Learning to read can be a difficult process for many children. Reading is an academic skill that needs systematic and careful teaching, as well as the opportunity for supported practice. Some children find the process of learning to read more challenging than their peers, even when provided with appropriate teaching and instruction. These children may have a specific learning disorder that affects reading development and can also impact spelling. Formally this is called a Specific Learning Disorder with Impairment in Reading but is commonly known as dyslexia. You may also see it called a learning disability, reading disorder, or reading disability.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a reading disorder characterised by difficulty with accurate and fluent word reading which is unexpected given their cognitive abilities and academic skills in other areas. A child with dyslexia may also have poor decoding skills, reading comprehension, and spelling abilities. It is associated with phonological awareness and phonological processing difficulties. Which means that the child may have difficulty hearing the individual sounds in words, manipulating sounds in words, and accessing stored letter-sound information from their memory.
Dyslexia affects approximately 3-10% of the population. It is neurobiological in origin – which means that the child’s brain functions differently to peers when reading. The reading difficulties are not caused by intellectual disability, vision difficulties, or hearing deficits. There is a strong hereditary component, and one parent has often experienced difficulty with school themselves. Dyslexia is a lifelong difficulty but with appropriate supports and strategies children with dyslexia can improve their reading, manage challenges, and achieve well at school and beyond.
How can I tell if my child has dyslexia?
Dyslexia impacts children in different ways but there are some common signs that you can look for. If your child has difficulty decoding words (sounding them out matching each letter, or a group of letters, to a sound), recognising sounds in words (what is the first sound, what is the last sound), remembering sight words, or writing the correct letters for the sounds in spelling they may have a difficulty which is worth further investigation. Letter or word reversals are often thought of as an indicator of dyslexia. While some children with dyslexia will confuse similar letters it is not a key feature. The only way to tell for sure that your child has dyslexia is through a formal evaluation with a psychologist. This evaluation should include a thorough investigation of their developmental history, input from their school, as well as cognitive, academic, and phonological assessment. In addition, the child must have received at least 6 months of targeted and evidence-based intervention before a diagnosis can be given. It is helpful to rule out common issues such as vision and hearing prior to a psychological assessment.
If you have concerns that your child may have dyslexia an assessment can be completed at Lifeworks Psychology. We can also provide support and advice for parents as they process their child’s diagnosis and make plans to meet the needs of their child.
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Call or email Lifeworks psychology today – (08) 9382 3645 admin@lifeworkspsych.com.au