According to researchers, approximately 10% of people have some form of dyslexia.
The term dyslexia comes from the Greek word meaning 'difficulty with words and language'. Until the 1970's, researchers believed dyslexia was caused by a visual problem, and that leaning problems were due to the fact that words could not be seen correctly. In recent years, however, researchers have concluded that the issue is caused by difficultly in matching words with sounds, because of the way the brain works in dyslexic people.
A person who is not dyslexic can break down the sounds in a word. For example, the word 'pen' can be easily broken into three sounds: /p/ + /e/ + /n/. For a dyslexic person, it is difficult to break words down based on sounds. This leads to confusion and misunderstanding when reading.
Other problems caused by dyslexia can include not being able to pay attention and poor concentration skills. Others may confuse left and right or have difficulties following the steps of a maths problem.
Dyslexia is further complicated by the fact that no two people have the same problems, because people's brains follow different patterns and may therefore work differently.
As a result, dyslexic people are often thought to be lazy or unintelligent, even though this is usually not the case.
According to researchers, about 85% of people with dyslexia have a parent with dyslexia, which suggests probable genetic reasons behind the disorder.
Educators need to be aware that learners with dyslexia are often highly intelligent, but may have negative feelings towards training based on previous bad experiences in the learning environment.
Furthermore, educators should try to use a variety of teaching styles, using visual and audio methods when disseminating information.
