Dive Brief:
- As many as 17% of people in the United States have dyslexia, and it is the most common learning disability, but a range of misperceptions prevent widespread understanding of it.
- NPR, in the first part of an "Unlocking Dyslexia" series, reports the disability is not tied to a lack of comprehension or having a low IQ, and it is not simply a matter of confusing the order of letters in words — dyslexics have a hard time seeing words on the page and connecting letters with their proper sounds.
- Adults with dyslexia, including the NPR reporter, learn strategies to manage their disability, and they sometimes find the effort they put into reading helps prepare them for other challenges in life.
Dive Insight:
Parents and teachers can tend to overlook symptoms of dyslexia and attribute a lack of interest in reading or school to laziness or other behavior problems. It is important for students with dyslexia to be properly diagnosed as soon as possible. There are clear, research-based strategies that can help them learn to read. Jonathan Green, director of The Hamilton School at Wheeler, a private school-within-a-school for students with language-based learning disabilities in Rhode Island, says students should be identified in first grade or by second grade, at the latest.
One of the consequences for students who avoid reading because it is hard for them is that they are exposed to far fewer vocabulary words than their peers. While some educators do not encourage students to listen to books on tape as an alternative to reading, Green supports it for the vocabulary benefits and also the potential to foster a love of books in students.