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Distancing Dyslexia from your kids

Is your school going son/daughter has difficulty in reading? Or is he/ she show signs of depression or has low self esteem despite being good in studies? Beware, it could be dyslexia. Despite him/her being competent to perform well, their performance could be shunned due to this. Exact causes of it are not known, but many suggest it to be hereditary. Severity can vary between mild and severe. Treatment in childhood itself will save a child. If not treated, it will last even after the child has grown up.

The International Dyslexia Association defines it as, "A specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”

Dyslexia was first identified by Oswald Berkhan when he found a young boy who had a severe impairment in learning to read and write, despite showing typical intelligence and physical abilities in all other respects. Then the term Dyslexia was coined by Rudolf Berin in 1887.

here are different types of it. Some of them cannot be treated till the last breath of an individual. Most of these are common among boys than girls. Only a meager number of girls are at the risk of getting 
dyslexia.

• Primary Dyslexia- This is the most common type of dyslexia which is due to dysfunction of left side of the brain. It is not expected to change with age, usually passed genetically. Individuals affected due to this are believed to have significant struggle in reading, writing and spelling throughout their adult lives.
• Secondary Dyslexia- This is also known as Developmental Dyslexia which is mainly due to lack of brain development in early stages of fetal development. But luckily, this will diminish when the child grows.
• Traumatic Dyslexia- This is common among adults than children. If a person gets affected due to brain trauma or Injury and if that affects the reading/ writing abilities of the brain, then an individual is at the risk of getting traumatic dyslexia.

Signs and Symptoms:
• Delay in development of early language learning
• Difficulty in identifying spellings, reading or writing
• Slow learning
• Lack of concentration
• A child may feel depressed
• Lack of interest in school-related activities
• Using wrong or similar words

What should a parent do?
If you find any of these symptoms in your child, first consult a pediatrician. Then based on the inputs given by the pediatrician, test the cognitive skills, academic performance, communication skills… of your child and consult a child psychologist. Give as much as confidence as possible and motivate to perform thoroughly. Do not give pills made by private entities available in the market without consulting a doctor as this could result in side effects. 

It is neither a physical nor a mental disorder and not fatal. Hence it is important to treat your child as normal as other children. As they already are low in confidence and have lower self-esteem levels, they need to be empowered and should be made to think superior about them. Motivating them is the best treatment one could ever give. So if you feel your child has any of these symptoms, act now and let 
he/she feel confident and be ready to compete with the fellow children. 

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