Dyslexia is one of the most common developmental differences, affecting about 10% of the global population. People with dyslexia may experience difficulties with reading, writing and spelling. Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that impacts one’s abilities in a specific learning area but does not impact overall intelligence or health.
With proper assessment and support, individuals with dyslexia can have a thriving education and career. At Unquie Community Services, we provide proactive and tailored support for people with dyslexia.
What Is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is characterised by specific differences in the areas of the brain responsible for processing language. People with dyslexia struggle to identify speech sounds and their relation to letters and words. Dyslexia can cause various issues with decoding language, such as difficulty reading quickly, sounding out words, and understanding their meaning.
Dyslexia is not related to vision or hearing issues, nor does it affect a person’s intelligence levels. It is not a learning disability, and the term learning disorder is no longer used. Children with dyslexia often excel in the classroom with specialised instruction and proper support. Dyslexia is a developmental difference that requires early assessment and intervention for the best possible outcome. While dyslexia can go undiagnosed until adolescence or adulthood, you can receive quality care at any age.
Anyone can develop dyslexia regardless of background and intelligence level. This learning difficulty often runs in families; therefore, children can inherit it from their parents. Intelligence is not impacted, and some individuals with dyslexia have exceptional talents in various areas, such as computer science, math, art, sports, or music.
Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia
Dyslexia may affect a wide range of learning skills related to spoken and written language. A person with dyslexia is likely to:
- Read slowly
- Make frequent mistakes while learning to read
- Struggle to understand the meaning of certain words or sentences
- Experience difficulty with spelling
- Have trouble using their speech and writing skills to express themselves
There are strengths associated with dyslexia, too, such as:
- Efficiently processing a text when another person reads it to them
- Great problem-solving skills
- Highly observant
- Strong visual memory
- Creative thinking
People with milder forms of dyslexia may have fewer problems with reading, spelling, and writing. However, they still require extra effort and specialist care to reach their full potential. Most individuals with dyslexia can learn to read, spell, speak, and write fluently with the help of supportive teaching strategies.
Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia in Children
Although some clues might appear in early childhood, parents are unlikely to recognise the signs of dyslexia in nursery-age children. The earliest signs are usually identified by teachers when a school-age child starts learning to read and write.
While every child experiences symptoms at an individual severity level, there are several common signs of dyslexia in children, including the following:
- Slow reading progress
- Difficulty with the pronunciation of certain words
- Struggling with spelling
- Poor reading comprehension skills
- Avoiding reading or reading-out-loud
- Difficulty finding the right words
- Struggling to grasp syllable division or acknowledging the beginnings and endings of words
Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia in Teens and Adults
Children with dyslexia often face particular language learning challenges throughout their teenage years and even adulthood. Most teenagers and adults with dyslexia experience similar symptoms.
Below are listed the most common signs of dyslexia in teens and adults:
- Slow and difficult reading (especially reading out loud)
- Difficulty writing and properly arranging the letters in some words
- Problems with spelling
- Troubles with learning a different language
- Improper pronunciation of names and words
- Avoiding activities that involve spelling, reading, and writing
Causes of Dyslexia
While experts still cannot confirm the specific causes of dyslexia, some brain research studies have shown differences in the brain development and functioning of people with this learning difficulty. Dyslexia is not the result of lower intelligence levels or a lack of desire to learn; it is a developmental difference that requires specialised teaching methods so that the person can learn successfully.
The brain of an individual with dyslexia processes information related to language in a different way. Research and brain tests show that neurotypical individuals and people with dyslexia use different neuropathways while reading. This learning difficulty usually runs in families and appears to be linked to particular genes that impact language processing in the brain.
Can Trauma Cause Dyslexia?
Both physical and emotional trauma can increase the risk of developing dyslexia. Trauma dyslexia, known as acquired dyslexia, can occur after a traumatic brain injury due to various causes, such as:
- Traffic accidents
- Sports incidents
- Falls
- Physical trauma
- Concussion
- Stroke
This form of dyslexia is more common in adults than children.
Can You Develop Dyslexia Later in Life?
While developmental dyslexia is the most common form of this learning difficulty, anyone can develop acquired dyslexia later in life. Acquired dyslexia happens as a result of traumatic events, including head injuries and illnesses, that cause brain damage and impair its typical functioning.
The specific effects of acquired dyslexia and the prognosis for recovery depend on the type and severity of brain damage. In addition to that, an individual can experience both developmental and acquired dyslexia. For instance, a person diagnosed with dyslexia can experience a traumatic event that makes their needs more complex.
Types of Dyslexia
Dyslexia used to be divided into several categories, but updated classifications recognise four main types based on the symptoms and the specific skills affected. The unique combination of language learning issues determines the required personalised intervention. Therefore, classifying dyslexia into these types helps doctors, teachers, and caregivers understand its complexity better.
