It was a well-known fact that decades ago, before there were televisions, radios, or computers, men only had one form of leisure, reading. Our ancestors just read to keep themselves abreast with what is going on with their surroundings. They read so they can travel and experience the world. But with the influx of modern technology such as the Internet, cell phones and electronic games, the younger generations have somehow placed the skill and virtue of reading at a back seat. Many young people have lost the passion and skill to read and, instead, they waste their time and resources by playing video games or hanging out in the mall.
It has been observed that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in school and college. The children who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills, and they grasp the variances in phonics much better.
But while other kids developed the love for reading and learned it easily, there are others who seem to have difficulties in engaging in this type of normally stimulating activity. These children are often diagnosed as suffering from a form of disability called dyslexia. Dyslexia is an impairment in the brain's ability to translate written images received from the eyes into meaningful language. Also called specific reading disability, dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children. It is affecting 5 percent or more of all elementary-age children.
A child who has dyslexia might start out doing fine in school. But gradually, it can become a struggle, especially when reading becomes an important part of schoolwork. A teacher might say that the child is smart, but doesn't seem to be able to get the hang of reading. If a teacher or parent notices this, the best thing to do is to go to a specialist who can help figure out what's wrong.
Dyslexia can be difficult to recognize before a child enters school, but some early clues may indicate a problem. If your young child begins talking late, adds new words slowly and has difficulty rhyming, he or she may be at increased risk of dyslexia. Dyslexia may occur in children with normal vision and normal intelligence. Children with dyslexia usually have normal speech, but often have difficulty interpreting spoken language and writing.
The cause of dyslexia seems to be a malfunction in certain areas of the brain concerned with language. The condition frequently runs in families. Treatment plans for children who have a specific reading disability should follow a sequence. The first intervention that should be tried, particularly with young children, involves systematically teaching word decoding skills. These are generally called phonics-based intervention approaches. There are many variants of phonics-based approaches and no research indicating that one approach is superior to another.
Dyslexia, as a learning disability is a condition that produces a gap between someone's ability and his or her performance. Most people with dyslexia are of average or above-average intelligence, but read at levels significantly lower than expected. It has nothing to do with IQ; many smart, accomplished people have it, or are thought to have had it, including Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein. Dyslexics are unusually insightful, who bring a new perspective, who think out of the box.
Without the needed support for dyslexics, dyslexia can snuff out dreams at an early age, as children lose their way in school, fall into depression, then lose their self-esteem and drive. Dyslexics don't outgrow their problems, and reading and writing usually remain hard work for life. However, with proper teaching, counseling, and adept tutoring, they do learn to manage.
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