What is Dyslexia?
Types of Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific type of learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. It is sometimes known as 'a specific learning or language difficulty (SpLD)'.Dyslexia can affect different people in different ways and its effects range from mild to severe.
Dyslexia is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities and is not an indication of intelligence or lack thereof. It is biological in origin and is defined by a lack of phonological awareness, which is an ability to convert letter combinations to sounds and vice versa.
The impact of dyslexia is extensive: if you cannot learn to read, you cannot read to learn and everything we do at school and throughout life requires us to have the skills to be able to read fluently and accurately. Above and beyond the difficulties and barriers that dyslexia presents, is the damage that low self-esteem can cause (Dyslexia Action: 2012).
However, with the right help and support, strategies to overcome difficulties associated with dyslexia can be learnt and dyslexia needn't be a barrier to achievement.
Co-Occuring
It is quite common for people to have dyslexia alongside other specific learning difficulties. These are called co-occurring difficulties and they include things like 'dyspraxia' and 'attention deficit disorder'. Like dyslexia, co-occurring difficulties can vary in severity, and this is one of the reasons why the impact of dyslexia varies very much from person to person.
Dyslexia is one kind of specific learning difficulty. There are other kinds too, some of which are better understood than others. Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) affect the way information is learned and processed.
They include:
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
Dyscalculia
ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Co-Existing
Co-existing Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) refer to a situation where an individual experiences multiple learning difficulties that occur simultaneously or overlap.
Neuro-diversity is a gift
There are positives to thinking differently! Many dyslexic people show strengths in areas such as reasoning and in visual and creative fields.
