What is Dyslexia

What is dyslexia?

Simple Definition

Dyslexia is an inherited condition that makes it extremely difficult to read, write, and spell in your native language—despite at least average intelligence.

Revised definition from the International Dyslexia Association:

Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic.

Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these conditions.

Although dyslexia is lifelong, individuals with dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate intervention.

Dyslexia is not an intellectual problem!

Dyslexia is thought to be one of the most common language-based learning disabilities. It is the most common cause of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties. Of people with reading difficulties, 70-80% are likely to have some form of dyslexia. It is estimated that between 5-10% of the population has dyslexia, but this number can also be as high as 17%. The symptoms of dyslexia range from mild to severe. Because dyslexia may not be recognized and diagnosed in some individuals, they do not receive the necessary treatment; others may not disclose that they are diagnosed. These mitigating factors make the prevalence of dyslexia difficult to precisely determine.

Symptoms of Dyslexia

1. Difficulty in concentration

2. Restlessness

3. Poor memory skills

4. Difficulty remembering what was read

5. Slow reading

6. Forgetting directions

7. Time management problems

8. Difficulty understanding what was read

9. Depends on digital watches

Summary of Warning Signs

DISCLAIMER:

No two people with dyslexia are exactly alike because dyslexia ranges from mild to moderate to severe to profound. Some people with dyslexia also have AD/HD.

Therefore, someone with dyslexia may not have every single symptom listed below. But they will have many of them. Professional testers look for a "constellation" or cluster of symptoms in the following areas.

If someone struggles with spelling, is a slow reader who has a difficult time sounding out unknown words, and has difficulty getting their great thoughts down on paper in acceptable form, AND that person has 3 or more of these classic warning signs, it is worth getting that person tested for dyslexia.

These problems are unexpected when compared to the person's proven abilities in other areas.

Pre-school and kindergarten warning signs

If three or more of these warning signs exist, especially if there is dyslexia or AD/HD in the family tree, the child should be tested for dyslexia when the child becomes five years old. Also, phonemic awareness games and other reading readiness activities should be done daily during the preschool years.

Delayed speech (not speaking any words by the child's first birthday. Often, they don't start talking until they are two, two-and-a-half, three, or even older.)
Mixing up sounds in multi-syllabic words (ex: aminal for animal, bisghetti for spaghetti, hekalopter for helicopter, hangaberg for hamburger, mazageen for magazine, etc.)
Early stuttering or cluttering
Lots of ear infections
Can't master tying shoes
Confusion over left versus right, over versus under, before versus after, and other directionality words and concepts
Late to establish a dominant hand. May switch from right hand to left hand while coloring, writing, or doing any other task. Eventually, the child will usually establish a preferred hand, but it may not be until they are 7 or 8. Even then, they may use one hand for writing, but the other hand for sports.
Inability to correctly complete phonemic awareness task
Despite listening to stories that contain lots of rhyming words, such as Dr. Seuss, cannot tell you words that rhyme with cat or seat by the age of four-and-a-half
Difficulty learning the names of the letters or sounds in the alphabet; difficulty writing the alphabet in order
Trouble correctly articulating R's and L's as well as M's and N's. They often have "immature" speech. They may still be saying "wed and gween" instead of "red and green" in second or third grade.

Reading and Spelling

People with dyslexia do not make random reading errors. They make very specific types of errors. Their spelling reflects the same types of errors. Watch for these errors:

