- Avoiding or spending a long time on tasks that involve reading
Do you think your child might have dyslexia?
They are not alone. Not only do 1 in 10 people have dyslexia, but this includes many celebrities and historical figures who have proven that dyslexia does not have to be a barrier. These celebrities include John Lennon, Steve Jobs, Gwen Stefani, Whoopi Goldberg, and yes – even Albert Einstein!