From the psychological point of view, dyslexia is defined as a reading disability, thought by some experts to involve a brain disorder.
Who it affects
There is a classification system known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (aka DSM-IV), which was first published in 1994 by the American Psychiatric Association. This is the most widely accepted psychiatric classification system used in the United States.
Under the DSM-IV, dyslexia is classified as a form of developmental disorder, meaning that it can appear at any age but is more commonly first seen in infancy, childhood or adolescence.
It is estimated that a 3% to 5% of Singaporeans may be dyslexic. Because it affects mainly children, it leads to poor school performance and since school is very
important in Singaporean society, this often leads to diminished self esteem (which is observed in Sandra's case study of her friend, Joe) and eventually to lost career opportunities.
Factors that can cause Dyslexia
Contrary to popular belief, dyslexia is not a visual disorder. It doesn’t cause letters and words to ‘jump around’ or reverse themselves. Research has suggested that the disorder involves the abnormalities in the brain’s language processing circuits.
The 2 main parts of the brains that are actively involved in language processing are identified as the Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.
The Broca’s area is a region located near the front in the left hemisphere in the left frontal lobe operculum. It is responsible for production of words and sentences.
The Wernicke’s area is a region located towards the rear in the left hemisphere in the superior temporal gyrus. It is responsible for comprehension of spoken words and sentences.
I know these definitions sounds really complex so here is a picture to demonstrate their locations:
Ironically, the language the dyslexics speak might also be the cause of the disorder. Speakers of English – with its bizarre ways of spelling, including some 1120 ways to spell only 40 different sounds are much more likely to develop dyslexia than are Italian speakers, who must contend with only 33 combination of letters for 25 sounds.
Treatment
Currently the most effective treatments include special reading programmes that emphasize the matching of sounds to letter combinations, however there is no one ‘correct’ treatment for dyslexia.
This treatment might not be effective for everyone. The treatment can be customized for the individual, as their needs might be different from others.
If the rest of you have any comments to share, please do!
- Sharlene
(Information found from Psychology: Core Concepts by )
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Extra Links
If you want to read more about the brain and its language processing circuits (which is too lengthy a topic to include in a blog post), please visit this website: http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_10/i_10_cr/i_10_cr_lan/i_10_cr_lan.html
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