Dyslexia
The word dyslexia is derived from the Greek “dys”, which means “difficulty with”, and “lex” from Latin “to speak”, having to do with words.
A definition of dyslexia, based on information from neuroscientific and linguistic research, states “an individual having difficulty in the use and processing of linguistic and symbolic codes, alphabetic letters representing speech sounds, or numeric symbols representing numbers or quantities is considered dyslexic.” Such difficulty is reflected in the language continuum that includes spoken language, written language and language comprehension.
Children and adults with dyslexia typically fail to master the basic elements of the language system of their culture despite traditional classroom teaching. Since language is the necessary tool upon which subsequent academic learning is based, people with dyslexia often encounter difficulty in all educational endeavors.
Dyslexia has its genesis in human biology. While not the result of neurological damage, dyslexia is the product of neurological development. Dyslexia commonly runs in families and varies from mild to severe. Most importantly, the use of the Orton-Gillingham approach by a skilled and experienced teacher can significantly moderate learning the English language and processing problems that arise from dyslexia. Indeed, the Orton-Gillingham approach, used early enough and by qualified practitioners, has every likelihood of eliminating the emergence of notable reading and writing problems.
