How Dyslexia Treatment Affects The Learning Process
It is crucial to diagnose dyslexia and begin a patient on dyslexia treatment as young as possible. Dyslexia is a learning disorder that causes difficulty reading, spelling and sometimes a difficulty with mathematics. People of all intelligence levels have been diagnosed with dyslexia, and it is thought to be a result of a neurological defect. Statistics show that 5% to 17% of the U.S. population has been diagnosed with dyslexia. Despite the large amount of affected people, dyslexia can be embarrassing for those who have symptoms. Before dyslexia was discovered, many dyslexic people were merely deemed unintelligent or slow. The term was coined in 1881 by a German ophthalmologist by the name of Rudolf Berlin. Since then, significant research has been done in an attempt to understand the learning disability. Although some people are diagnosed as young as two or three years old, many people are not diagnosed until much later in life. For children who are diagnosed at a young age, dyslexia treatment can make their learning process much easier.
As mentioned before, there are various types of dyslexia, including, but not limited to, Visual Dyslexia and Phonological Dyslexia. Phonological Dyslexia is an inability to manipulate and integrate the sounds of a language correctly. This causes difficulties sounding out words phonetically, which leads to misspellings and a difficulty reading. Visual Dyslexia is characterized and identified by the confusion a person has with letters; often having problems distinguishing between letters that look similar, such as the lower case b and d. Also, people suffering from visual dyslexia may invert or reverse words. It is not unusual for visual dyslexics to be able to spell difficult phonetic words, but not simple irregular words.
Dyslexia treatment varies depending on many factors. As of yet, there is not a way to correct the neurological defect that causes dyslexia, but there are many ways to treat the symptoms of dyslexia. Using educational tools, many people can overcome the effects of dyslexia. Reading aloud and reading often can help. Specifically, listening to books on tape and then reading the book aloud with your children can help them learn phonetic sounds. Many children need to hear the word before they can learn how to read it.
Because dyslexia is so widespread, federal law requires that public schools tailor programs to the needs of children above age three as soon as they are diagnosed. This tailored program is called an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and helps with treatment; ensuring that the child will receive a better education. It is nearly useless to keep children with dyslexia on the same educational plan as those without dyslexia. Although these children are not any less bright than other kids their age, they do need a different teach style in order to grasp many concepts. Using different educational methods effectively is a sure way to reap significant results. One-on-one attention is necessary to ensure that the child is saying and spelling words correctly.
