Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain’s processing of graphic symbols. Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects the way an individual’s brain processes reading and writing and is common amongst many different individuals. It is estimated that more boys will develop dyslexia than girls and can be developed early on in life and carry on throughout adulthood. It is noted that as many as 1 out of every 5 people in the United States have dyslexia (What Parents Need).

Dyslexia is a learning disability that causes reading difficulties in adults and children who may not have difficulties in other areas of life. Dyslexia is not caused by a vision problem, rather is caused by the brain (What Parents Need). Early studies drew attention towards a possible abnormality in specific stages of prenatal maturation of the cerebral cortex and it suggested a role of atypical development of brain asymmetries (Habib, 2000). Neuropsychological studies have provided evidence that the main mechanism leading to children’s learning difficulties is phonological in nature, a basic defect in segmenting and manipulating the phoneme constituents of speech (Habib, 2000).

Brain activation is the activity that happens when parts of the bran are doing work and/or is active (Narayana and Xiong, 2003). Tests called fMRIs are used to study the brain and these tests can be performed to study dyslexia while a person is reading. In a study performed in 2003 by Dr. Narayana and Dr. Xiong, 10 children with dyslexia and 11 children without dyslexia were chosen and underwent fMRI scanning. Reading treatment was performed on the dyslexic children and the children without dyslexia did not receive reading treatment. Over a severa...

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...that are successful and are able to overcome this learning disability. I think it is excellent that there are different treatment methods available to individuals with dyslexia and that this disability doesn’t have to keep the individual from reaching their goals. There are many successful individuals in the world that have not let this disability set them back and I think this is important in each and every disability. The disability does not have to define the individual.

It is important for individuals and their families to remember that there is no cure for dyslexia and it is a language based reading disability. Early detection is the key component for treating dyslexia and there is no quick and easy solution. No single approach helps every individual with dyslexia and developing a treatment plan will help individuals with dyslexia have a successful future.