Phonological Dyslexia
Phonological dyslexia is the most common type of this learning difficulty, often treated as synonymous with dyslexia itself. It causes phonological impairment, leading to significant difficulty reading and breaking apart the individual sounds in a language.
Children and adults with phonological dyslexia experience the following:
- Difficulty reading
- Difficulty spelling
- Struggling to sound out unfamiliar words
- Difficulty grasping letter combination
- Spelling the same word differently in the same text
- Struggling to put familiar words in new contexts
Rapid Naming Dyslexia
Rapid naming dyslexia affects one’s ability to rapidly pronounce letters and name numbers or colours when presented to them. People with this type of dyslexia can successfully utter words, but it usually takes them more time to come up with the correct one.
Symptoms of rapid naming dyslexia include:
- Struggling to retrieve words
- Slow oral response
- Frequently leaving out particular words or substituting them
- Usage of gestures instead of words
- Replacing real words with made-up ones
Double Deficit Dyslexia
Double deficit dyslexia is a relatively rare type of dyslexia that combines two different forms of reading difficulty. This usually includes signs of phonological dyslexia and rapid naming dyslexia.
As such, this is a severe form of dyslexia that may cause significant impairment of the person’s reading and spelling skills.
Surface Dyslexia
If an individual can easily sound out new words but fails to memorise words spelt differently than they sound, they may have surface dyslexia. According to experts, this type of dyslexia makes it hard for the brain to recognise words by sight and process them quickly.
Below are listed the common signs:
- Problems with whole-word recognition
- Difficulty spelling
- Slow reading
- Difficulty spelling words that don’t fit the typical letter-sound correspondence (irregular words)
- Avoiding activities related to reading
Visual Dyslexia
Visual dyslexia prevents the brain from getting the complete picture of letter shapes and sequences. Therefore, children and adults with this type of dyslexia struggle to remember what they see on a page.
Symptoms of visual dyslexia include:
- Blurry and out-of-focus perception of a text
- Difficulty keeping track of text lines
- Text appearing double
- Eyestrain and headaches while reading
Dyslexia Diagnosis
Several types of experts can carry out an assessment and deliver a dyslexia diagnosis, including school psychologists, neuropsychologists, and clinical psychologists. The evaluation involves various tests for dyslexia and assessments in other areas to confirm any unique strengths and weaknesses related to this dyslexia.
A comprehensive evaluation usually involves an assessment of the individual’s social and educational achievements, as well as critical areas of their language skills. These tests tackle:
- Phonological skills
- Expressive language skills
- Rapid naming skills
- Ability to read words in isolation or in context
If all parts of the evaluation confirm the dyslexia diagnosis, the person is entitled to a tailored intervention plan and adequate accommodations.
Dyslexia Treatment
There is no cure or definitive treatment for dyslexia. However, access to tailored care allows people with dyslexia to master their reading and writing skills.
Early diagnosis and support are vital in helping people with dyslexia reach their full potential in their academic and professional life. Most children with dyslexia can benefit from the assistance of a carer, tutor, or therapist with a multisensory approach to the improvement of their language skills.
One-on-one help is the best way for most individuals with dyslexia to master their language processing skills at their own pace. Furthermore, students with this difference usually require corrective feedback and structured practice to develop their word recognition skills. Teachers should work closely with outside therapists in order to properly accommodate students with dyslexia in the classroom.
Learning Difficulties Associated with Dyslexia
Many children, adolescents, and adults with dyslexia are also affected by related learning difficulties. Common learning difficulties associated with dyslexia include:
Living With Dyslexia
Dyslexia impacts writing, reading and spelling. However, dyslexia often impacts a person’s emotions and motivation for learning due to the pressure of society. The traditional education system often fails to accommodate students with dyslexia, which leads to them developing a feeling of inferiority and low self-esteem.
With tailored support, people with dyslexia can feel confident and motivated. Most people with dyslexia learn to process language with quality support, and different learning strategies can help these individuals excel in all areas of life.
How Unique Community Services Supports People With Dyslexia
At Unique Community Services, we offer CQC-regulated complex care for people with learning difficulties of all ages.
We aim to help people with dyslexia on their journey to an independent and successful life. Our clinicians deliver tailored care to these individuals in their own homes and encourage their integration within the local community.
Our care team tailors our services to the needs of those we serve and adapts them to the person’s preferences. We always prioritise the privacy, dignity, and personal boundaries of the people we serve. Most importantly, our trained clinicians imprint kindness and compassion in all their services.
Unique Community Services offers personalised home care for people with learning difficulties in Bristol, Manchester and Leeds. Contact us now, and we will create a tailored plan catering to your specific needs.