Reading

Can read a word on one page, but won't recognize it on the next page.
Knows phonics, but can't—or won't—sound out an unknown word.
Slow, labored, inaccurate reading of single words in isolation (when there is no story line or pictures to provide clues) When they misread, they often say a word that has the same first and last letters, and the same shape, such as form-from or trial-trail. They may insert or leave out letters, such as could-cold or star-stair. They may say a word that has the same letters, but in a different sequence, such as who-how, lots-lost, saw-was, or girl-grill.
When reading aloud, reads in a slow, choppy cadence (not in smooth phrases), and often ignores punctuation
Becomes visibly tired after reading for only a short time
Reading comprehension may be low due to spending so much energy trying to figure out the words. Listening comprehension is usually significantly higher than reading comprehension.
directionality confusion shows up when reading and when writing
b-d confusion is a classic warning sign. One points to the left, the other points to the right, and they are left-right confused.
b-p, n-u, or m-w confusion. One points up, the other points down. That's also directionality confusion.
Substitutes similar-looking words, even if it changes the meaning of the sentence, such as sunrise for surprise, house for horse, while for white, wanting for walking
When reading a story or a sentence, substitutes a word that means the same thing but doesn't look at all similar, such as trip for journey, fast for speed, or cry for weep
Misreads, omits, or even adds small function words, such as an, a, from, the, to, were, are, of
Omits or changes suffixes, saying need for needed, talks for talking, or late for lately.

Spelling

Their spelling is far worse than their reading. They sometimes flunk inventive spelling. They have extreme difficulty with vowel sounds, and often leave them out.
With enormous effort, they may be able to "memorize" Monday's spelling list long enough to pass Friday's spelling test, but they can't spell those very same words two hours later when writing those words in sentences.
Continually misspells high frequency sight words (non-phonetic but very common words) such as they, what, where, does and because—despite extensive practice.
Misspells even when copying something from the board or from a book.
Written work shows signs of spelling uncertainty--numerous erasures, cross outs, etc.

Handwriting

Dysgraphia: Also known as a visual-motor integration problem, people with dyslexia often have poor, nearly illegible handwriting. Signs of dysgraphia include:

Unusual pencil grip, often with the thumb on top of the fingers (a "fist grip")
Young children will often put their head down on the desk to watch the tip of the pencil as they write
The pencil is gripped so tightly that the child's hand cramps. The child will frequently put the pencil down and shake out his/her hand.
Writing is a slow, labored, non-automatic chore.
Child writes letters with unusual starting and ending points.
Child has great difficulty getting letters to "sit" on the horizontal lines.
Copying off of the board is slow, painful, and tedious. Child looks up and visually "grabs" just one or two letters at a time, repeatedly subvocalizes the names of those letters, then stares intensely at their paper when writing those one or two letters. This process is repeated over and over. Child frequently loses his/her place when copying, misspells when copying, and doesn't always match capitalization or punctuation when copying—even though the child can read what was on the board.
Unusual spatial organization of the page. Words may be widely spaced or tightly pushed together. Margins are often ignored.
Child has an unusually difficult time learning cursive writing, and shows chronic confusion about similarly-formed cursive letters such as f and b, m and n, w and u. They will also difficulty remembering how to form capital cursive letters.

Quality of Written Work

People with dyslexia usually have an "impoverished written product." That means there is a huge difference between their ability to tell you something and their ability to write it down. They tend to:

Avoid writing whenever possible
Write everything as one very long sentence
Not understand that a sentence has to start with a capital letter and end with punctuation
Be confused about what is a complete sentence versus a fragment
Misspell many words—even though they often use only very simple one-syllable words that they are "sure" they know how to spell
Take an unusually long time to write, due to dysgraphia
Have nearly illegible handwriting, due to dysgraphia
Use space poorly on the page; odd spacing between words, may ignore margins, sentences tightly packed into one section of the page instead of being evenly spread out
Do not notice their errors when "proofreading." They will read back what they wanted to say, not what is actually on the page.

Directionality

Most dyslexic children and adults have significant directionality confusion.

Left-Right confusion:

Even adults have to use whatever tricks their mother or teacher taught them to tell left from right. It never becomes rapid and automatic.
A common saying in household with dyslexic people is, "It's on the left. The other left."
That's why they are b-d confused. One points to the left and one points to the right.
They will often start math problems on the wrong side, or want to carry a number the wrong way.

Up-Down confusion:

Some children with dyslexia are also up-down confused. They confuse b-p or d-q, n-u, and m-w.

