Dyslexia Symptoms, Test and Treatment
What Does Dyslexia Mean?
Meaning of Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a medical condition that is the consequence of a neurological disability. Dyslexia inhibits a person’s ability to remember the name of objects, simply recall the definition of an item, manage a link between an object and its definition, identify letters, words and numbers. Dyslexia can be classified basically under two categories. The first category is that of Genetic dyslexia which is the type of Dyslexia that is transferred with your genes. The second category is known as acquired dyslexia. Acquired Dyslexia is where Dyslexia occurs due to damage to the brain on the left side. A curious fact that has been observed is that it occurs mostly among boys and much less among girls.
We have written extensively about the condition and the symptoms. Read our previous articles for more information on What is Dyslexia, Dyslexia Symptoms in Children and Adults.
Increasing awareness and training
With the rise in the level of awareness amongst people, more and more treatment options are being explored and being conducted with regard to the condition, the reasons for it, as well as its after-effects. This is very important, especially when it comes to the proper treatment of this disorder, eradicating discrimination, meted out to kids suffering from Dyslexia. It is therefore important to have proper and complete knowledge in regard to dyslexia to help you deal with various situations.
If you are in contact with Dyslexics, then increasing your awareness and training is very important. It may play a very vital role in helping people with dyslexia. Being trained to deal with the disorder can mitigate, resolve and improve a child’s or adults progression. With the right understanding and training, you can help people be more at ease and play a vital role in establishing a level of normalcy and help a dyslexic child or adult adjust and continue life with minimal disruption.
A few important factors to keep in mind is that people affected with dyslexia find it very hard to combine things, understand their meanings, remember sounds, colors, definitions, read, write etc. All of this means that you need to have a lot of patience in dealing with people suffering from dyslexia. It is very important to understand and learn to keep your patience. This is because a child suffering from dyslexia would take relatively longer time to learn and would need special attention and care apart from repeated explanations from you.
We have come a long way in our understanding of the condition and each year we are making rapid progress when it comes to the disorder. You have many treatment options and specialized care facilities these days to help you control and manage the disorder. Identifying the condition at an early age is crucial. The earlier you spot the problem the easier and faster it is to begin treatment.
Posted in Dyslexia
Tagged dyslexia, dyslexia definition, dyslexia meaning
Testing For Dyslexia – How To Tell If Yоu Have Dyѕlеxia Aѕ An Adult
Dyslexia is now a very commonly identified condition. All you need is a simple test and you can pretty much learn if you have Dyslexia. The number of identified cases of Dyslexia are much higher than ever before simply because people are more aware of the condition and testing and treatment have improved drastically. This helps in identifying the symptoms early and helps in treatment as well.
Previously though, Dyslexia was a complete mystery. A large majority of people that suffered from Dyslexia grew up untreated. A tiny fraction of those overcame the condition naturally but for the large part, Dyslexics were perceived to be slow and sometimes even considered mentally retarded. Now however, there is much more general awareness of Dyslexia and is very easily spotted. It is important that you immediately seek medical help if you suspect having Dyslexia and spot any of the symptoms of Dyslexia.
There are quite a few ways you can employ to be able to tell if you have Dyslexia. Being observant is critical. Dyslexics usually exhibit several signs or symptoms. Your first step should be to carefully observe your behavior. That said, the best and conclusive way to identify if you have Dyslexia is through a proper test. You have Adult Dyslexia test that can conclusively tell you if you are suffering from the condition. If the test should come back positive then you should immediately seek professional medical help.
Below are a few simple adult tests that you can use to learn if you have dyslexia
- One really simple adult dyslexia test you could try is to let someone run a spelling skills test with you. Most dyslexics have difficulty in spelling, be it simple or difficult words. Even every day common words are difficult to spell. A few examples of these words are – friend, enough, they, because, island, any, said etc. Another straightforward sign is when you misspell words in the way they sound. For example, journey is often spelt as jerney, does is spelt as dus, knock is spelt as nock, search is spelt as serch and please is spelt as plese.
