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Dyslexia is a disorder related to reading skills. Due to problems with certain mental functions that should be involved in the formation of such skills, a child may experience a variety of difficulties when working with text. Most often, it is difficult to recognize individual symbols and signs - as a result, the meaning of words, phrases or sentences is not captured or is distorted.
The problem appears from childhood and with proper correction can be leveled to a level that allows you to live comfortably and study effectively. But if you don’t pay attention to it at an early age, it remains in adulthood, causing a lot of inconvenience. At the same time, it is important to understand that dyslexia does not determine a child’s development in itself - he can effectively perceive information through other channels, for example, good listening comprehension.
Why dyslexia occurs - the causes of the disease
The main causes of dyslexia are neurobiological in nature. This is important to understand, because often, out of ignorance, parents and teachers attribute reading difficulties to the child’s “laziness” or “inattention,” only triggering the situation. But with such a deviation, certain areas of the brain are less active and also have a reduced density.
Additional causes of dyslexia (provoking factors) are:
- disorders that affect the balance between the two hemispheres of the brain;
- serious, severe infections affecting the brain – the most common example is meningitis;
- traumatic brain injuries;
- complications during childbirth and pregnancy: from infections to fetal asphyxia. During pregnancy, the mother’s bad habits also worsen the situation: smoking, drinking alcohol, and taking drugs.
Social factors also have a serious influence on this deviation. Moreover, they can be completely opposite in their orientation. Thus, symptoms of dyslexia can manifest themselves both from too much study load and from neglect - complete disregard for the child’s development. With isolation, lack of communication, and not a very good environment, the situation only gets worse.
However, let us remember that dyslexia is not necessarily a disease of children from disadvantaged families. Due to purely biological reasons, it can occur in children who live in excellent conditions and receive enough attention from adults.
Types of dyslexia
Before describing the specific symptoms of the disease, let's talk about the types of dyslexia. At the moment there are six of them.
- Phonemic (acoustic). According to the classification, dyslexia is the most common problem that often occurs in primary school students. With this problem, children rearrange syllables and distort the structure of the word - for example, instead of “cat” they read “current”.
- Ungrammatical. It assumes errors in composing constructions, for example, a person may incorrectly use endings, cases, tenses (“white table”, “I be hungry”).
- Semantic. He understands every word that a person reads, but separately from the entire text. But he cannot assemble words into sentences or into other, even more complex structures - therefore it is impossible to grasp the meaning of what was read. For this reason, dyslexia in adults and children does not allow them to obtain enough information from books.
- Mnestic. This is a problem at the level of individual letters and sounds, which do not allow one to assimilate or understand the entire word.
- Optical. Here deviations occur at the visual level. For example, a dyslexic person sees a word backwards (mirrored) or cannot keep his eyes on the line he is reading - his eyes constantly slide across the page, not allowing him to adhere to the desired reading sequence.
- Tactile. Specific dyslexia occurs in people who are blind and use Braille to read. With this deviation, letters identified by touch are either perceived incorrectly (they are confused with similar ones) or “slip away” - a person cannot stay on the desired line.
With these types of dyslexia, the symptoms of the disease will be extremely varied and ambiguous.
Classification
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences Lalaeva Raisa Ivanovna created a classification of pathology. According to this development, reading disorder is divided into several types. The forms of dyslexia are as follows:
- Phonemic. The most common form among elementary school students. It is caused by underdevelopment of the functions that determine the phonemic system. Each phoneme has a sound feature that allows it to be distinguished from another phoneme. If any phoneme in a word is changed or rearranged to another place, then the meaning of the word becomes different (goat - scythe, house - crowbar, linden - saw). In case of phonemic pathology, when listening, there is a mixture of slightly different sounds (sh-zh, s-ts). Omission and distortion of sound and syllable structures may also be observed.
- Semantic. It has the definition of “mechanical way of reading.” In this case, the patient does not understand the meaning of what he read, although technically he reads correctly. The provocateurs are two factors - the difficulty of sound-syllable formation and the vagueness of awareness of syntactic connections in sentences. The patient reads words in isolation, does not find connections with other words, which is why the meaning of the phrase remains unclear.
- Ungrammatical. Often observed in children with systemic speech underdevelopment. A characteristic nuance is the incorrect establishment of case endings. In the noun-adjective conjunction, gender, case, and number are incorrectly established. Third person past tense verbs have the wrong ending.
- Optical. Implies the difficulty of identifying and assimilating letters that are similar in style. Confused letters may differ in the presence of their parts in the structure or location in space (example: M and L, G and T, P and N).
- Mnestic. The patient has difficulty learning letters. The idea of which letter represents a certain sound is impaired.
- Tactile. Typical for blind children. Implies difficulty in recognizing Braille.
- Motor. Difficulty moving the eyes when reading.
Symptoms by age
To detect dyslexia, it is necessary to know the full range of signs characteristic of this disease. And there are difficulties here, because there are a lot of manifestations - moreover, many of them differ in age. Let's start with general points, and then we'll talk about what to pay attention to at different ages of the child.
