Dyslexia Symptoms And Treatment
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How Do I Know if my Child Is Dyslexic?
Parenthood is fraught with worries. From conception to birth, we worry about how the baby is developing, and once we're relieved to deliver a healthy newborn, the worries start again. At first, feeding, sleeping, and elimination are the top three, since that's what babies do, but as your child grows and changes, so do your concerns. Fortunately, some are left behind, but once a child begins to learn, we worry about recognizing and diagnosing learning disabilities such as dyslexia.
What is Dyslexia?
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) defines dyslexia as "characterized by difficulties with accurate and / or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities." The difficulties a dyslexic child encounters are "often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities [because] many people who are dyslexic are of average to above average intelligence." We think of the classic symptom of dyslexia as transposing letters and numbers, but that is just one of a cluster of symptoms. Children with dyslexia, simply put, have trouble acquiring and using language.
How is it Diagnosed?
According to the American Association of Pediatrics, while pediatricians, primary care physicians, and educational specialists may use screening in preschool-aged children, often, dyslexia isn't discovered until a child has experienced some academic difficulties.
Unfortunately, this wait-and-see situation doesn't help a parent out much, but since a family history of learning disabilities indicates a need for evaluation, if you have such a family history, you should share that with your pediatrician so that your child can start the screening process.
What to Look For in Young Children
Although a formal diagnosis is necessary in order to determine if your child is dyslexic, the IDA lists some problems associated with dyslexia that you may observe in your child. They include a difficulty in learning to speak, in organizing spoken and written language, and in learning letters and their sounds. As your child gets older and begins school, difficulties that point to the possibility of dyslexia include problems memorizing number facts, spelling, reading, and learning a foreign language.
School-Aged Children
The IDA states that, while many children reverse letters before age 7, there are other signs and symptoms of dyslexia that may warrant an evaluation by your pediatrician. These include difficulty in learning the connection between sounds and letters and difficulty reading single words (like words on a flashcard). Other signs include "word reversals, such as tip for pit" and "confusing small words, such as at and to. The IDA cautions that "having one of these signs does not mean your child has dyslexia, but if he exhibits several of these signs, has persistent reading problems, and "you have a family history of dyslexia, you may want to have your child evaluated."
Seek Evaluation and Educate Yourself
The first step in getting a diagnosis of dyslexia is to make an appointment with your pediatrician. He or she may recommend an evaluation by an educational specialist or other specialized practitioner. Once a diagnosis is in place, you can start intervening to ensure that your child's academic career is a successful one.
Because knowledge is power, you may find the IDA's website an invaluable source. Their homepage is located at http://www.interdys.org/. The American Academy of Pediatrics, located at http://www.aap.org/, also has resource information for parents.
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