dysTalk What Is Dyslexia - Talks - dysTalk

About the speaker: Jane Emerson, the founder of Emerson House, is a speech and language therapist with more than 25 years' experience of working with children. She is an expert in dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Further information about this Talk

For more information about Emerson House please click here.

Key Points Covered in This Talk:

• What is dyslexia? The BDA provides the following definition of dyslexia: "Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills. It is likely to be present at birth and to be lifelong in its effects. It is characterised by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed, and the automatic development of skills that may not match up to an individual's other cognitive abilities. It tends to be resistant to conventional teaching methods, but its effects can be mitigated by appropriately specific intervention, including the application of information technology and supportive counselling." (BDA Website). There have been many definitions of dyslexia over the years and the BDA's definition is a very good starting poing for beginning to understand what dyslexia is.
• The causes of dyslexia: It is not a disease that you can catch. It is a condition that seems to be inherited. We are at the early stages of understanding all this because although it is a genetic condition we don't know for certain which genes are inolved.
• Why are there more male than female dyslexics? This is not very well understood. Boys are more susceptible to developmental problems in early language development. There have been various theories as to why this might be but nobody has got to a definitive answer. Nevertheless many more boys than girls have dyslexia and quite often when girls are dyslexic they don't seem to be as severely dyslexic as boys can be.
• The dyslexic brain: People have done autopsies on dyslexic brains and found that the two hemispheres tend to be the same size, whereas in most brains the left hemisphere is larger than the right. There also seems to be something strange that happens with the neurons in the brain as the brain is developing in the womb. It is definitely not a question of brain damage but a question of brain difference.
• The effects of being dyslexic: The main element is that dyslexia effects the way that a person analyses sounds and words around them. Dyslexia used to be known as "word blindness". The core definition is more related to being ear blind. Dyslexics therefore struggle to perceive the sounds that make up words. 
• Signs of dyslexia to look out for: When children are at nursery school the dyslexic child could be late to start speaking and the ones with auditory memory difficulties might actually find it difficult to learn nursery rhymes. Dyslexics can have a language delay and evidence of memory difficulties for following instructions. Dyslexia is a syndrome and therefore there would be many signs for a diagnosis. Not easily learning nursery rhymes does not necessarily mean a child is dyslexic. However, a child not picking up early speech and language (like nursery rhymes or the alphabet) is a key sign that a child might be dyslexic. 
• Are there different types of dyslexia? Scientists do not always agree. There is phonological dyslexia (which is more related to speech perception of sounds) but there are many children who also have visual memory and processing issues. Some children have a combination of both auditory memory and visual memory difficulties. These children tend to have a more severe form of dyslexia. 
  
• Dyslexia and maths: Dyslexia can effect maths. Working memory is required to calculate or count things and the memory issues can therefore effect maths.
• Dyslexia need not be a disaster: If you are concerned early intervention will be effective and it's good to start giving extra help early. If your child turns out not to be dyslexic then it can only help to get them off to a good start so you can't lose either way. Many young dyslexics go on to make a great success of their lives and do well at school and university so dyslexia certainly need not be a disaster.