Ten percent of the population is believed to be dyslexic.
That’s one in ten people, or on average, 3 students in every class of 30. But it’s still often poorly understood.
It’s described as a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling, and is often considered to be a difficulty with literacy and language learning.
However, dyslexia is not only a literacy difficulty, as it can also impact:
Memory
Speech and language
Numeracy
Organisation
Sequencing skills
Speed of processing
Vision
Dyslexia is actually a difficulty in how information is
processed, stored and retrieved.
Dyslexia can cause difficulties in processing and remembering information you read and hear, which can cause problems with learning and acquiring literacy and language skills. You might find you need more time to think and to process information, so you may work slower. Word-finding difficulties are common, so you might find it hard to verbalise your thoughts and ideas.
One of the main indicators of dyslexia is literacy difficulties, and some people find that they struggle to remember phonics, blend sounds together in a word, to decode words when reading, or they don’t remember what they’ve read.
They might have difficulties with spellings and use inconsistent and unusual spelling rules, often forgetting how a word is spelt even with lots of repetition. Dyslexia can affect writing too, and so difficulties with writing ideas down, knowing where to start and how to organise thoughts and ideas are common.
However, dyslexia brings its strengths. Lots of people with dyslexia find that they are skilled in creativity and design and are able to see things differently. They can imagine what a project will look like before they’ve even started it. They might be flexible thinkers, finding new and interesting ways to learn and create.
They can solve problems with innovative ideas and are often great communicators. Some of the world’s greatest inventions have been designed by dyslexic brains!
No two people are the same, and everyone with dyslexia experiences their own difficulties and benefits from their own strengths. However, there are some common traits that may help you decide if you think you or your child may need a diagnostic assessment by Inspired Learning.