Define Dyslexia - Could Some Form of Dyslexia Be Holding You Back?

So just what is dyslexia, and how do you know if you have it?

Most of the research on dyslexia has been done in the last 15 years. We now know that some type of dyslexia affects 1 in every 10 people, most of whom have low self-esteem issues as a result.

If you or anyone you know graduated from elementary, middle or high school more than 12-15 years ago, you or they may be one of the adult dyslexics that was never tested or diagnosed. Without knowing it the dyslexic will continue to suffer from the condition.  This suffering is absolutely unnecessary and needless...

95% of adult dyslexics are unaware of their condition. They got labeled as "lazy" or "slow learner" in school, and generally ended up with low self esteem as a result. The learning problems can still be easily corrected, but not until you understand something of the condition and then get tested for it to know for sure.

So how do you define dyslexia? What is it and what does it mean?

The term "dyslexia" is a bit difficult to define because it is used in so many different ways. To start with there are two different major schools of thought involved, each with its own range of applications.

First: In the literal, pure academic sense, the meaning of the word "dyslexia" comes from the roots, the origin, the etymology, if you will, of the word itself.

The word is formed from a combination of 'dys', referring to a state of not-working or beset with problems (as it means in 'dysfunctional', for example) and 'lexia' which refers to letters and words.

In this sense, they define dyslexia and dyslexic as terms that apply to anyone who might have difficulties or problems with reading written text.

Second: Parents of dyslexic children and dyslexic adults define dyslexia and employ the term with a much wider range of use and application.

In this wider sense, the word dyslexia is applied to a range of symptomatic problems which include problems with reading, writing, spelling, translating among those three, and with numerous co-factors.

The co-factors and related conditions referred to may include hearing difficulties, poor short-term memory and/or a lack of physical coordination.

They may also include a lack of a sense of direction (right-left; up-down), lack of time awareness (scheduling, performing tasks in proper order, physically getting to the right place at the right time) and/or other co-present disabilities.

To define dyslexia in this wider, application range, a good working definition could be:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability, neurological in origin, that is characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.

For expansion and clarification one might add:

Dyslexic disabilities typically stem from a deficiency in the phonological component of language that is frequently unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and exposure to normal classroom instruction.

Secondary effects may include difficulties in reading comprehension and reduced reading activity which may slow down and impede progress in development of vocabulary and general knowledge.

In order to divide the different types of dyslexia into manageable categories, professionals who work with dyslexic students and patients work with these sub-classifications of dyslexia types:

Surface dyslexia, Phonological, Double-deficit, Auditory, Visual and Orthographic dyslexia.  To a lesser extent, the terms Dysphonetic and Dyseidetic dyslexia are used. As it works our, explaining all those would take more time and space than we have here...  But...(see below) ;-)

For more detailed info about how to define dyslexia, the different dyslexia types, more about the condition and how to get tested, follow the links below... 

For more details about the different types of dyslexia and how to test for dyslexia, visit:Different Types of Dyslexia
For information about adult dyslexia testing (that you can do at home or from anywhere), visit: Adult Dyslexia Test|Home Dyslexia Test
Jorge Chavez is a researcher, analyst and writer at http://overcoming-dyslexia.com