Characteristics Of Dyslexia

Lily

B.R
Staff member
Highly misunderstood, dyslexic children are often termed as stupid, lethargic and day dreamers. However, the fact is that they are extremely intelligent and possess an entirely different thought process. As often regarded by many, dyslexia is not a disease, but a language processing disorder or a learning disability where the brain fails to identify and process certain symbols. Dyslexia has nothing to do with the intelligent quotient of a child but affects his language related development. Dyslexics tend to have difficulties with processing speed, working memory, phonological processing and often fail to live up to their cognitive skills. A disorder which affects not only kids but also adults, it is genetic and generally runs in the family. Adults become dyslexic due to brain trauma too. If not properly treated, dyslexia creates long term impact in the life of a child as he or she cannot be taught by conventional teaching methods. Read on to know more about dyslexia and its characteristics.

Dyslexia Symptoms

General Characteristics

  • Dyslexic children seem extremely intelligent and bright though they are poor in reading, writing and spelling words. This leads to them being labelled as ‘careless’ and ‘dumb’.
  • As these kids are not ‘very poor’, they fail to get the proper care they require in schools.
  • Though they possess high level of IQ, these kids do not excel in academics. They may do well in oral exams but will definitely fall short in written texts.
  • Dyslexic kids tend to develop a poor self-esteem and often get frustrated with reading or tests in schools.
  • These children appear highly talented in drama, art, sports, story-telling, designing and engineering.
  • Dyslexic kids often get lost in day dreams and lose track of time.
  • These kids tend to learn better through demonstrations, visual aids, observation and experimentation.
Cognitive Characteristics

  • Dyslexic children need to read things over and over again to understand its true meaning.
  • Reading becomes a slow and time consuming process for them, leading to a lot of drafts and such people find it difficult to recollect what they have just read.
  • Most of them tend to miss or add words due to inaccurate reading. Once the flow is lost, they need to start all over again.
  • Dyslexic kids find it difficult to focus on simple pages which may appear distorted and demand high concentration and effort from them. This makes the entire process tiring, giving them the label of ‘dumb’ and/or ‘silly’.
  • Unfamiliar and new vocabulary might be difficult to grasp and remember for such people.
  • Some dyslexic kids tend to face difficulty in reading text written on bright white paper.
  • Short term memory and problems in visual processing makes the writing process difficult for them. During the process, they find it difficult to structure and organise the ideas.
  • These children try to write down the thoughts so that they don’t lose them.
  • Dyslexics mispronounce long words, stutter while speaking, leading to halting phrases, incomplete sentences; they may even fail in transforming their thoughts into sentences.
  • They fail to memorise those sequences which they have not experienced.
Vision Disabilities

  • Dyslexic kids often complain of headaches, dizziness and stomach pain while reading.
  • These kids often appear confused due to numbers, letters, sequences or words.
  • Their writing and reading often includes repetitions, omissions and additions.
  • Dyslexic kids complain of vision difficulties though an eye test fails to reveal the problem.
  • Dyslexics possess excellent observation skills though often lack deep perception.
  • Easily distracted, these children complain of having heard things that are not clear to others.
Behavioural Characteristics

  • Dyslexic kids either become problem makers or become too quiet. They often appear unruly.
  • These children are extremely late or early during their developmental stages such as walking, talking and crawling.
  • Susceptible to ear infections, they are highly sensitive to addictives, chemical products and foods items.
  • Dyslexics either have a very light sleep or an excessively deep one; they can also display bedwetting beyond the normal age.
  • Such kids possess a powerful sense of justice and are often very sensitive. They are often perfectionists.
  • Pressure, stress, poor health and confusion make them commit large number of mistakes.
Characteristics Of Adult Dyslexia

  • Those adults with dyslexia often flourish in careers which demand hands-on-talents like carpentry, interior decoration, electrical, plumbing and so on.
  • Adult dyslexics often feel frustrated at chronological processes or long forms.
  • These people tend to misuse words, which leads to mispronunciations.
  • Dyslexics are poor in recalling sequence of events or conversations.
  • Dyslexics hate leading loudly and any form of public speaking. They are uncertain about words, spellings and punctuations; they often rely on auto spell check.
  • These people hate coming out of their comfort zone and dislike new tasks and situations.
  • Driving is a herculean task for them as they face difficulty with the directions.
  • A perfectionist, an adult dyslexic tends to overreact for mistakes.
  • Estimating the time a specific task would take is very difficult for them.
A genetic disorder, dyslexia can be managed through proper care and supportive counselling.
 
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