Dyslexia: causes and therapy of reading and spelling disorders

Scientists are divided over the causes of dyslexia. However, it is often associated with restrictions for those affected. But dyslexics should not be discouraged: there are treatment options, even if they often take a long time.

What is dyslexia and what are the causes?

Dyslexics have problems writing correctly or understanding longer texts. While this is not a disease, the effects often affect the lives of those affected.

• These difficulties are particularly evident in school. Here children with dyslexia learn to write and read more slowly than other children.
• In addition, affected children make many mistakes, especially when writing. They also often read more slowly because the letters for the children seem to be blurred.
• The exact origin of dyslexia is not yet clear. However, researchers suspect that the reading and spelling weakness is inherited.
• The severity of dyslexia also depends on social and individual factors.
• A child with dyslexia can experience significant disadvantages compared to his peers. It is therefore important to diagnose a possible reading / spelling weakness and to initiate possible countermeasures.

How to recognize dyslexia

At the beginning, when your child is just learning to read and write, dyslexia is rarely recognized - after all, all children initially make mistakes when writing.

• Both you, the parent, and your child's teacher should be careful when your child makes consistently more mistakes than classmates.
• For example, observe whether your child reads particularly slowly and hesitantly. Even if it doesn't seem to understand the meaning of what you've read, this could be an indication.
• Often there are errors in the order of letters and sounds, both in writing and in speaking. Difficulties can also arise with hyphenation.
• So when reading from "narrow" becomes a "scarf" or your child writes "Krate" instead of "card".
• Similar looking or sounding letters are also often confused, such as b and d and q and p.
• You should also watch your child's feelings. Children often notice their problems themselves and always try to avoid activities.
• If you suspect that your child may have poor reading and spelling skills, you should contact the teacher, a school psychologist, or other professional help.

Therapy of dyslexia

Often, a child cannot fix dyslexia on its own. Instead, you should seek professional help.

• It is particularly important during treatment that you explain your child's difficulties and offer them sufficient support.
• For example, make sure your child knows that dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence. This takes away the pressure your child is likely to experience in the classroom.
• Professional therapists can help with this and also deal individually with your child's problems.
• Treating a reading-spelling weakness is very time-consuming, because your child will have to invest significantly more time in reading and writing than others.
• Nowadays there are special software programs for the therapy of reading-spelling weakness. Here your child will do exercises and learn how letters sound and how you can tell them apart.
• There are also numerous exercise books. Your therapist will also give you numerous tasks that you can do with your child.
• Allow your child time and do not overwhelm them. At the beginning, short units with simple sentences and simple words are enough.
• With enough time and learning effort, your child can overcome this obstacle.
• With a little time and trust it can be possible to get a grip on the reading and spelling weakness. Don't give too. Agatha Christie also allegedly suffered from dyslexia and has sold two billion books to date.

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