Dyslexia is a brain disorder that makes it difficult for the affected individuals to read or comprehend words. Dyslexia falls into the category of reading disabilities. According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is a “language-based learning disability [and] refers to a cluster of symptoms that result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading.”
What are the Different Types of Dyslexia?
There are no official diagnostic “types” of dyslexia, but finding out which aspects of reading are challenging can help the affected individuals attain the right support and in researching or analyzing various subtypes of dyslexia, health professionals will be able to find better ways to treat them so the dyslexic individuals can live their lives conveniently.
Scientists and health professionals are still in the process of researching, analyzing, and discovering the various subtypes of dyslexia. However, their main goal is to recognize the various reading challenges faced by a dyslexic individual.
According to researchers, there are no specific types of dyslexia. However, discovering the aspect of reading that an individual finds challenging can help the affected individuals attain a proper system and healthcare support. For instance, certain dyslexic individuals find it difficult decoding words whereas others have trouble recognizing words by sight. Majority of individuals suffering from dyslexia struggle in more than a single aspect.
According to health experts, genetics play a substantially contributing role in determining the kind of dyslexia an individual would suffer from and various reading challenges might have a connection with specific gene combinations. The educational experiences of a child play a substantially contributing role in affecting the way his brain gets organized for reading. The aforementioned factors explain why no two individuals suffering from dyslexia go through the same problems.
According to health professionals, the following are the different subcategories of Dyslexia known:
- Phonological Dyslexia
- Surface Dyslexia
- Visual Dyslexia
- Primary Dyslexia
- Trauma Dyslexia
1. Phonological Dyslexia
Phonological Dyslexia is a result of phonological impairment. Individuals suffering from Phonological Dyslexia find it extensively unyielding to read and understand basic words. Approximately 75% of dyslexic individuals find it strenuous to break speech into individual sounds. According to health experts, phonological dyslexia is the most common type of Dyslexia. According to Nessy, the following are the symptoms of Phonological Dyslexia.
- Finding The Right Word
- Syllable Division
- Mixing Up Similar Sounding Words
- Phoneme Isolation
- Sound Discrimination
2. Surface Dyslexia
Individuals with Surface Dyslexia do not have a hard time with sounding out new words. However, they might not be able to recognize common words through sight. In other words, Surface Dyslexia is the inability to convert new words into “sight words,” and is distinguished by severe difficulty with whole-word recognition. Individuals with Surface Dyslexia might take longer than usual to acknowledge a particular word without the need to sound it out. Surface dyslexia is also known as dyseidetic dyslexia or visual dyslexia. The majority of individuals suffer from both phonological and surface dyslexia. According to learninglabfl, individuals with Surface Dyslexia show the following symptoms:
- Avoiding reading activities
- Difficulty spelling
- Trouble reading new words by sight
- Trouble reading words that don’t sound the way they spell
- Slow to read
3. Visual Dyslexia
Individuals with Visual Dyslexia have trouble remembering information seen on a page because this type of Dyslexia substantially affects the dyslexic individual’s visual processing and their brain cannot receive the full picture of what they’d be seeing on a page or anywhere else. Visual Dyslexia might result from visual problems caused by physical causes or visual processing disorders such as cognitive, or neurological causes. Visual Dyslexia is oftentimes treated with the help of a good reading program such as the program with the Orton Gillingham approach. Individuals with Visual Dyslexia show the following symptoms:
- Squinting
- Skipping lines of words while reading
- Migraines or headaches
- Blinking frequently
- Rubbing eyes
- Poor comprehension or fluency
- Preference to read in low light
- Sensitivity to light
4. Primary Dyslexia
Primary Dyslexia is the most common type of dyslexia. It is a dysfunction of the affected individual’s left side of the brain, and it negatively impacts the cerebral cortex. Unlike other disorders, Primary Dyslexia does not change with age, and individuals with this type of Dyslexia find it difficult to read. However, the precise cause of Primary Dyslexia is yet to be found and can be caused by hereditary factors or factors that might have affected the individual’s brain development. According to Mayo Clinic, some of the symptoms of Primary Dyslexia are:
- Difficulty Reading
- Problems Spelling
- Slow and labor-intensive reading and writing
- Avoiding activities that involve reading
- Mispronouncing words or names
5. Trauma Dyslexia
Trauma Dyslexia occurs when an individual suffers from a brain injury or trauma to the brain area that controls writing and reading. However, Trauma Dyslexia is not common amongst today’s population. Some of the few symptoms of Trauma Dyslexia are:
- Short-term memory
- Phonology
- Rapid Naming
- Shock or confusion
How Common is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is more common than we know, especially amongst children. And if not recognized or treated early, it might pose severe difficulties for the affected individuals during the later years of his life. A study compiled by a group of health professionals showed that around 80% of dyslexic children possessed both surface and phonological dyslexia whereas 2o% of the studied children had the other two types of dyslexia. According to Dyslexia Help at the University of Michigan, approximately 5-10% of the world’s population has dyslexia. However, the number can be as high as 17%, because its symptoms vary. According to the co-director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, “80 to 90 percent of children who struggle with learning disorders have dyslexia — as many as one in five children.”
Can Dyslexia Be Cured?
No, there is no cure for Dyslexia, and is a life-long health condition. However, according to health experts, if professional and medical help is sought, it can result in the best outcome. Most healthcare professionals treat Dyslexia by implementing specific scholastic procedures and methods. Academic professionals may implement techniques involving vision, hearing, and touch in accordance with the teaching plan provided by the health instructor of the Dyslexic individual so that they can learn to improve their reading skills in Kindergarten and first grade which will help them enough to do well on their own in High school or College. However, the dyslexic individuals who fail to attain proper health help during the early years of their lives may have difficulty learning and improving their reading skills which might negatively affect their overall school performance or quality of life.
Verdict
When it comes to dividing dyslexia into various subtypes, experts have different ideas, opinions, and plans. However, to come up with a conclusion, more study needs to be done in this area. Understanding the challenges of reading, or analyzing information faced by dyslexic individuals is a strong point in helping them attain the right medical support that they can use for minimizing the side-effects caused by Dyslexia.