Confusion about directionality words:

First-last, before-after, next-previous, over-under
Yesterday-tomorrow (directionality in time)
North, South, East, West confusion:
Adults with dyslexia get lost a lot when driving around, even in cities where they've lived for many years
Often have difficulty reading or understanding maps.

Sequencing steps in a task

Learning any task that has a series of steps which must be completed in a specific order can be difficult. That's because you must memorize the sequence of steps, and often, there is no logic in the sequence.

These tasks are usually challenging for people with dyslexia:

Tying shoelaces: this task not only has a series of steps, but many steps have directionality as part of them. Many children do not master this task until they're teenagers.
Printing letters: the reason they form letters with such unusual beginning and ending points is that they can't remember the sequence of pencil strokes necessary to form that letter. So, they start somewhere and then keep going until the letter looks approximately right.
Doing long division: to successfully complete a long division problem, you must do a series of five steps, in exactly the right sequence, over and over again. They will often know how to do every step in the sequence, but if they get the steps out of sequence, they'll end up with the wrong answer.
Touch typing: learning to touch type is an essential skill for people with dysgraphia. But it is usually more difficult (and requires much more effort) for a dyslexic child to learn to type. Not only are the keys on the keyboard laid out in a random order (which requires rote memorization).

Rote memory of non-meaningful facts

Memorizing non-meaningful facts (facts that are not personally interesting and personally relevant) is extremely difficult for most dyslexic children and adults. In school, this leads to difficulty learning:

Multiplication tables
Days of the week or months of the year in order
Science facts: water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, etc.
History facts: dates, names, and places. Dyslexic students do well in history classes that emphasize why some event happened, and the consequences of that event, rather than rote memorization of dates and names.

Telling time on a clock with hands

People with dyslexia have extreme difficulty telling time on a clock with hands:

When asked what time it, they may say something ridiculous, such as, "It's ten past quarter to."
They may be able to tell whole hours and half hours (5:00, 5:30, etc.) but not smaller chunks, such as 5:12.
Concepts such as before and after on a clock are confusing.
Therefore, time arithmetic is impossible.
Getting them a digital clock only helps a little bit.
Now they can tell what time it is at the moment, but if you tell them to be home in 15 minutes, they can't figure out when that would be.

Extremely messy bedrooms

People with dyslexia have an extremely difficult time organizing their belongings. They tend to pile things rather than to organize them and put them away. It is almost as though if they can't see the item (if it is behind a door or in a drawer), they will forget where it is.

So, they have extremely messy bedrooms, lockers, desks, backpacks, purses, offices, and garages.

Math Difficulties

People with dyslexia are often gifted in math. Their three-dimensional visualization skills help them "see" math concepts more quickly and clearly than non-dyslexic people. Unfortunately, difficulties in directionality, rote memorization, reading, and sequencing can make the following math tasks so difficult that their math gifts are never discovered.

Memorizing addition and subtraction facts
Memorizing multiplication tables
Remembering the sequence of steps in long division
Reading word problems
Copying an answer from one spot to a different spot
Starting a math problem on the wrong side
Showing their work
They often "see" math in their head, so showing their work is almost impossible.
Doing math rapidly

They often excel at higher levels of math, such as algebra, geometry, and calculus—if they have a teacher who works around the math problems caused by their dyslexia.

Co-existing Conditions

Attention Deficit Disorder (with or without Hyperactivity)
Attention Deficit Disorder is a completely separate condition than dyslexia. However, research has shown that at least 40% of people with dyslexia also have AD/HD.

Light Sensitivity (Scotopic Sensitivity)

A small percentage (3% to 8%) of people with dyslexia also have light sensitivity (sometimes called scotopic sensitivity). These people have a hard time seeing small black print on white paper. The print seems to shimmer or move; some see the rivers of white more strongly than the black words. These people tend to dislike florescent lighting, and often "shade" the page with their hand or head when they read.

Colored plastic overlays and/or colored lenses can eliminate the harsh black print against white paper contrast, and may make letters stand still for the first time in someone's life. However, the plastic overlays or colored lenses will not "cure" dyslexia, nor will they teach a dyslexic person how to read.

