• The highly verbal 5-year-old who can't master the alphabet.
• The bright, creative 7-year-old who's behind in his reading skills.
• The talented teenager whose mediocre grades are blamed on lack of motivation.
• The college student who scraped by in high school and now feels overwhelmed.

What these otherwise bright, sociable young people have in common is a disability that makes learning in the "usual" way difficult. Dyslexia, characterized by problems with learning to read, remembering what was read, spelling, and organizing thoughts, may be noticed as early as kindergarten or may never be diagnosed. Because it interferes with the ability to learn in school, dyslexia can be frustrating for both students and parents.

"Trouble With Words"
A common assumption about dyslexia is that it is characterized by reading words in reversed order, i.e., "was" looks like "saw." Although this type of problem can be associated with dyslexia, the disorder cannot be explained simply as seeing letters or words backwards. Dyslexia is marked by difficulties making the basic connection between symbols (letters) and their sounds.

When most children learn to read, they use typical "decoding" skills: recognizing letters on sight and learning the sound each letter makes. Then they begin to figure out (decode) what the letters will look and sound like when they are put together to form words. For people with dyslexia, the decoding process may be a challenge for several reasons. They may be unable to differentiate between certain sounds (such as "p" and "b"), or they may see (perceive) the letters spaced incorrectly, somewhat like this:

The specific cause of dyslexia is not known, and there are probably many causes. At least 14 areas of the brain are involved in reading. Learning disabilities are generally thought to be a result of subtle miscues in the organization of these areas. The messages the brain is sending seem to get jumbled up or confused. People with dyslexia may be able to hear and see (perceive) perfectly well, but what they hear and see looks different and sounds different than it would to most people. The miscues that cause dyslexia are thought to be present at birth and influenced by heredity. Approximately 5% to 10% of school-age children have some type of learning disability.

Typically, with dyslexia, there is a wide gap between IQ and school achievement. This gap cannot be attributed to deafness, blindness, poor teaching at school, lack of stimulation at home, or emotional factors. Often, a child's ability to think creatively and abstractly is quite good, but his basic reading and spelling skills are weak. Dyscalculia, or problems with math skills, may also be present.

A child with dyslexia who observes peers reading and making progress may feel "stupid" because he can't keep up. And as he continues to experience failure in the classroom, his self-esteem may take a beating. Educators emphasize the importance of identifying a learning disability as early as possible, so the child can be taught in alternative ways and achieve success in school.