Maybe you've had one of those days at school when you just can't read or write. Not because you don't want to, but because you're having a terrible day and you just can't get the words right no matter how hard you tried. The next day, however, it would probably be back to normal, and you could read just fine. There are some people who never escape that and they live with that "terrible reading day" for forever.
That "day" has a name. It's dyslexia. People who have dyslexia are dyslexic, and they often find that their dyslexia gets in the way of everything. You can't possibly go through a day without reading and writing. Even a sick day at home you have to read at some time. Whether it's deciding what movie you're going to watch or what cereal you're going to eat, you're still reading, even if you don't recognize it.
So, what's dyslexia? Dyslexia is basically a learning disability that holds back the expansion of reading and writing skills. Since we're not born knowing how to read, we have to learn it at some point in our lives. When you learn how to read, you have to learn by basically translating the word's sounds into words itself. For example, the word "bat" has three letters -- b, a, and t. They each make their own sounds: bah-ahh-tah. Children can easily put those letters together and read "bat." As they begin to recognize words over and over, the reading becomes automatic.
However, if a child is dyslexic, reading is completely different. They have problems translating the word's sounds and because of that they have difficulties while learning how to read and write. They have problems pulling the words from their memories later on, making the reading harder. Because of this, the children can also have a bad memory with written and spoken words. They may also have trouble with handwriting, planning and organization, math calculation and pronouncing words.
The cause of dyslexia isn't clear, but it is known to run in families. Therefore, it's probably an inherited disorder (or genetic disorder). Like some think, dyslexia is not caused by bad vision, and people with dyslexia do not see backwards. Dyslexia is not lack of motivation to read, it's just difficulties in pronouncing and sounding out the words.
Once children enter school, if the child had dyslexia, symptoms would become more obvious. Some symptoms include difficulty of reading single words, like ones that would be written on a flashcard and confusing small words, like "as," "at," and "to." They can mix up letters like "d" and "b" and they can reverse the words, like "tip" and "pit." (This doesn't mean that they see backwards, though!) Most of the time, symptoms of dyslexia don't appear until fourth or fifth grade, when reading is a necessity.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Maybe it's because I know some people with dyslexia. But maybe it's because I could be dyslexic. If I am dyslexic, then it hasn't been noticeable until the end of last year. More lately now then back then, I've been mixing up words and letters and having difficulty spelling and reading. My science teacher from last year has noticed that it takes me longer to string together a sentence and say it correctly and that I constantly have to repeat what I was saying because I mess it up. He also noticed that I haven't been using the vocabulary that I did last year.
I just thought that I would share with you some aspect of my life with you and make you more aware about dyslexia. Also, I'd like to remind you that just because you may have one of these symptoms, it doesn't mean that you have dyslexia. (:
This is bluebag, going to get ready for bed.
(Now we've got a big, big mess on our hands tonight . . . )
Author's Note: Sources:
http://health.yahoo.com/nervous-overview/dyslexia/healthwise--te7211.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia
http://www.dyslexia.com/ (For positive aspects on dyslexia and why it is a gift)
