What is dyslexia?
Once described as ‘word blindness’, today we recognise that there’s more to dyslexia than a failure to read, write or spell. Over the last 80 years it has been accepted that dyslexic children and adults seem to suffer from a range of difficulties that go way beyond literacy, to include problems with concentration, short-term memory, maths, coordination, balance, communication and social skills.
We now know better
Where once it was regarded as a reflection of poor intelligence and a low IQ, we now know better. Sufferers are often very bright, creative individuals, but their potential is compromised and challenged because of their problems with learning skills and retaining information.
The fact is, the term dyslexia embraces a wide range of conditions which often overlap with other developmental disorders, like ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) DCD (developmental coordination disorder), also known as dyspraxia, SLI (specific language impairment), dyscalculia (difficulty with numbers) and dysgraphia (difficulty with writing). Some individuals diagnosed as being dyslexic will suffer from all the symptoms, some with just one.
Symptoms not labels
This is why Dore considers the whole person and insists on treating individual symptoms rather than just working with the dyslexia ‘label’.
Today, in many Western countries, dyslexia affects somewhere in the region of 10-20% of the population, who in some way, require specialist support to help them reach the same levels as their peers and fulfil their potential.
People who have dyslexia or dyslexic symptoms often, but not always, have trouble with:
- reading, writing and spelling
- concentration
- short-term memory
- arithmetic
- physical coordination – poor handwriting, riding a bike
- communication skills
- social skills - difficulty in making friends
- being prone to tantrums