What is Dyslexia?

What is Dyslexia?

(Taken from NHS Choices)

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that mainly affects the way people read and spell words.

Signs and symptoms

Dyslexia is a spectrum disorder, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe. People with Dyslexia have particular difficulty with: child thinking(1).jpg

Phonological awareness
Verbal memory
Rapid serial naming
Verbal processing speed

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is thought to be a key skill in early reading and spelling developoment. It is the ability to identify how words are made up of smaller units of sound, known as phonemes. Changes in the sounds that make up words can lead to changes in their meaning for example, a child with a good level of phonological awareness would understand that if you change the letter “p” in the word “pat” to “s”, the word becomes “sat”.

Verbal Memory

Verbal memory is the ability to remember a sequence of verbal information for a short period of time. For example, the ability to remember a short list such as “red, blue, green”, or a set of simple instructions, such as “Put on your gloves and your hat, find the lead for the dog and then go to the park.”

Rapid Serial Naming

This is the ability to name a series of colours, objects or numbers as fast as possible. mobile phone.png

Verbal Processing Speed

Verbal processing speed is the time it takes to process and recognise familiar verbal information, such as letters and digits. For example, someone with a good verbal processing speed has the ability to quickly write down unfamiliar words when they are spelled out, or write down telephone numbers they are told.