For the next five weeks, I will give an overview of the basics regarding some of the more common disabilities related to learning and attention.
Learning disabilities are caused by the way the brain functions, and in the case of dyslexia, it is specifically the way the brain processes written and spoken language. It is most commonly known as a disability that affects reading, but it can also affect writing and speaking. It is estimated that approximately 15% of the U.S. population has dyslexia. The symptoms can range from mild to severe; since not everyone with the condition has been diagnosed, pinpointing the percentage is difficult.
Dyslexia is a lifelong condition. It can affect one’s self-esteem and make schoolwork stressful, resulting in a decrease in motivation toward academics. Developing the right strategies can help those with dyslexia; it can even help the brain re-wire itself to make lasting improvements.
In order to understand the struggle of the dyslexic person better, let’s look at the skills necessary for reading and comprehending what you read:
- Connecting letters to sounds (phonics)
- Decoding words (sounding them out)
- Recognizing “sight words” (reading familiar words at a glance without sounding them out)
- Fluency (recognizing sight words and quickly decoding other words)
Without these things, there are two challenges – so much of one’s mental energy is going into decoding, that does not leave much left for comprehension, and this is compounded by the lack of fluency which greatly inhibits comprehension.
The symptoms of dyslexia vary from person to person. Even at the college level, students might still struggle with:
- Spelling and grammar
- Reading comprehension
- Reading out loud
- In-depth writing
- Summarizing
- Telling left from right
- Structuring thoughts in conversation or writing
- Finding the right word
- Understanding what they’re hearing
- Struggling with non-literal language such as sarcasm, idioms, and jokes
- Organizing and managing time
For college students with dyslexia, one way to compensate for these struggles includes the accommodation of extra time on tests to allow more time to process what they are reading as well as to construct written responses. Another common accommodation allows for students to process written information in a different way by using an audiobook.
There can be an upside to being dyslexic. Research has shown dyslexics have a sensitivity for visual anomalies (think M.C. Escher drawings), which can result in a talent for certain scientific fields. One theory of why this is the case is that the brain’s wiring necessary for visual processing skills needed to be a strong reader, result in the weakening of the brain’s wiring for other types of visual processing skills unrelated to reading. Dyslexics are also known for “out of the box” thinking, which could be why a significant number of business entrepreneurs are dyslexic. See “The Advantages of Dyslexia” and “The Upside of Dyslexia” for a couple of brief, interesting reads. People with dyslexia are often very creative, which in addition to scientific fields, can be an advantage in artistic fields as well – a relatively high number of those in art and design are dyslexic. If you are curious to learn more, visit Yale University’s The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity.
