When most people consider dyslexia, they think it is just about struggling to read. What is often missed is that there is also a speech processing component involved.
If parents and teachers are aware of initial warning signs of dyslexia, early intervention with research-based remediation can be used to help these children.
It is easy for observers to label children who confuse letters like b and d as dyslexic while missing those who struggle to link letters with sounds.
When I worked in a public school district as a speech-language pathologist, many teachers complained that some of their students were unable to recognize, much less manipulate, the sounds in words – a process (phonological decoding) that is unconscious and automatic, but still an integral part of reading.
Knowing that I advocated for screening and helping dyslexic students, they were quick to tell me about the students who confused letters, not realizing that letter reversals are common to all students up to grade one, but although perplexed and frustrated with the students who were unable to hear and process sounds, they never linked their difficulty with dyslexia.
Whereas speaking is a natural outgrowth of listening and associating with speaking adults and older children, reading must be taught. However, it requires some prerequisite skills. The child must somehow recognize that spoken words are made up of sounds, or else the work that letters do becomes mysterious.
The reading brain network uses mechanisms from the speech and language brain network. Because of that, atypical speech in young children is a red flag for atypical reading and also dyslexia.
So, parents, when you read Dr. Seuss’s books and nursery rhymes to your children and they have trouble with the rhymes and wordplay, take that as warning signs and have your child screened for dyslexia. You can read more about the connectedness in the phenomenal human brain here.
Did you know that children who demonstrate difficulty with speech, like mispronouncing long words, or transposing phrases, words, and syllables when speaking could be dyslexic?
Thank you for helping me learn more about dyslexia. I have to admit that I am ignorant on the topic. Thank so much!
You’re welcome, Cindy. You made my day. Part of my purpose is to enlighten those who do not know of the beauty and blessings of dyslexia.
I can believe the connection between reading and sounding. Most people have a limited reading speed because they have not learned to release the need to pronounce every word as they read it. I recall classmates who could read but not out loud. I assumed it was fear but hopefully the problem was resolved with the help of an understanding and patient teacher.
Most dyslexic children hate reading out loud. When they come to an unfamiliar word, because of their difficulty with connecting the letters to their sounds, they have trouble pronouncing the words. While they may be able to gather some meaning from the context and other clues, reading out loud decreases comprehension of the text. Now, they have to spend time decoding the words and figuring out the meaning. For some dyslexics who succeed, it’s because of the support and encouragement of one teacher. For many others, a supportive parent was the catalyst.
I have never been able to break words down into sounds. For me, words don’t break apart in such a way. I read words in their entirety and the written symbol of the word is a picture that I translate into the object that is represented. I still remember not very fondly the phonics lessons of early elementary school. I truly didn’t understand why the teacher was having the kids make strange noises. I didn’t see any connection to reading whatsoever. And no, I had no trouble with the sounds of Doctor Seuss’ wordplay but that sounded like music to me. I hear rhythm and pitch and Doctor Seuss’ stories sang to me like a song. But spoken language and phonics… there are some sounds that I actually cannot distinguish, one from another. It is the life of a person with auditory processing disorder.
Your challenge with words and sounds is the same for many dyslexics. My daughter also loved Doctor Seuss’ books and stories.
I had a stroke 20 months ago and just figured out that I have trouble coming with rhymes. Thank you for this post.
You’re welcome, Cheryl. I’m duty-bound to help my brothers and sisters with the knowledge God has allowed me to acquire.
Six years ago, I fell and hit my head on a brick wall, After that, I started exhibiting word-finding problems and other characteristics associated with dyslexia. It has been a long road to recovery, but I’m 95% back. Keep working at it and you will get better.