Significant Strengths of people with dyslexia

Although their unique brain architecture and "unusual wiring" make reading, writing, and spelling difficult, most people with dyslexia have gifts in areas controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain. The right-side controls:

artistic skill
athletic ability
musical ability
mechanical ability
people skills
3-D visual-spatial skills
vivid imagination
intuition
creative, global thinking
curiosity

Good careers for people with dyslexia

You'll find people with dyslexia in every field. However, many excel and become "super stars" in the following fields:

Architecture
Interior or exterior design
Psychology
Teaching
Marketing and sales
Culinary arts
Woodworking
Carpentry
Performing arts
Athletics
Music
Scientific research
Engineering
Computers
Electronics
Mechanics
Graphic arts
Photography

Famous Dyslexics

The following people had either dyslexia, ADHD, or both. These people succeeded BECAUSE of their dyslexic gifts, not despite their dyslexia.

The starting list was created by the Kitty Petty Institute, but it has been added to for years. If you have an addition to this list, please e-mail it to Susan@BrightSolutions.US .

Actors or Entertainment Industry Figures:
Henry Winkler (The Fonz)

Tom Cruise
Whoopi Goldberg
Danny Glover
Harry Anderson
Daniel Stern
Bill Cosby's brother and son
Steven Spielberg
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Dustin Hoffman
Steve McQueen
Jack Nicholson
Tom Smothers
Suzanne Somers
Sylvester Stallone
Robin Williams
Lindsay Wagner
George C. Scott
George Burns
Anthony Hopkins
Bob Jimenez (TV anchorman)
Tracey Gold
Steven J. Cannell
Jay Leno
Woody Harrelson
Jamie Oliver, "The Naked Chef"
Brian Grazer, producer of "A Beautiful Mind"
Edward James Olmos
Tracey Gold, "Growing Pains"
Walt Disney
Quentin Tarantino
Lara Flynn Boyle
Keira Knightley
Dom Delouise
Dave Foley
Bruce McCulloch
Patrick Dempsey
Orlando Bloom
Tim Conway
Anderson Cooper

Sports:
Magic Johnson

Greg Louganis (Olympic diver)
Bruce Jenner
Jackie Stewart, inducted into the Grand Prix Hall of Fame
Dexter Manley, former NFL player
Carl Lewis
Pete Rose
Nolan Ryan
Billy Blanks, Captain of 1980 U.S. Olympic Karate Team, Creator of Tae-Bo
Terry Bradshaw
Rulon Gardner, Gold Medal Winner in Greco-Roman wrestling, 2000 Summer Olympics
Adam Heidt, Luge competitor
Jim Shea, Jr., Gold Medal Winner in Skeleton, 2002 Winter Olympics
Stan Wattles, Indy race car driver
Mohammad Ali, boxer
Ellie Hawkins, rock climber
Eric Wynalda, professional soccer player
Neil Smith, NFL
Don Coryell, San Diego football coach (NFL & NCAA)
Duncan Goodhew, Swimmer
Bob Anderson, coach of Olympic wrestling team

Politicians:
Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of UK

Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt
Woodrow Wilson, president of US
John F. Kennedy, president of US
Andrew Jackson, president of US
Franklin Roosevelt,
president of US
Nelson Rockefeller, vice president of US
Thomas Kean, governor of NJ
Gaston Caperton, governor of WV
John Hickenlooper, governor of CO
Dannel Malloy, governor of CT
Pete Shumlin, governor of VT
Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of CA
Frank Dunkle, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Robert Kennedy, senator
Luci Baines Johnson Nugent, daughter of US Pres. Johnson
Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy
James Carville, Political Analyst

Military:

General George Patton
Dwight D. Eisenhower
General Westmoreland
Napoleon Bonaparte

Artists:

Rodin
Leonardo da Vinci
Gustave Flaubert
Robert Rauschenberg
Chuck Close, artist (photorealist portraits)
Margaret Whittington
Allison Merriweather
Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert comic strip)
Charles Schulz (creator of Peanuts comic strip)
Ansel Adams
Robert "Bob" Fowler, Sculptor & jewelry maker
Robert Toth
P. Buckley Moss
Michelangelo
Pablo Picasso
Vincent Van Gogh

