Dyslexia Facts
About 70-80% of children who are placed in special education for learning disabilities are dyslexic.
50% of people with dyslexia are left handed. 50% of people with Dyslexia are right handed. BUT, only 11% of the total population is left handed.
Dyslexia is the most common learning disability.
The dyslexic brain is actually larger, and typically much more creative, than the average brain.
What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic.
Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these conditions.
Although dyslexia is lifelong, individuals with dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate intervention.
What are some warning signs?
If three or more of these warning signs exist, especially if there is dyslexia or ADD/ADHD in the family tree, the child should be screened for dyslexia when the child becomes five years old. Also, phomenic awareness games and other reading readiness activities should be done daily during the preschool years.
Delayed Speech: Not speaking any words by the child's first birthday. Often, they don't start talking until they are 2, 2½, 3, or even older.
Mixing up sounds in multi-syllabic words: For example, aminal for animal, bisghetti for spaghetti, hekalopter for helicopter, hangaberg for hamburger, mazageen for magazine, etc.
Early stuttering or cluttering.
Lots of ear infections.
Can't master tying shoes.
Confusion over left versus right, over versus under, before versus after, and other directionality words and concepts.
Late to establish a dominant hand: May switch from right hand to left hand while coloring, writing, or doing any other task. Eventually, the child will usually establish a preferred hand, but it may not be until they are 7 or 8. Even then, they may use one hand for writing, but the other hand for sports.
Inability to correctly complete phonemic awareness tasks.
Despite listening to stories that contain lots of rhyming words, such as Dr. Seuss, cannot tell you words that rhyme with cat or seat by the age of 4½.
Difficulty learning the names of the letters or sounds in the alphabet; difficulty writing the alphabet in order.
Trouble correctly articulating R's and L's as well as M's and N's. They often have “immature” speech. They may still be saying “wed and gween” instead of “red and green” in 2nd or 3rd grade.
what can be done?
If you determine that your child is experiencing three or more of the above signs, we encourage you to contact us for dyslexia screening and begin intervention as soon as possible. While dyslexia is not “curable,” most students who start intervention early will have successful academic and professional careers once they develop the methods and tools to work with their dyslexia.
So fear not, Hardy Tutoring is here to help — call Andrea today! 303-870-8774.