What Is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by an unexpected difficulty in reading in adults and children. Reading difficulties in patients with true dyslexia are unexpected because they have normal intelligence, eyesight, motivation, vocabulary, speech and education. It is seen to some degree in approximately 5-10% of all children in the U.S. and is seen equally in both boys and girls, although boys are more frequently diagnosed with the disorder.

What Is Not Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is not an eye or vision problem, but is a true learning disability due to underlying problems in the brain. It is not a transient developmental problem that children "grow out of," but is a persistent, chronic disability that leads to life-long difficulty in reading. It is not caused by the brain "seeing backwards" or "flipping letters backwards," but manifests simply as difficulty in learning to read at a normal level. Despite many common myths, dyslexia is not related to transposing letters, left-handedness, difficulty tying shoes, difficulty telling left from right, or clumsiness.

Does Dyslexia Run In Families?
Yes. Dyslexia is a group of polygenetic hereditary diseases, which have been localized to chromosomes number 1, 2, and 15. Between 23 and 65% of children of a dyslexic will have dyslexia, and almost half of the siblings of a dyslexic will have some level of dyslexia.

What Causes Dyslexia?
Recent research studies using functional MRI scanning (fMRI) seems to show that dyslexia stems from an underlying functional defect in using the word-forming areas in the posterior part of the left side of the brain. (Parieto-temporal and occipito-temporal areas) The areas of the brain used for spoken language (Broca's area in the left inferior frontal gyrus) are normal, as are all other areas of higher cortical function. In fact, dyslexic children tend to use the frontal brain areas more in order to compensate for difficulty in using the posterior language areas. Difficulty in using these special posterior brain areas causes the dyslexic child to have difficulty in turning written letters into vocalized sounds, and therefore difficulty in "breaking the code" of reading.

How Does Dyslexia Present?
Dyslexic children have difficulty with phonemic awareness, or learning that individual letters form specific sounds, and when combined, form specific words. These children are often very intelligent and well spoken, and function far better on oral testing or conversation than on written testing, reading or spelling. Dyslexics usually begin to fall behind in schoolwork in the first or second grade, but can be recognized earlier by specific testing. Dyslexics generally dislike reading, especially oral reading in groups, where their disability becomes painfully obvious to peers. By the third or fourth grade the dyslexic begins to fall even further behind in school work, since by then children are expected to be able to use basic reading skills to learn other subjects.

Is Dyslexia Reversible?
Yes! Again, studies show that with appropriate training programs and home tutoring based on increasing phonemic awareness, dyslexic children not only function better and become fluent readers, but the fMRI scan shows significantly increased activity in the posterior language areas of the brain, and less reliance on frontal areas.

Is It Important To Diagnose And Treat Dyslexia Early?
Yes! Since the brain becomes gradually less flexible or "trainable" with time, age is an important factor in treating dyslexia, although even adults with dyslexia can be successfully treated. More importantly, research indicates that poor readers tend to remain poor readers, and although almost all children and even adults improve significantly with proper treatment, once children fall behind their peers in reading, they have great difficulty in catching up. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical in keeping at-risk children from falling behind.

How Is Dyslexia Diagnosed?
Dyslexia is a clinical diagnosis based on difficulty in reading despite normal intelligence, training and language skills. As such, evaluations by teachers and parents are extremely valuable in making an early diagnosis of dyslexia, since they are in the best position to judge a child's status in regards to intelligence, verbal skills and reading level. In suspected cases of dyslexia, formal testing is generally best done at the end of Kindergarten or the beginning of First Grade, at which point children should have developed significant phonemic awareness. There are several good testing programs available, including: TPRI, (Texas Primary Reading Inventory, found at www.tpri.org) PALS, (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening, found at http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/pals/) or DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, found at http://dibels.uoregon.edu./)

What Other Screening For Problems Related To Dyslexia Is Needed?
All children suspected of possible dyslexia should have a complete eye exam by a pediatric or neuro-ophthalmologist to rule out any visual or neuro-ophthalmologic problems that might contribute to their reading problem. Resource testing for intelligence and verbal language skills is also important.

How Is Dyslexia Treated?
Dyslexia is best treated at an early age, in small groups (less than 3 children) with programs designed to address and teach phonemic awareness. In many school districts, specific programs for diagnosing and treating dyslexia are available, and this should be a parent's first choice. If this is not available in your child's school district, diagnosis and a dyslexia training program is available through Country Hills Eye Center. Either way, parents can play an important and active role in helping their at-risk child become a better reader with the training programs available through Country Hills Eye Center.

What Should Be Avoided?
There are a number of un-proven and very expensive treatment programs available, under the label of "Vision Therapy," including various eye exercises, reading with colored glasses or through colored cellophane, using prism glasses, etc. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Ophthalmology have issued a joint statement indicating that these "Vision Therapy" programs have been shown to be ineffective and useless in treating dyslexia or other learning disabilities. Beware of any expensive program requiring multiple extended clinic visits, eye exercises, prism or colored glasses, or expensive equipment and testing routines.