In the world there are many different diseases that can develop in both adults and children. Knowing about everyone is simply impossible. That is why in this article I want to talk about a problem such as dyslexia. This is what it is, how it can be identified and what methods of its treatment exist - I would like to talk about this.
About the concept
There are children who are given great difficulty reading and writing. Such kids are often considered lazy, but not so simple. Who knows, maybe the child has dyslexia? This is a special neurological condition, a learning disability that can affect the student's perception of letters, numbers, signs. At the same time, the baby does not perceive and understands reading, writing, mathematics, he has a rather low academic performance. However, at the same time, studies by scientists prove that the IQ of such children is most often above average. You can also try to simply clarify the disease. In this case, dyslexia is a kind of malfunction in the child’s brain, which closes his access to a certain analyzer (for example, words or numbers). Why is this happening - let's try to figure it out further.
A bit of history
It will be very interesting that this term was first used back in 1887 by the ophthalmologist R. Berlin. The doctor first encountered a problem when examining a comprehensively developed boy. He experienced significant difficulties in reading and writing, but at the same time, in all other areas of knowledge, the guy showed simply wonderful results. This term, according to Berlin, was supposed to indicate a problem when, with universal learning, the child experiences problems with reading and writing. According to modern statistics, this disease is known firsthand about 5-10% of all inhabitants of the planet, and it is most often determined at the age of 6-7 years. Due to its neurological nature, getting rid of this disease is not so easy, it will take maximum efforts on the part of the child, patience on the part of parents and, of course, a lot of time.
The main problems of dyslexics
Having understood that dyslexia is the inability to correctly perceive letters or numbers, it is worthwhile to tell a little about what other problems children with this disease may encounter.
- Such children can see certain letters or numbers backwards, automatically turn them over independently and not be able to read.
- Sometimes in children with this disease, the text may “jump” on the page, not stack in an even row.
- There may also be problems distinguishing similar numbers and letters (for example, “p” and “b”, 10 and 01).
- If a child can distinguish between letters, then it happens that he cannot pronounce them in the same row, that is, in a word.
- A common problem is that the child does not remember the words he read. Every time he has to learn again.
- Often such children do not see words, for them the letters are simply mixed up.
- Also, children with this problem can change the letters in the words (instead of “weight”, read “everything”).
- It is also not uncommon for a child to understand and know all the letters, but when he tries to read a word, he has a severe headache, nausea, and possibly dizziness.
It is worth saying that with all this, scientists say that such children almost never have problems with visual perception (and if it does, it is extremely rare). In addition, this list is not all the problems that a dyslexic may experience. Children of different ages have various difficulties, and as the baby grows up, difficulties also transform and change.
Classification
The classification of dyslexia is also something to be mentioned in this article. So, this disease can be classified according to several indicators.
- Children with dysphonetic dyslexia cannot voice words, read. This is for them like some kind of secret code that needs to be decrypted every time.
- Children with dysheidetic dyslexia (which can also be called gestalt-blind dyslexia) can remember words with great difficulty, but at the same time they may not see the difference between similar letters. After reading a word on one page, they may not read it on the next.
- The third type of this disease is the most difficult, and it is quite difficult for such children to help: this is a combination of the first two dyslexia.
About Species
Be sure to consider also several types of dyslexia that can develop in schoolchildren.
- Phonemic dyslexia. This is the underdevelopment of the function of the phonemic system.
- Agrammatic. Replacement or distortion of the word morphemes.
- Semantic dyslexia. This is a violation of reading comprehension in formally perfect reading and pronunciation of words.
- Optical Dyslexia, which is associated with the underdevelopment of visual function.
- Mnestic. This type of dyslexia manifests itself in the difficulties of learning letters and understanding the relationship between them.
The causes of the disease
It is also important to consider why dyslexia occurs in primary school children. So, the reason may be a localized lesion of certain areas of the brain. This can occur as a result of trauma (even a simple blow to the head) or the underdevelopment of the desired area of the brain. Another no less important reason, according to doctors, which can cause this disease in children, is health problems in the mother and baby at the stage of gestation or the birth itself. The following fact will be important: according to doctors, about half of the cases of this disease were transmitted to children by inheritance from their parents (this disease affects both sexes, but according to statistics, boys are three times more likely than girls). However, at the same time, such children cannot be considered mentally retarded or inferior, they just cannot decipher the information received from outside. Moreover, problems do not exist in the whole brain, but only in a separate area of it.
Diagnostics
How can I determine if a child has this disease? So, children's speech therapists recommend a special test that will help solve the problem and find out if the child is really sick with dyslexia or just lags behind in the development and study of subjects. A predisposition can also be identified through genetic analysis when there is a study of the DCDC2 gene responsible for this disease.
About treatment
What to do if the child has dyslexia? At the same time, drug treatment is not a way out of the situation. In addition, this option to get rid of the problem is unlikely that someone will tell you, there are simply no such medicines. In this case, competent corrective work is needed. Teachers, children's speech therapists, and, of course, specially trained specialists can help with this. So, work with such children can be carried out as in a classroom (the teacher must pay special attention to such a child, which, however, is very difficult), or the baby should be sent to work with special teachers who can correct this problem.
Special programs can include a wide variety of working methods. It can even be exercises for the eyes, which can also help cope with this disease. However, most often each case of dyslexia is considered individually, a special program is selected and formed for the child, which will help to cope with the problem only for him. If the symptoms of the disease do not immediately disappear and dyslexia does not recede, treatment should still be continued. Do not give up, and the result will certainly make itself felt.