Health Tips > Psychological Disorder

Dyslexia

<< < (2/3) > >>

Jannatul Ferdous:
Warning Signs in Grade School or Middle School

•   Struggles with reading and spelling
•   Confuses the order of letters, such as writing “left” instead of “felt”
•   Has trouble remembering facts and numbers
•   Has difficulty gripping a pencil
•   Has difficulty using proper grammar
•   Has trouble learning new skills and relies heavily on memorization
•   Gets tripped up by word problems in math
•   Has a tough time sounding out unfamiliar words
•   Has trouble following a sequence of directions

Jannatul Ferdous:
Warning Signs in High School

•   Struggles with reading out loud
•   Doesn’t read at the expected grade level
•   Has trouble understanding jokes or idioms
•   Has difficulty organizing and managing time
•   Struggles to summarize a story
•   Has difficulty learning a foreign language

Jannatul Ferdous:
Dyslexia doesn’t just affect reading and writing. Here are some everyday skills and activities your child may be struggling with because of this learning issue:
•   Social skills: There are several ways dyslexia can affect your child’s social life. Struggling in school can make your child feel inferior around other kids. Your child may stop trying to make new friends or may avoid group activities. Your child may also have trouble understanding jokes or sarcasm. You can help your child decode humor and also try different strategies to improve self-esteem.
•   Listening comprehension: People with dyslexia tend to be better listeners than readers. But dyslexia can make it hard to filter out background noise.[6] This means your child could have trouble following what the teacher is saying in a noisy classroom. Sitting near the teacher can help reduce distractions.
•   Memory: Kids with dyslexia can take so long to read a sentence that they may not remember the sentence that came before it. This makes it tough to grasp the meaning of the text. Listening to an audio version or using other kinds of technology can help.
•   Navigation: Children with dyslexia may struggle with spatial concepts such as “left” and “right.” This can lead to fears about getting lost in school hallways and other familiar places. Using a buddy system can help with transitioning from class to class.
•   Time management: Dyslexia can make it hard to tell time or stick to a schedule. A cell phone alarm, picture schedule and other prompts can help keep kids (and adults) on track.

Jannatul Ferdous:
Finding out what’s causing your child’s reading issues can help in a variety of ways. Your child’s teachers can use the information to figure out which methods of reading instruction to use. A diagnosis could also open the doors to more free resources and support at school. These resources might include one-on-one tutoring sessions with a reading specialist and a laptop your child can use at home and at school.
There’s no single test for dyslexia, and getting a formal identification often involves a team of professionals. As part of the evaluation process, you may be asked to fill out questionnaires about your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Your child’s teachers may be asked to do the same thing. Here are the steps involved:
Step 1: Get a medical exam. Your child’s doctor may test your child’s vision and hearing to see if these could be affecting her ability to read. The doctor will also ask you about your child’s development and whether other family members have reading problems or other learning issues.
Step 2: Get a referral to a specialist. Your child may be tested by a psychologist or other professional who specializes in learning issues. These specialists can provide insights into how your child thinks. They’ll do tests to zero in on which areas she’s struggling with. Your child will be asked to read words and do some rhyming, spelling and writing, among other things.
Psychological testing can also determine whether ADHD, anxiety, depression or other issues are interfering with learning.
Step 3: Put it all together. The specialists will discuss their findings and recommend ways to help your child. These may include a type of tutoring called phonological awareness training. This can help improve your child’s understanding of how sounds and letters go together.
Remember that it’s never too early to start asking questions and getting your child some extra help. The sooner your child starts getting the right kind of help, the better her chances are of catching up to other kids her age.

Jannatul Ferdous:
It’s not unusual for kids to be diagnosed with dyslexia and another condition. There are also conditions that can look like dyslexia because they have some of the same symptoms. Here are some conditions that can coincide with or be mistaken for dyslexia:
•   ADHD can make it difficult to stay focused during reading and other activities. Roughly a third of students with attention issues also have dyslexia. It’s also worth noting that teachers sometimes overlook signs of dyslexia and assume a child hasADHD. That might be because kids who have difficulty reading can fidget from frustration. They can also act up in class to cover up not knowing how to do what the teacher is asking.[7]
•   Auditory processing disorder affects kids’ ability to sort through the sounds they hear. They may struggle to understand what people are saying. Reading can also be tough for them. That’s because so much of reading involves connecting sounds with letters. Kids with auditory processing disorder often have trouble recognizing the difference between letters like b and d and sounding out new words.
•   Visual processing issues can make it hard to see the difference between letters or shapes. Kids with visual processing issues may complain of blurry vision or of letters “hopping around on the page.” They may try to compensate by squinting or closing one eye. They often reverse letters when writing and struggle to stay within the lines.
•   Dysgraphia can affect children’s ability write and spell. It can also make it hard to organize their thoughts on paper. Many kids with dysgraphia also have dyslexia.
•   Dyscalculia makes it hard to do math. Many kids have serious difficulties in both reading and math and may have dyscalculia in addition to dyslexia.[8] Trouble learning to count is associated with both conditions.
•   Executive functioning issues can affect children’s ability to organize and stay on task. Kids with weak executive functioning skills may struggle with reading comprehension.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page