Dyslexia

I read a great article in the December 2011 addition of Parents Magazine discussing the early signs of dyslexia. For one, toddlers usually enjoy the repetition of sounds in most nursery rhymes and try to mimic the cadence of the poems, but children with early signs of dyslexia "may not perceive the sound patterns at all."

By five, children use the rhythm and repetition of nursery rhymes to begin reading basic words. (This is why it is so important to expose children to rhyming at an early age.) However, a child with dyslexia "will struggle with associating letters to sounds and especially blending sounds together to make words."

Finally, scientists have determined dyslexia is a brain disorder due to the help from MRIs. Areas of the brain that light up on the scanning device for regular readers are mostly dark for dyslexic readers. But these same readers with dyslexia show activity in other areas of the brain while reading. Meaning dyslexics use different methods in order to read which may make them great problem solvers. Famous dyslexics you might recognize...Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Charles Schwab, and Tom Cruise (not mentioned in the article).

Other important facts:

~Dyslexia runs in the family. "Up to 1/2 of children with a parent or sibling with dyslexia also have it."
~If you are worried your young child might have dyslexia, contact your neighborhood public school. Public schools are required by law to evaluate all children for disabilities!
~If your child is labeled dyslexic, get them in an appropriate education program right away! The sooner the better.