A Medical Understanding About Dyslexia in Children

In the post periods of the 19th century, dyslexia had been characterized as a severe cognitive and medical condition pertaining to the difficulty in spelling and reading skills. However, the diagnostic descriptions of this syndrome have varying definitions which are mainly based on several issues like population, factors that are viewed by experts as self-explanatory and those other symptoms associated with the onset of this intriguing medical malady. Though the said medical plight is too confusing in terms of its operational definitions, it is described as a type of learning impairment which affects a person’s fluency and comprehension skills in general; and just not merely about the recognition of words. In addition, the specific areas of perplexity are the following: Phonological decoding, rapid naming, orthographic coding, phonological awareness. To describe each one, they are briefly discussed below.

Dyslexia in Children

Brief Medical Overview and Descriptions of Dyslexia’s Areas of Difficulty
Previously, the areas of difficulty in this cognitive inadequacy have been revealed. To describe each one of them, phonological awareness denotes about the discernment of sounds or phonological structures of spoken words. Most importantly, it involves the process of detection and sound manipulation through the three levels of sound morphology namely: onsets or rhyming words, syllables and last but not the least, the phonemes principles.  On the other hand, phonological decoding pertains to the ability of an individual to process and comprehend the systemic use of sound enabling a child or an adult with this kind of learning difficulty to make use of some codes, to amplify a better understanding on human language.

Meanwhile, orthographic coding is denotative of a cognitive and learning process which refers to the standardized manner of using a prescribed and definite writing system to scribble or write words. It is generally associated with the spelling of words. Likewise, spelling encompasses other language components such as word breaks, hyphenation, capitalization, punctuation and emphasis. Meanwhile, a working memory or rapid naming area of difficulty in dyslexic patients is appropriately given the definition, as the system or method of maintaining mind information to flawlessly perform both verbal and non-verbal exercises or assignments, which are readily available in preparation for the furtherance of information processing.

In the next section, the different kinds of this neurologically caused learning disability will be discussed here to make readers be medically aware that anyone can be afflicted of this kind of lag in learning processes, especially your child and family member if not immediately diagnosed nor treated as soon as possible.

Types of Dyslexia
Dr. David Perlstein, who had a Medical Degree in Cincinnati University and is currently the medical director of the Saint Barnabas Hospital said that dyslexia in children is the most common kind of cognitive and learning disability which can possibly affect them, during their whole lifetime. In addition, those kids that are being affected by this kind of lag in learning process are having a hard time to read, despite of the fact that the instructions in accomplishing the task have been given in a simple and definite educational methodology.

Medically speaking, children who are classified as dyslexics are with an average Intelligence Quotient. However, the problem with dyslexic children is that they have a certain kind of an impairment within the brain that impedes the translation of images from the visual and auditory parts of the brain; thereby leading to concrete forms of image translation. However, the said difficulty never includes the possibilities of visual and auditory disabilities because these children have excellent ear and vision functions. Thus, it is not attributed to several factors like brain damage, Down’s Syndrome or intelligence inadequacy.

The primary kind of dyslexia is a dysfunction on left portion of the brain, known as the “cerebral cortex”,  does not get modified as the patient ages. Those people can read write beyond the fourth-grade level and are even struggling to learn reading, spelling and writing as adult do in their given environment. Maybe, you will try to ask this. Is this kind of learning disability hereditary? Yes, it is. Conversely, this common form of learning disability affects boys rather than girls.

Secondary or developmental is due to the abnormal hormonal development during the early course of fetal progression. As the patient age increases, the signs and symptoms of this type of intellectual inadequacy minimizes to a certain extent.

As far as visual type is concerned, it is evidently characterized by numeral and letter reversals. Likewise, those persons who have this kind of cognitive impairment cannot write letters or symbols in a correct order. On the other hand, medical doctors have defined the auditory kind as a type of learning handicap attributed to as the “jumbling of letter sounds, or they are not accurately heard by the patient who are dyslexics.

Causes
Over the years, the problem of this neurological or learning disability had not been definitely identified or pinpointed. Therefore, the continuous processes of research and development in the medical fora have not ceased at all; till they have found the appropriate medical methodologies to be adopted in explaining the mystery behind this debilitating medical condition, which severely affects the personal growth of individuals who are suffering from the pains and psychological dilemma of being a dyslexic.

Signs and Symptoms
Children and adults who are dyslexics may have the following signs and symptoms which you might not be aware of.

• Difficulty in sustaining his or her attention span
• They cannot complete sentences
• Experiences headaches, dizziness while reading
• They often mispronounce long words
• Learns easily and better through hands on techniques of teaching approach
• Deceivingly, they appear to be intelligent but they cannot write and speak well at a given grade level
• They are too emotional and oftentimes apprehensive about tests and other academic activities
• Keeps on reading and rereading but still, they have little comprehension ability

Treatment Approaches on Dyslexia
In case there are clear manifestations of this sickness among your children and family members, you can immediately see your pediatrician or family physician. Also, you can have a one-on-one meeting with the teachers of your child in order to make the accurate medical treatments as early as possible, before it gets worse. Most importantly, the need for a reputable psychologist or speech therapist is very much essential to conduct the necessary and right psychological tests and assessments for the betterment and utmost benefit of your child or family member. In fact, there are specialized teams like Child Study Teams, Student Study Teams and Study Support Teams which are delegated to discuss the child’s problem, upon the request of the concerned parents. In this connection, they can also subject the child to a battery psychological tests to determine the extent of the neurological disorder. Afterwards, they will completely discuss the test results with the child’s parents to help the individual with this kind intellectual disability, to achieve his potentials with the support and motivation of his or her parents and family members.
Dyslexia must never be a subject of fear among children and parents. Thus, it must be used as a compensatory mechanism to let the child find his or her special skills and potentials in life, to achieve the BEST OF WHAT HE CAN BE in the years to come.

Category: Parenting