Exploring Dyslexia and its Implications

Exploring Dyslexia and its Implications

Introduction

Imagine yourself in a crowded room. You are sitting at a table with other people your age, reading a book out loud, and it is your turn. You look up at the other people, terrified because nothing is coming out of your mouth. You can't manage to force even one word out because you don't know how to read. Now, imagine yourself as a teenager. This is what it was like for fourteen-year-old Anita, a dyslexic. Life was horrible for her. She said that "Dyslexia makes you an outcast, and people think you are dumb...It's like racism; people are just prejudiced" (McConville, 2000). Feeling useless, she got herself into a lot of trouble: drinking, smoking and two attempts of suicide. Dyslexia seems like such a minimal disorder, but what is it really, what causes it, and how can it be treated?

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a reading disorder. It is something that affects not only the reader's life, but also the lives of everyone around him or her. It is a very random condition, but it is four times more common in males than in females. The race, culture, and society are not considered when dyslexia decides who it will attack, but when it does, it causes symptoms that differ from difficulty in spelling to lack of self confidence and difficulty in pronunciation to a bad short-term memory (Bee, 2000).

There are many theories of how dyslexia is caused. One is that it is inherited. Another is the lack of certain nutrients obtained by eating some foods. Whatever the cause, it is still a serious condition that needs to be treated.

Symptoms

If someone was to have dyslexia, how would it be recognized? Here are some common characteristics of dyslexia.

1. There are no hearin...

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...f the research in the causes and many treatments of dyslexia.

References

Bee, P. (2000, June 27). Early warning system to detect dyslexia. The Times (London). pylons, and yet another miracle cure for dyslexia. The Guardian (London), pp. 15.

Connor, S. (2002, January 4). Cause of dyslexia narrowed down to single chromosome. The Independent (London), pp. 5.

Ellis, R. (2002, January 21). Lessons leart [sic] in treating dyslexia. Courier Mail, pp. 6.

Fraser, L. (2001, April 15). Fish oils 'help to improve dyslexics' concentration'. Sunday Telegraph, pp. 10.

Hagin, R. & Silver, A. A. "Dyslexia". Collier's Encyclopedia. 1993

Kaluger, G. & Kolson, C. J. (1978). Reading and learning disabilities. Ohio, Bell and Howell Company.

McConville, B. (2000, March 21). Hope for dyslexics. The Times (London).

(1999, September 11). Dyslexia gene. The Lancet.