Common symptoms of dyslexia:
- problems with concentration, attention and memory;
- difficulties with orientation in space - for example, when a child confuses right and left, top and bottom;
- difficulties with simple and more complex tasks: from fulfilling a basic request to learning the alphabet and multiplication tables;
- changes in the sequence of letters, syllables, numbers when writing and reading information;
- inability to work well with pens, pencils, etc. If a child needs to write something, he clumsily uses the writing instrument;
- reluctance to read aloud, write, etc. Actions that are very difficult or in which many errors are later discovered cause psychological discomfort in children.
Even some of these signs are a reason to go to the doctor and start dealing with the situation. At the same time, it is very important for parents not to scold the child, not to put pressure on him, forcing him to do something that he cannot do. A softer and more balanced approach is needed here.
They take into account not only the forms of dyslexia, but also how the problem shows itself over time, at different times.
In preschool age, the disease manifests itself as problems in speech, difficulties in learning, and pronunciation of different words. The child is often confused and does not remember even a short set of phrases. It is difficult for him to master basic reading and writing skills, he confuses words and letters. All this can easily affect the quality of communication with classmates and peers - it becomes worse.
At primary school age, problems manifest themselves not only at the level of words and syllables. It is already difficult for a child to remember facts; he gets confused in arithmetic signs. The condition is reflected in the development of new information. Problems of a different nature also continue: behavior becomes awkward, impulsive, and coordination of movements is impaired.
At middle school age, a diagnosis of dyslexia shows poor reading quality and poor memory. The child also reads and pronounces words poorly. Difficulties cause rebellion, so the student refuses to read and write, he has difficulties with gestures and facial expressions, and problems in communicating with peers intensify.
At high school age, problems remain with writing, reading, memorizing, and reproducing information. A slow speed of work develops, which makes the teenager seem “lazy.” Moreover, the problem extends further - often dyslexics have difficulty adapting to any changes in life.
Symptoms of dyslexia in adults include problems with writing and reading, with added absent-mindedness and inattention. An adult with such an illness often does not know how to plan his time - the quality of life decreases.
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Treatment and correction of dyslexia in Moscow
Speech pathologists and psychoneurologists can make a diagnosis of dyslexia. A speech therapist, whom parents often turn to if they notice problems with speech or reading in a child, can also refer you for additional examination.
Experts say that no two dyslexics are alike, so treatment for dyslexia is individualized. Often difficulties remain with a person for the rest of his life - and then it is important to understand how to improve its quality, how to help a child cope with the main tasks of life. In other situations, a fairly high-quality correction is possible. For these purposes, a special speech therapy program is selected. It is based on the type of dyslexia, the person’s age, as well as his personal characteristics.
Drug treatment for dyslexia remains questionable at this time.
Diagnostics
As soon as parents suspect a disorder in their child, they should immediately contact a psychologist and pediatrician to determine the cause. During diagnosis, they check for visual and hearing impairments. Because this may be the reason why a person finds it difficult to recognize letters.
After this, they communicate with the child and allow him to undergo various tests (methods). After they are carried out, to make a diagnosis of dyslexia, the specialist must make a conclusion about the absence of mental retardation and mental illness.
The main condition for making a diagnosis should be that difficulties with reading have been observed for 2 years or more. An additional condition is a statement of the fact that the teaching method used was adequate and suitable for the child. So that otherwise it is not dyslexia that is the underlying issue of the reading problems.
Common questions and answers
Is it possible to cure dyslexia completely?
It all depends on the specific situation. Sometimes it is possible to correct the problem to such an extent that it does not affect future life. But it is important to start work on time.
Who treats dyslexia?
We have already partially answered this question about dyslexia, what it is and how to treat it. After making a diagnosis and excluding other pathologies, the main treatment is carried out by a speech therapist according to a special program.
Is dyslexia always an intellectual problem?
In no case. With the right approach, a child with dyslexia can not only get a good profession, but also become very successful in it. Suffice it to say that such famous people as Steve Jobs, John Lennon or billionaire Richard Branson were dyslexic.
Dyslexia is by no means a death sentence, but a problem that requires careful attention from adults. If they put in the effort and time, the child will have a chance at a good education and a great future.
What does dysgraphia look like?
Perhaps the most common symptom of dysgraphia (from the Greek dis
- “loss of something, discord” and
grapho
- “writing”)
-
bad handwriting. Also, errors that cannot be explained by ignorance of grammar are typical for people with this disorder.
Other common symptoms (as with dyslexia, none of these alone are sufficient to warrant a diagnosis):
1) inconsistency of handwriting (a person writes sometimes in italics, sometimes in block letters, sometimes in large letters, sometimes in small letters); 2) some words may break off, merge with neighboring ones, or even “disappear”; 3) letters are often missed or confused (especially if they are similar in shape, like P
and
b
); 4) unusual movements and body position when writing; 5) difficulties with rewriting texts; 6) difficulty expressing one’s own thoughts on paper.
The reasons for poor handwriting in dysgraphics have not been precisely determined: perhaps the culprit is poorly developed fine motor skills, perhaps a dislike of writing (as a rule, people do not like those activities in which they are weak).
Problems with the perception of sounds and letters that are characteristic of dyslexia can also affect writing, which makes it difficult to distinguish between the two diagnoses. First, it is not uncommon for both disorders to occur in the same person. Secondly, much depends on the medical definitions of these terms - and they can vary from country to country, from system to system, from doctor to doctor. Some, for example, call dysgraphia only problems associated with insufficiently developed hand motor skills when writing.
