reading Te complete read on
it's estimated that one in ten people in ireland is affected by dyslexia. But what exactly is dyslexia - and how do you spot the signs that your child may be affected?
oſten a language-based condition caused by a glitch in the brain's circuitry. Tis 'glitch' may cause kids to have a
A
halting reading style, poor comprehension, and difficulty spelling and writing. Tey may have trouble remembering letters, words and numbers: difficulties, which may impact their vocabulary and mathematic skills.
What is dyslexia? Tere are many definitions of dyslexia. Te Dyslexia Association of Ireland defines dyslexia as a 'specific learning difficulty affecting the acquisition of fluent and accurate reading and spelling skills.' Te Report of the Task Force on Dyslexia
(2001), meanwhile, suggested that the learning difficulties arising from dyslexia: • occur across the lifespan, and may manifest themselves in different ways at different ages
• may co-exist with difficulties in the area of numbers
• may be associated with early spoken language difficulties
• may be alleviated by appropriate intervention
• increase or reduce in severity depending on environmental factors
• occur in all socio-economic groups • can co-exist with other learning difficulties such as Attention Deficit Disorder
Successful intervention While definitions of dyslexia may vary to some degree, there is one thing that all of
44MODERNMUM Autumn 2016
lthough it's oſten thought of as a visual problem in which children reverse letters or write backwards, dyslexia is more
the experts do agree on! Tanks to years of research, there is now an overwhelming body of evidence to prove that early intervention definitely pays off, so it's vitally important that children are diagnosed with dyslexia as early as possible. So, what are the signs that you should be looking out for in your own children?
Children aged between three and five Obviously it's around this age that most children will begin to speak but, if you find that your child is taking longer to learn to speak than most of their peers, then you should look out for some other dyslexia characteristics. Do they, for example: • have difficulty pronouncing some words - multi-syllabic words in particular?
• have difficulty with rhyming and maintaining rhythm?
• seem to take longer than their peers to add new vocabulary?
• appear to be experiencing problems in learning the alphabet?
When your child begins to write even the simplest of phrases, watch and see if they exhibit any delays in acquiring emergent literacy skills. For example, do they understand that written language progresses from leſt to right? Can they discriminate between letters, words and sentences? Such difficulties can all be indicators of dyslexia.
Children aged between five
and seven By now, most children will have started school and will be learning to write sentences. While all children of this age will make errors in writing, watch and see if your
child seems to be making constant reading and spelling errors such as: • reversing letters, eg, putting 'd' instead of 'b'
• transposing letters, eg, felt and leſt • reversing words, eg, top for pot • reading slowly with little expression or fluency
If your child appears to be slow at learning the connection between letters and sounds, or seems to constantly confuse small or easy words, such as 'at' for 'to', then it may be an idea to seek professional advice.
Children aged between seven
and twelve years By this age children should be reading and writing with ease, so it will be much more obvious if they are experiencing difficulty in either activity. Indicators of possible dyslexia at this
age include: • poor or slow recall of facts • slow, oſten illegible handwriting • difficulty in planning, sequencing and organising written text
• language-related problems in maths • misreading words • problems with summarising or outlining • problems with taking notes and copying from the board
If your child appears to be experiencing
any of the above, and if their reading accuracy and fluency are below expectation, then, again, it may be a good idea to speak to a professional, so that any potential difficulties can be addressed as quickly as possible. „
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