Characteristics of dyslexia

Dyslexia is about having problems with the visual

notation of speech, which in most languages of European
origin are problems with alphabet writing systems which
have a phonetic construction.

4. Diculty identifying or generating rhyming words,

or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness)
5. Diculty with hearing and manipulating sounds in
words (phonemic awareness)

Examples of these issues can be problems speaking in

full sentences, problems correctly articulating Rs and
Ls as well as Ms and Ns, mixing up sounds in multisyllabic words (ex: aminal for animal, bisghetti for
spaghetti, hekalopter for helicopter, hangaberg for hamburger, ageen for magazine, etc.), problems of immature
speech wed and gween instead of red and green.

6. Diculty distinguishing dierent sounds in words

(auditory discrimination)
7. Diculty in learning the sounds of letters (In alphabetic writing systems)
8. Diculty associating individual words with their
correct meanings

The characteristics of dyslexia have been identied

mainly from research in languages with alphabetic writing systems, primarily English. However, many of
these characteristic may be transferable to other types of
writing systems.

9. Diculty with time keeping and concept of time

10. Confusion with combinations of words
11. Diculty in organization skills

The identication of these factors results from the study

of patterns across many clinical observations of dyslexic
children. In the UK, Thomas Richard Miles was imporExperience of speech acquisition delays, and speech and tant in such work and his observations led him to develop
language problems can be due to problems processing and the Bangor Dyslexia Diagnostic Test.[4]
decoding auditory input prior to reproducing their own
version of speech, and may be observed as stuttering,
cluttering or hesitant speech.[1][2] There are a range of 3 Reading and spelling
neurological issues in Speech and Language Pathology
which can later cause problems accessing the visual
Spelling errors Because of diculty learnnotation of speech, dyslexic problems.
ing letter-sound correspondences, individuals with
Some of these speech related problems can be caused by
dyslexia might tend to misspell words, or leave vowauditory processing disorder issues,[3] which can create a
els out of words.
neurological auditory barrier to developing good phono Letter order - People with dyslexia may also reverse
logical awareness skills. As a result, some may develop althe order of two letters especially when the nal,
ternative skills which are based on recognising alphabetic
incorrect, word looks similar to the intended word
words by their visual shape or Whole language and devel(e.g., spelling dose instead of does).
oping Logographic cues.
Letter addition/subtraction - People with dyslexia
may perceive a word with letters added, subtracted,
or repeated. This can lead to confusion between two
2 Listening, speech and language
words containing most of the same letters.

Possible causes

Highly phoneticized spelling - People with dyslexia

also commonly spell words inconsistently, but in
a highly phonetic form such as writing shud for
should. Dyslexic individuals also typically have
diculty distinguishing among homophones such as
their and there.

Some shared symptoms of the speech/hearing decits and

dyslexia:
1. Confusion with before/after, right/left, and so on
2. Diculty learning the alphabet

Vocabulary - Having a small written vocabulary,

even if they have a large spoken vocabulary.

3. Diculty with word retrieval or naming problems

1

Writing and motor skills

Because of literacy problems, an individual with dyslexia

may have diculty with handwriting. This can involve
slower writing speed than average, poor handwriting
characterised by irregularly formed letters, or inability to
write straight on a blank paper with no guideline.
Some studies have also reported gross motor diculties in
dyslexia, including motor skills disorder. This diculty
is indicated by clumsiness and poor coordination. The
relationship between motor skills and reading diculties
is poorly understood but could be linked to the role of the
cerebellum and inner ear in the development of reading
and motor abilities.[5]

Mathematical abilities

Dyslexia and dyscalculia are two learning disorders with

dierent cognitive proles. Dyslexia and dyscalculia have
separable cognitive proles, namely a phonological decit
in the case of dyslexia and a decient number module in
the case of dyscalculia.[6]
Individuals with dyslexia can be gifted in mathematics
while having poor reading skills. They might have difculty with word processing problems (e.g. descriptive
mathematics, engineering or physics problems that rely
on written text rather than numbers or formulas).

Adaptive attributes

A study has found that entrepreneurs are ve times more

likely to be dyslexic than average citizens.[7]

EXTERNAL LINKS

8 References
[1] Stephen Wilcox - Dyslexia & Vision
[2] Brazeau-Ward, Louise (2001). DYSLEXIA AND THE
UNIVERSITY (PDF). Canada: Canadian Dyslexia Centre
(CDC) Inc. pp. 613. ISBN 1-894964-71-3.
[3] Katz, Jack (2007-05-14). APD Evaluation to Therapy:
The Bualo Model. AudiologyOnline. Retrieved 200905-16.
[4] Miles, T.R. (1983). Dyslexia: the Pattern of Diculties.
Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-246-11345-6.
[5] Nicolson, R. and Fawcett, A. (November 1999). Developmental dyslexia: the role of the cerebellum. Dyslexia:
an International Journal of Research and Practice 5: 155
7.
[6] Landerl, Karin; Barbara Fussenegger, Kristina Moll and
Edith Willburger (2009-07-03). Dyslexia and dyscalculia: Two learning disorders with dierent cognitive
proles. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 103
(3): 309324. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2009.03.006. PMID
19398112. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
[7] cass.city.ac.uk Entrepreneurs ve times more likely to suffer from dyslexia
[8] Shaywitz, Sally E., M.D., and Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D.
(2001) The Neurobiology of Reading and Dyslexia. National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
Focus on Basics, Volume 5, Issue A - August 2001.
[9] Shaywitz, Sally E.; Bennett A. Shaywitz (August 2001).
The Neurobiology of Reading and Dyslexia. Focus on
Basics (National Center for the Study of Adult Learning
and Literacy) 5 (A).
[10] Learning Disabilities: Multidisciplinary Research Centers, NIH Guide, Volume 23, Number 37, October 21,
1994, Full Text HD-95-005 (LDRC longitudinal, epidemiological studies show that RD (dyslexia) aect at
least 10 million children, or approximately 1 child in 5.)

Evidence based on randomly selected populations of children indicate that dyslexia aects boys and girls equally; [11] Brent Bowers (2007-12-06). Tracing Business Acumen
that dyslexia is diagnosed more frequently in boys appears
to Dyslexia. New York Times.Cites a study by Julie
to be the result of sampling bias in school-identied samLogan, professor of entrepreneurship at Cass Business
ple populations.[8]
School in London, among other literature.
In the United States, researchers estimate the prevalence
of dyslexia to range from three to ten percent of schoolaged children though some have put the gure as high as
17 percent.[9][10] Recent studies indicate that dyslexia is
particularly prevalent among small business owners, with
roughly 20 to 35 percent of US and British entrepreneurs
being aected.[11]

Other

Dyslexia has minimum eect on people using Abugida

writing systems.

9 External links
The International Dyslexia Association

10
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