The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as “a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.
“These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
I prefer the wording adopted by the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity:
“Dyslexia is defined as an unexpected difficulty in learning to read. Dyslexia takes away an individual’s ability to read quickly and automatically, and to retrieve spoken words easily, but it does not dampen their creativity and ingenuity.”
At any rate, the keyword in both definitions is unexpected.
In some cases that adjective’s not strong enough. We need baffling, confounding, or mind-blowing. “It just doesn’t make sense that our kid struggles to read.” “He’s so bright!” “He speaks so well!” “He has such a large vocabulary!” “He gets A’s in science and math!” “We’ve read to him since he was a baby!” “Why is reading so hard?”
Surprise stems from a long-held belief that if we expose young children to words, teach them the alphabet, surround them with books and read to them faithfully, they will pick up reading much the same way they’ve learned to talk.
Shock is a common first reaction when adults find out it doesn’t work that way. Our brains are not hardwired to read.
“Reading” as we know it is a young invention, about 5,000 years old, and the general population has been reading for only a few hundred years. That’s not enough time to become hardwired.
Research reveals, in fact, that the brain has to rewire itself in order to read. Some of its neurons literally change their circuitry during the first ten years of life. For most children this is an easy to modest challenge. For others, it’s like scaling Mount Everest.
About 40 percent of children learn to read fairly easily, according to researcher and author G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D. Another 30-40 percent learn to read but with greater effort. For the remaining 20-30 percent, “reading may be one of the most difficult tasks they will have to master in their school years,” Lyon says.
The at-risk group – as high as 60 percent – cuts across socioeconomic barriers and IQ scores. While children in poverty and second-language learners might be at an inherent disadvantage, there is no shortage of struggling readers in private schools and gated communities.
So the first thing to realize, if your child is dyslexic, is that dyslexia is neither an indication of your child’s intelligence nor condemnation of your social status. The list of brilliant dyslexics is long and varied -- Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney, Charles Schwab, Richard Branson, Whoopi Goldberg, Muhammad Ali, etc.
The second thing: With targeted instruction your child can improve.
An immense body of research over the past 50 years has shed light on how we learn to read. In 2000 a set of “best practices” based on this research was codified in a report by the National Reading Panel (Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read: Reports of the Subgroups | NICHD - Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (nih.gov)). Schools, on the whole, have been slow to adopt these practices, but there are a growing number of private tutors and learning centers that haven’t. If you’re not sure where to find one, start with your state branch of the International Dyslexia Association (https://dyslexiaida.org).
A dyslexia diagnosis can seem overwhelming. It comes with lots of new jargon, replete with acronyms and strange vocabulary. If you haven’t given much thought to how kids learn to read (like most of us), there is science to delve into.
Don’t panic. Take a deep breath. As a parent, you can dive into the research as much or as little as you’re comfortable. You can try to understand it and apply it on your own, or you can find a good tutor/teacher/school and simply trust your progeny is in good hands.
If your child has been formally evaluated by a learning specialist (often a neuropsychologist), the accompanying report includes teaching recommendations and a referral list of tutors. If your offspring lacks a test or diagnosis, competent tutors can determine where to begin instruction by experience and informal analysis.
The important point is to get started ASAP. The longer you wait, the more challenging remediation becomes. By the time kids reach ages 8 to 10 their brains have been rewired to learn to read. But with dyslexic learners the wiring is faulty; their brains need to be “re-rewired,” so to speak.
Fortunately, we know how to do this. So once the shock waves wear off, find someone trained in this knowledge – or educate yourself – and get going. Dyslexia is an equal-opportunity afflicter. If it’s afflicting your family, you’re far from alone. Seek help. Contact Linguistics Edge for a free consultation: 206-355-6201. It’s one of the most important calls you’ll ever make.
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