What Is Dyslexia? What Symptoms Should Parents Watch Out For? Part 1

An estimated 5 to 10 % of the population could suffer from some form of dyslexia and to some extent it is thought. The idea of dyslexia in their child can be confusing and dismaying for parents however parents can take comfort from the fact that dyslexia is not an intellectual disability and is not related to IQ and its development.

Dyslexia can produce a wide range of symptoms in children, and two dyslexic children could display quite dissimilar symptoms. However some of the symptoms that parents should look out for are-

dyslexia-symptoms

General symptoms

The child seems to have normal (in cases above normal) intelligence, but seems unable to keep up with the class in terms of reading, writing and spelling.

Very many dyslexic children are quite gifted in terms of music, drama, and creative pursuits. Design and construction may be their strong suit.

It can seem to the parent or the teacher that the child “is not trying” or is being careless and they may feel frustration. Typically the dyslexic child does well in oral tests but will be below par in written tests.

Similarly, the written word is not a good teaching aid; practical demonstrations produce better teaching results.

The child may have poor self esteem, may seem frustrated or emotional about work. They tend to be labeled ‘daydreamers’ and may often lose track of time.

Memory and cognition

Typically a dyslexic person has excellent memory and recall of occurrences, people and places so long as they have experienced these first hand. Their visualization is in terms of pictures and sounds rather than in terms of words. Facts, information and sequences are not easily learnt if they are not experienced firsthand.

Personality

To the ‘normal’ parent, a dyslexic child can appear harum-scarum; a class teacher he may be a trouble maker. Equally some dyslexia children are very orderly, very quiet in class and so on.

Some have delayed milestones and on the other hand, others have early milestones. While some dyslexic babies will never crawl and directly start to walk at 9 months of age, others may not start walking till much later than one year of age which is considered a normal walking milestone.

Tolerance for pain may also be above or below normal. When they perceive pressure they may make more mistakes, show more confusion and stress, with this even impacting health negatively.

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