Dyslexia is the most common learning disability and occurs along a spectrum of severity. It affects an estimated 20% of the population. While many think of dyslexia as a condition that causes people to read letters backwards, there is much more to this learning disability. Typically dyslexia involves difficulty in decoding words and causes a weak phonic awareness that makes it challenging to connect the letters they see to the sounds those letters make. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, as with other learning disabilities, dyslexia is a lifelong challenge.

DYSLEXIA IS A LEARNING
DIFFERENCE THAT AFFECTS
1 OUT OF 5 PEOPLE

This language-based processing disorder can impede reading, writing, spelling, and sometimes even speaking. Dyslexia is not a sign of poor intelligence, laziness or the result of impaired hearing or vision. Children and adults with dyslexia have a neurological disorder that causes their brains to process and interpret information differently.

COMMON SIGNS OF DYSLEXIA

Trouble rhyming words
A weakness in spelling
Cannot quickly recall letter sounds and sound combinations
Has trouble decoding unfamiliar words
Mixes up sounds when pronouncing words
Family history of dyslexia
Handwriting is often poor or not legible
Difficulty following a sequence of orders
Not good at managing time
Has trouble learning common word sequences, such as days of the week

Some children with dyslexia may not be diagnosed early because they develop unique strategies that allow them to read lower level texts. Since dyslexia's symptoms are connected with other learning disabilities and difficulties, many children with dyslexia are often diagnosesd with other learning disabilities such as ADHD, a visual or auditory processing disorder, dysgraphia or dyscalculia.

Dyslexia is not a disease or an identifiable physical condition,
but a learning style.