Architects:

Richard Rogers - won Pritzker Prize

Landscape Design:

Fredrick Law Olmsted: designed Central Park in New York City and Chicago's Grant Park

Furniture Design:

Mark Wilkinson, kitchen & furniture designer
Martha Sturdy, Designer

Auto Design:
Frank Saucedo, GM

Musicians:
Harry Belafonte

Cher
Beethoven
John Lennon
Mozart
Aimee Osbourne (Ozzie's eldest)
Jewel
Tony Bennett

Science & Medicine:
Thomas Edison

Michael Faraday
James Clerk Maxwell
Nicolai Tesla
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
The Wright Brothers
Benjamin Franklin
Henry Ford
Galileo
Steven Hawkings
Louis Pasteur
Tom Francis (AIDS researcher)
Jack Horner (paleontologist)
Baruj Benacerraf, MD (winner of the Nobel prize in Physiology)
Charles "Pete" Conrad (astronaut)
Dr. Fred Epstein, Brain Surgeon
Dr. Edward Hollowell (ADD Specialist)
Dr. Larry Silvers (ADD Specialist)
Paul MacCready, "Engineer of the Century", invented "Gossamer Condor"
Dr. Harvey Cushing, Father of Modern Brain Surgery
Charles Darwin
William Spicer
Dr. Delphos Cogrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Writers and Poets:

William Butler Yeats
Agatha Christie
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hans Christian Anderson
Richard Cohen, syndicated columnist for the Washington Post
Marc Flanagan, TV writer and producer
Elizabeth D. Squire
Edgar Allan Poe
Thomas Thoreau
Jules Verne
John Irving
Elizabeth Daniels Squire
Robert Scheer
Fanny Flagg, wrote "Fried Green Tomatoes"
Richard Ford, wrote "Independence Day"
Patricia Polacco, Author and Illustrator of children's books
Norla Chee, Native American Poet
Victor Villasenor, Mexican-American Writer
Debbie Macomber, Novelist
John Schumacher, Cookbook Author and Chef
Mark Twain
John Grisham

Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders:
Charles Schwab

Bill Hewlett, co-founder of HP
Richard C. Strauss, real-estate financier
Mark Torrance, CEO, Musak Corporation
Malcolm Goodridge III, senior vice president, American Express
William Doyle, chairman, William Doyle Auction Galleries of New York
Paul J. Orfalea, founder and chairman, Kinko's copy shops
G. Chris Anderson, vice-chairman of PaineWebber
Weyerhauser family
William Wrigley, Jr.
Russell Varian
Craig McCaw (McCaw Cellular)
Fred Friendly (former CBS News president)
David Murdock, CEO, Dole Foods
John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems
Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Corporation (Airline, Records)
Diane Swonk, Bank One
Tommy Hilfiger, Fashion Designer
Donald Winkler, CEO of Ford Motor Credit
Horst Rechelbacher, Founder of Aveda Corporation
Tommy Spaulding, CEO of Up With People
Jo Malone, CEO of Jo Malone Fragrances of London

Other:
Benjamin Franklin

Ann Bancroft, arctic explorer
Roger W. Wilkins, scholar and head of the Pulitzer Prize Board
Hugh Newell Jacobsen, famous architect, winner of 90 different awards for design, including 20 Architectural Record Awards for the best house design of the year.
Son of former U.S. President, George H.W. Bush
Prince Charles
Erin Brockovich, Environmental Activist
Dexter Scott King, son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & President & CEO of The King Center in Atlanta, GA
Peter W.D. Wright, Special Education Attorney

Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, Inc.

2059 Camden Ave. Suite 186

San Jose, CA 95124

Phone: 408-559-3652

Fax: 408-377-0503

Email: info@BrightSolutions.US

Have a question? Click here to send us an e-mail, or call 408-559-3652.