Dyslexia, common in children, is a learning disorder in which an individual has difficulty reading despite having had adequate access to education and sufficient intelligence. There is a difference in the brain architecture that causes a certain part of the brain of a person with dyslexia to have trouble decoding the written word. There are over 20 million children in the United States between the ages of 5 and 9 and as many as 1 to 2.4 million of them could have dyslexia.Dyslexia can be caused in two ways, by inherited factors and by hearing problems at ...view middle of the document...
The magno-cellular system is slightly smaller in the brains of dyslexic people.A study published in the journal Science found that as English-speaking children with dyslexia begin to read, they face an awesome task, requiring them to learn more than 1,100 ways that written letters are used to symbolize 40 sounds. It may explain why there are twice as many identified dyslexics in English-speaking cultures as in countries with less complex languages, such as France and Italy.Most people are very careful to avoid preferential treatment for students based on gender, but new research suggests boys may need special attention to cope with a higher prevalence of reading disabilities. The researchers found that boys were two to three times more likely to suffer from dyslexia than girls.While there is no cure for dyslexia, children with dyslexia can improve their language abilities by learning special skills. Recognizing dyslexia and teaching these skills, however, requires committed teachers, parents and school systems. Physicians can ask about a child's progress with reading, teachers can determine if a problem child is actually a child with a reading problem, and parents can explore whether reading is the main problem their child is having in school.