- The second test you could try is to see if you can determine right from left. The following simple test will tell you if you have a problem in determining your left from your right. Try to get your left finger to point to your right foot. Sounds simple enough but for someone with Dyslexia, this is extremely difficult to do.
- Third, another test to spot Dyslexia is to ask a friend or family to evaluate if you have a problem in following and understanding math. Most Dyslexics find it difficult to do basic math, understand sequence etc.
- More signs to look for are things like how organized you are. Dyslexics are very unorganized. Yes, all people are disorganized to a certain extent but with dyslexics, this is proportionally much higher.
- Dyslexics find it extremely difficult to write down what they feel on paper.
- Dyslexics have trouble comprehending simple instructions. A quick test would be to try and repeat what is said to you. Dyslexics find it difficult to repeat back instructions or sentences spoken to them.
- If the above tests indicate that you have Dyslexia, don’t panic. It is important that you seek expert help for further evaluation. Do not delay in seeking medical help. Your chances of beating Dyslexia and living a normal life vastly increases the sooner you tackle the problem and seek treatment.
Posted in Dyslexia Treatment
Tagged dyslexia, dyslexia tests
Children With Dyslexia In The Classroom
How to deal with dyslexic children in the classroom
The primary issue with having a singular child with dyslexia in the classroom is not with the capability of the child, but in supporting that child’s natural learning while integrating and not alienating that child from the rest of the class. Incorporating simple steps, processes, and procedures into the overall learning environment will seamlessly integrate the adaptation to the dyslexia with the overall teaching process. You will find that this integration not only helps the dyslexic child, but may help all of the children in the class improve their learning skills ans study habits.
Assignments And Class Organization
When a classroom is structured with redundant systems to support the learning process, the dyslexic child can thrive and the other children will not notice that there is any special treatment being allocated to that child. This includes going through the extra effort of helping the overall class stay organized and structured in their approach to learning. This includes maintaining and adhering to a syllabus that is given to students. This syllabus should contain the entire structure of the class and assignments. This way if the dyslexic child cannot keep up with classroom discussion, they will have support materials and a place to reference information in the syllabus. Encouraging students to offer support to each other as well as share phone numbers in order to communicate about assignments, is important in order to facilitate communication, support, and assistance that students can give to the dyslexic child and to each other. This would also include having each student maintain a written checklist of activities they need to do each night and have prepared for the next day. This structure will not only benefit the dyslexic child but will also improve the organizational skill set of the other students.
Subject Integration
Not all classroom behaviors can be adapted to the needs of the dyslexic child. In cases where a workaround cannot be developed, then that particular activity should be removed rather than risking the ostracization of the dyslexic child. For example, reading aloud may be necessary to reinforce skills within the classroom. But it may be preferred to allow students to volunteer for reading and not take the forced round robin approach that you may take if there were not a dyslexic child in the class.
The dyslexic child is capable of learning just as any other child. What they need is more support systems and references available to them in order to allow them to adapt their condition and excel. Encourage all students to use reference cards for everything from multiplication tables to proper ways of using cursive handwriting. Over time the dyslexic child and the other children will utilize the reference materials less often, but having the reference as a support system will enable the dyslexic child to learn at their own pace.
Adaptation
Integrating children with dyslexia into the classroom is a task that requires more planning and structure on the part of the instructor. This planning and time of additional structure is not to cater to the dyslexic child as much as it is to allow that child to be fully integrated into the normal environment of other non-dyslexic children. The positive benefit is that all children can benefit from this additional structure. It may well turn out that having a dyslexic child in their classroom is the reason that they learned better study habits, stronger organization, and improved learning skills.
Posted in Dyslexia in Children
Tagged dyslexia, Dyslexia in school, Dyslexic Child In Class, Handle Dyslexic Child In School, How To Handle Dyslexia In The Classroom