Phonological Theory Of Dyslexia

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Developmental dyslexia is classified as a learning disability, particularly focusing on impaired language-based learning. It is a syndrome with a neurological origin and it exists on a spectrum with varying in severity and symptoms. The neurological basis of dyslexia is not well understood, however, research has demonstrated its origin in the left perisylvian area. (Ramus 2003, Eden et al 2016) Children with dyslexia struggle with processing writing (orthography) and sound structure of words (phonology) of languages.
These difficulties arise from impairment in decoding abilities, which is an aspect controlled by the Phonological component of language. A long-standing theory of dyslexia argues that phonological component is vital in processing …show more content…

Hence, varying discrepancies in the phonological system corresponds to severity of symptoms and impairments, explaining the different forms of symptoms and language processing routes
The Phonological theory states that there is a congenital dysfunction in the left perisylvian cortex, which is responsible for the phoneme- orthography conversion, an important aspect of acquiring language skills (Ramus 2003). Phonological processing is the ability to analyze speech or spoken language. A compromise in this processing is the hallmark of dyslexia as it causes a breakdown in the ability to recognize individual words, syllables, and phonemes (smallest components of words).
On the other hand, the Magnocellular Theory of dyslexia believes that the phonological component is subordinate to a more general impairment in the visual, audio, and motor skills— a collective sensorimotor deficit (Ramus 2003). It is important to note that not all dyslexic children exist on the same spectrum of severity of the sensorimotor …show more content…

(White et al 2006) Consequently, impairment in the audio system is a plausible deficit that could play a role in dyslexia, as patients often have trouble identifying the sounds and integrating their role when spelling or writing. However, a number of studies have claimed that auditory impairment has no relation to the development of dyslexia in children. This is because the characteristic phonological component of dyslexia is also observed in people without the auditory impairment, hence occurring independently of any auditory

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