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Recognize The Signs Of Dyslexia

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Elliott & Associates, Inc. Mental Health Services

5600 Monroe Street Sylvania, Ohio 43560

Phone: (419) 885-1910 Fax: (419) 885-5060

Website: qualitytherapycenter.com

Recognize the Signs of Dyslexia

With the of help of our child psychologists at Elliott & Associates, children with dyslexia can crack the learning code and achieve success in school, career and life

Starting school can be challenging for all children, but especially for those with learning disabilities. Imagine looking at words, trying to learn to read, and seeing them backward or simply not understanding them at all. This is what happens when a child has dyslexia.

Unraveling the Mystery of Dyslexia

"It's a language-based learning difference that affects reading and spelling, but included in that is a difficulty with hearing, perceiving, and sequencing sounds, word retrieval, organization, and working memory," explains Joan A. Mele-McMarthy, vice president of the board of directors of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).

The IDA reports that 15 to 20 percent of the general population has language-based learning disorders and dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing, and spelling problems. The disorder, which can be inherited, affects boys and girls almost equally.

It used to be thought that boys were affected twice as much, but research has shown that both are equally affected recent reports reveal that girls with dyslexia are just able to muddle through a bit better than boys.

Beyond reading letters in the wrong order, people with dyslexia have problems learning to speak, organizing both written and spoken language, memorizing number-related facts, learning foreign languages, and doing mathematics.

Understanding Dyslexia

Some of the early warning signs can be seen in preschool years with kids who don’t learn colors, shapes, rhyming, or the letters of alphabet. "In first grade they have a very difficult time breaking the language code, even with good instruction, and figuring out what the words say. They don't perceive and sequence the sounds well. They can't hold all of the sounds in working memory as they blend them. They struggle with decoding that piece of reading."

While most children in first grade go through an explosion of reading, children who have dyslexia lag significantly behind their peers despite good intelligence and problem-solving skills.

Signs to look for in preschoolers include:

  • Difficulty reading single words, such as those on flashcards
  • Trouble learning the connection between letters and sounds
  • Confusing short words, such as “it” and “to”
  • Reversing letters, such as “b” for “d”
  • Reversing whole words, such as “top” for “pot”

Having one of these symptoms doesn't mean your child has dyslexia. A lot of kids reverse letters before the age of 7. But if your child has several of these problems, or if you have a family history of dyslexia, it might be time for a formal evaluation.

Diagnosing Dyslexia

There is no single test for dyslexia. It's done by a battery of assessments. Typically we look at information processing, a child's ability to engage in verbal reasoning tasks, non-verbal reasoning tasks, working memory, processing speed, an ability to rapidly retrieve and spell words, manipulating sounds, rhyming, and how well can they talk about difficult concepts." The child psychologists at Elliott & Associates have a comprehensive testing program to detect not only if Dyslexia exists but also the specific type and how it can best be treated.

A second component when making a diagnosis involves more closely examining how well the student reads and comprehends.

Dyslexia Can Be Successfully Treated

A dyslexia diagnosis does not mean your child won't finish school, go on to college , or succeed in work. But without some special assistance, children with learning disabilities can suffer from self-esteem problems.

Psychological treatment procedures and instruction must be implemented with intensity and frequency to establish new learning patterns. Teaching programs that work best involve a multisensory approach.

Our child specialists at Elliott & Associates not only diagnosis the type of learning disability but also have a comprehensive treatment program designed specifically for each student. We also design for each child classroom interventions and work in close concert with the local school systems. However, the main dyslexia treatment program we offer is done in our clinical setting using advanced learning strategies, cognitive behavioral therapies, biofeedback and neurotherapy.

Learning disabilities don't have to hold your child back. There are a lot of famous individuals who have overcome dyslexia, including Charles Schwab, founder of the brokerage house Charles Schwab & Co.; actress Whoopi Goldberg; John T. Chambers, president and CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc.; and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.

With proper training, people with dyslexia can tackle, and master, just about anything in life.