Unraveling the Myths Around Reading and Dyslexia - Infinity Learn by Sri Chaitanya

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Teachers sometimes go above and above to teach these pupils, but families rarely notice results unless they pay for expensive tutoring programmes, which many families cannot afford. Other dyslexic children go unnoticed; some hide their handicaps by acting out in class or memorizing words to get through. Many people battle silently with reading and will continue to struggle with it for the rest of their lives. Children with dyslexia are unlikely to become proficient readers without specialized therapy, which has serious long-term consequences. According to the findings, children who cannot read proficiently by third grade are more likely to drop out of school, with the chances being tripled for pupils from low-income families. Dyslexic students are more likely to experience despair and anxiety, which can be harmful.

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia frequently referred to as reading disorder, is a condition that causes difficulties reading in people who are otherwise intelligent. Individuals are influenced to varying degrees. Difficulties with spelling words, reading rapidly, writing words, “sounding out” words in one’s brain, pronouncing words when reading aloud, and understanding what one reads are all possible problems. These issues are frequently initially noted in school.” Alexia” is a term used to describe the loss of a person’s ability to read. The challenges are unintentional, and people who suffer from this disease have a normal desire to learn. Dyslexics are more likely to suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental language issues, and math challenges. The interplay of genetic and environmental variables is thought to be the cause of dyslexia.

Logic behind Dyslexia

Learning to read, unlike learning to walk or talk, is not an innate developmental stage in a child’s life; it is a talent that must be learned. When infants learn to read, multiple important brain regions—regions involved in letter recognition, mapping letters to sounds, and interpreting words and meaning—combine to build a complex new circuit that’s ready for reading.

With standard phonics-based reading training, the circuit grows very quickly in usually developing brains, and the act of reading becomes so automatic that it feels automatic. However, in the brains of people with dyslexia, crucial brain regions that are required to create the circuit behave a bit differently.

Letters do not bounce around or flip backward when people with dyslexia read, contrary to popular belief. Dyslexic brains, on the other hand, have a hard time attaching the correct sounds to printed letters, making reading difficult and spelling feel like guesswork. Even once words can be sounded out, Gaab writes that reading fluency and understanding can be slow and difficult.

The illness can manifest itself in a variety of ways. The most common symptom of dyslexia is a problem with phoneme awareness, which involves matching letters to sounds. However, dyslexia can also emerge as a problem with reading speed (reading fluency) or stringing words together too slowly to completely comprehend phrases (reading comprehension).

A youngster with dyslexia may struggle to understand rhyming patterns or compose simple sentences at first.

Children with dyslexia require considerably more careful and repetitive training because their reading circuit develops more slowly. However, some elementary school teachers overlook or underestimate the critical first stage in learning to read—a complete understanding of phonics—in favour of focusing on other aspects of reading, such as “learning to enjoy reading,” in the mistaken belief that children will naturally pick up reading.

Common Myths About Dyslexia

Dyslexia is characterized by the inability to read and write letters backward.

But the Fact is: Some dyslexic children write letters backward, while others do not. As a result, letter reversal isn’t always indicative of dyslexia.

In fact, it is normal for young children to reverse letters. It’s fairly uncommon for children to mix up the letters b and d or write p instead of q. However, if your child is still doing so at the end of first grade, an evaluation may be necessary.

Dyslexia does not manifest itself until the elementary school years.

Dyslexia symptoms can appear as early as preschool or even earlier. This is because dyslexia can impair language skills, which are necessary for reading. Difficulty rhyming and being a “late talker” are two symptoms that a preschooler may have dyslexia.

Dyslexic children simply need to work harder at reading.

But the fact is: Dyslexic children’s brains function differently, according to research. It also demonstrates how reading can alter the brain over time. The effort, on the other hand, has nothing to do with it. It’s the type of instruction that matters, not how hard the students try. Children with dyslexia can improve their reading skills over time with the right teaching and practice. A variety of reading programmes are available for struggling readers. Many people employ a multimodal approach. Sight, sound, and touch are used as learning routes in this form of training.

When children learn to read, their dyslexia disappears.

But the fact is: Intervention is critical in helping dyslexic children learn to read. However, being able to read does not imply that they are “cured.” Dyslexia is a lifelong learning disability that affects more than simply reading abilities. Dyslexia can make it difficult to read smoothly in addition to making it difficult to decode. It has the potential to affect how effectively children absorb what they’ve read. Even after they’ve learned to read, children with dyslexia may struggle with spelling and writing.

Dyslexia is a visual impairment.

Dyslexia is not caused by vision impairments. Children with dyslexia are no more prone than normal children to develop vision and ocular difficulties. It’s true that certain people have difficulties with visual perception and processing. This indicates that the brain has difficulty identifying details in images and digesting what the eyes view. Reading can be difficult as a result of these obstacles. They aren’t, however, an element of dyslexia

Dyslexia is a condition that only affects English speakers.

Dyslexia affects people of all ages and in all languages. Multilingual children, on the other hand, take longer to detect reading problems than their peers. This could be because teachers and parents believe these students are having difficulty because they are learning a new language. However, if children are having difficulty reading in both their first and second languages, it is a good indication that they should be assessed. Watch as an expert discusses dyslexia in many languages.

Dyslexia is caused by a lack of reading at home.

But the fact is: All children benefit from reading at home and being exposed to it. Dyslexia, on the other hand, is not caused by a lack of exposure. It’s a condition that affects the nervous system. People who are unfamiliar with your family may mistakenly believe you are not reading enough to your youngster. It’s possible that you’ll have to explain that dyslexia is caused by variances in how the brain works.

Also read: 5 Metacognitive Questions For Students

FAQs:

Que1. What is meant by dyslexia?

Answer. Dyslexia, frequently referred to as reading disorder, is a condition that causes difficulties reading in people who are otherwise intelligent. Individuals are influenced to varying degrees. Difficulties with spelling words, reading rapidly, writing words, “sounding out” words in one’s brain, pronouncing words when reading aloud, and understanding what one reads are all possible problems.

Que2. Explain any one myth about dyslexia.

Answer. Dyslexia is characterized by the inability to read and write letters backward.