Dyslexia is a neurobiological, language-based disability that persists over time and interferes with an individual's learning.
Primary reading and spelling characteristics of dyslexia:
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Difficulty reading real words in isolation
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Difficulty accurately decoding nonsense words
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Slow, inaccurate, or labored oral reading (lack of reading fluency)
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Difficulty with learning to spell
Texas Education Code 38.003
Common Risk Factors Associated with Dyslexia
Associated Academic Difficulties
Interesting Facts about Dyslexia
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More than 25 million Americans struggle with dyslexia
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One in twenty children have a severe case of dyslexia
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One in five has a milder case of dyslexia
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It is estimated that 80% of those with dyslexia have a co-existing attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Severe Dyslexia
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Permanent type of dyslexia that improves little with age
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Found in 3-5% of the population
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Family History
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Intensive early training can raise most to a reading level between 4th and 6th
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Spelling skills rarely rise over 4th grade
Mild to Moderate Dyslexia
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With proper intervention can seem to diminish as a person matures
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12-14% of school population
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Equal ratio- boys to girls
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Family History
Surface Dyslexia- visual interpretation of printed symbols
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Most easily diagnosed
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Has nothing to do with visual acuity
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Information is “scrambled in the language portion of the left side of the brain"
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Reversals, transpositions, inversions, mirror images, and scrambled sequences
Dysphonetic Dyslexia- inability to hear separate sounds within spoken language
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Cortex does not process speech sounds accurately
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Sounds do not register
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Use of similar sounding words
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Chunks of message are left out
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Blocks development of spelling
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“Tone deafness"
Mixed Dyslexia - includes characteristics of both types
Dysgraphia- poor graphomotor or writing ability
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Awkward control of the pencil
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Cramped or illegible handwriting
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Many suffer from hand cramps
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Handwriting gets more illegible the longer they write
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Appears to draw the letters
Resources
Dyslexia Helpline (Region 10) 1-800-232-3030
Texas Dyslexia Handbook (2021)
Child Find Network
TIER Network
Inclusion Network
TEA Dyslexia and Related Disorders