Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulties when reading, and which is estimated to affect 5-8% of children enrolled in primary and secondary education, and 10-15% of the general population. These reading difficulties can be of different types: confusion or exchange of letters, omissions…
It is a disorder that is usually detected in school, starting at the age of 7, and that affects both boys and girls. But what else do we know about dyslexia? How does it manifest? What types exist? How can we help a person with dyslexia?
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning disorder characterized by difficulties in reading, which affects boys and girls of school age. A child who suffers from dyslexia has reading performance below the expected performance based on his or her age, IQ, and schooling. Dyslexia does not affect intelligence; That is, you can have dyslexia and perfectly normal intelligence.
These difficulties that we are talking about interfere with the person’s academic performance; sometimes even in his daily life activities and in his level of self-esteem.
Dyslexia can also appear in people with some type of intellectual disability or sensory deficit; However, in these cases, to be able to speak of authentic dyslexia, it is required that the difficulties exceed those usual for the person (or those that would be expected according to the person’s developmental and intellectual stage).
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Diagnosis
Professionals recommend diagnosing dyslexia from the age of 7, and not before. This is because, before the age of 7, the person is still evolving, and it is considered a very early age where learning and development of capabilities still occurs, including cognitive and/or academic skills.
Dyslexia in the DSM
How does dyslexia appear in reference diagnostic manuals? In the previous edition to the current one, in the DSM-IV-TR (2002) (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders), dyslexia was diagnosed as a “reading disorder.”
Instead, in the next edition (DSM-5), the disorder is diagnosed as a “specific learning disorder.” This new category is a more generic category, and encompasses, in addition to dyslexia, all possible disorders related to learning. Among them we find: dyscalcúlia, alterations in writing, etc.
Symptoms of dyslexia (diagnostic criteria)
What symptoms does dyslexia entail? These are included in the diagnostic criteria for the disorder, according to the DSM-5, and are as follows:
1. Difficulties in learning (reading)
The difficulties, in the specific case of dyslexia, are focused on the area of reading. Among them we find:
- Reading mistakes.
- Confusions of some letters with others (for example, confusing “b” with “d”).
- Not recognizing some words.
- Reading slowness.
- Inaccuracy in reading.
- Inappropriate or incorrect intonation while reading.
All these difficulties can interfere with a correct understanding of what is being read (reading comprehension).
2. Interference in academic performance
The difficulties described cause interference in the person’s academic performance. Performance can be assessed through standardized tests that are administered individually.
When is a significant decrease in performance considered? When test results are 2 standard deviations below the mean age, depending on the person’s age. On the other hand, in girls and boys over 17 years of age, dyslexia is usually detected through a documented history of their performance.
3. It starts at school age
Another diagnostic criterion for dyslexia, according to the manual, is an onset of the disorder at school age. This is also extrapolated to other specific learning disorders, such as dyscalculia.
It may happen, however, that difficulties appear later, because until now the student has not had to face demands that exceed his or her abilities.
4. Other disorders are excluded
Lastly, other disorders must be excluded in order to speak of dyslexia. Thus, the person cannot meet the diagnostic criteria for: an intellectual disability (ID), a hearing or visual deficit, a mental disorder or a neurological disorder.
Nor can there be a lack of language proficiency, some psychosocial adversity, or inadequate educational instruction.
If you suffer from another disorder, as we have said previously, the difficulties inherent to dyslexia must exceed those expected according to the condition (disorder) of the person.
3 types of dyslexia
Dyslexia, depending on its presenting characteristics, can be of different types (beyond the level of impairment it entails, and can be: mild, moderate or severe). The types that exist, specifically, according to the lexical route affected to read, are:
1.Phonological dyslexia
This type of dyslexia is also called auditory-linguistic dyslexia. In this case, the non-lexical route of reading is altered (also called the indirect or phonic route). This route is what we use when we read and access the meaning of words through sounds (that is, thanks to the sound we recognize the word). The pathway is also called the sequential pathway or the phonological pathway.
In other words: this way allows us to transform graphic signs into sounds, through a grapheme-phoneme conversion system. In phonological dyslexia, the person cannot carry out this process; Therefore, they are people who find it difficult to read pseudowords (made up words).
A trick to remember the name of this type of dyslexia (and the others): the name of the type corresponds to the name of the affected reading pathway (phonological pathway alteration ⇒ phonological dyslexia).
2.Surface dyslexia
Another type of dyslexia, depending on the pathway affected, is surface dyslexia or perceptual-visual dyslexia. In this case, the superficial way to read is altered, which allows us to read the words “globally”. Through it, we read the word in its entirety, and access its meaning; We rely on the perceptual-visual aspects of the reading process, that is, on the letters themselves.
As the person has this pathway altered (superficial, lexical, direct or visual pathway), they will not be able to correctly read irregular words (infrequent words). Because? Because he doesn’t know them, he can’t do the mental process of “word” ⇒ “meaning.”
3.Deep dyslexia
Deep dyslexia is the most severe, and is also called mixed dyslexia. In this case, the person has both reading pathways altered (the indirect or phonological and the direct, lexical or visual).
Generally, the phonological pathway is completely affected and the lexical pathway is only partially affected. This is why people with deep dyslexia have real difficulties reading in general: both regular and irregular words and pseudowords.
Some guidelines to address dyslexia
The treatment of dyslexia must be a psycho-pedagogical and phonological treatment, which allows working on the person’s difficulties through word and reading exercises of different types.
Behavior modification techniques are also used, with strategies such as positive reinforcement. Although we will not go into them in depth, we will talk about some key ideas that can help us when addressing a dyslexia disorder, especially in childhood:
- Make adaptations in exams and exercises.
- Strengthen the child’s self-esteem and strengths.
- Use empathy and understanding when faced with mistakes (above all, do not blame!).
- Adapt didactics to different ways of learning.
- Also use stimulating technological tools for the child.
- Adapt typography to improve readability.
“All children can learn, just not at the same time, nor in the same way.” George Evans
References:
- APA (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Madrid. Panamericana.
- Ardouin, J., Bustos, G. Gayo, R. and Jarpa, M. (2000). Language disorders in childhood. Madrid: Synthesis.
- Caballo, V., Simón, MA (2002). Child and adolescent clinical psychology manual. Specific disorders. Pyramid: Madrid.