Dyslexia

The exact cause is unknown but these reading difficulties are commonly associated with specific cognitive weaknesses. These include: phonemic awareness, phonological memory, and rapid automatic naming.

A student with dyslexia typically has evenly developed skills in most other cognitive and academic areas, so weaknesses related to reading are unexpected. Current research suggests that students with dyslexia attempt to process reading in Broca’s area alone, instead of synchronizing with Wernicke’s area and the occipital lobe.

The consequences of dyslexia are far-reaching and include:

• Possible difficulties with reading comprehension

• Written expression

• Math calculations

Depending on the nature and severity of the cognitive weaknesses, listening comprehension can also be impacted. To accurately determine whether a student’s reading difficulties are related to dyslexia, a thorough evaluation is needed that looks at each piece of the academic and cognitive processes mentioned above.

At times, what initially seems like dyslexia to parents and teachers may actually be another type of disability, an instructional issue, a medical issue, or even an environmental issue.