Dyslexia Facts

Facts on Dyslexia

90 million adults have literacy skills below the sixth-grade level (Dept. of Labor, 1992)
40 million have below third grade level reading ability
75% of unemployed
33% of mothers receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children
85% of juveniles appearing in court
60-75% of prison inmates
40% of minority youth
45% of people in the workforce
11% of professional workforce
30% of semi-skilled and unskilled workers
80% having learning disabilities
30 million adults usually never diagnosed
15-20% of the population has a reading disability
12-15% of overall population have some form of dyslexia
Not all are diagnosed
Of students with specific learning disabilities who receive special education services, 70-80% have deficits in reading. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties.
NAEP, 1997 report—below grade level readers

40% of fourth graders
30% of eighth graders
25% of twelfth graders
69% of black fourth graders (4.5 million students)
64% of Hispanic fourth graders (3.3 million students)
33% of all public school student drop out before finishing high school (Jordan, 1989)

Workplace of the future requires literacy

Levels of Dyslexia (return to top)

Most adults show some blips and would be levels 1 or 2
Levels 4 or 5 have difficulty in spelling and punctuation. If they maintain high levels of discipline, they can be successful.
Levels 6 or 7 have difficulty with spelling and reading textbooks. They can sometimes finish college, but it takes tremendous effort.
Levels 8 or 9 find academic learning almost impossible. It takes 2-3 times longer to finish assignments. They need constant help. Their writing is better when done on the keyboard. They suffer from low self-esteem due to repeated failure.

Three Forms of Dyslexia (return to top)

Acquired Dyslexia

Deep Dyslexia or Primary Dyslexia (8-10)

Developmental Dyslexia or Secondary Dyslexia (4-7)

12-15% of the population
5 times more often in males than females (other research says numbers are equal)
Caused early in the development of the fetus
Struggle to learn decreases as child goes through puberty
Usually able to do well in college if self-esteem is not too badly damaged

Subtypes of Dyslexia (return to top)

Visual Dyslexia

Brain’s visual cortex does not interpret accurately
Left visual cortex of approximately 15% of the population does not have the natural talent to instantly recognize print
35% of population has scotopic sensitivity (Irlen)
65% of deep dyslexics have scotopic sensitivity (Jordan)
20% of developmental dyslexics have scotopic sensitivity (Jordan)
Slow visual processing that often requires 5 times as much time and being able to read aloud for auditory check
Often have dyscalculia because of difficulty with directionality and symbol reading
Poor comprehension of sequential order
Most often identified by classroom teacher
Easiest to correct

Auditory Dyslexia

Tone deafness
- Most difficult form to correct
- Inability to hear separate sounds in words
- Normal hearing
- Paula Tallal found incomplete development of specialized nerve cells between the medial geniculate nucleus and the auditory cortex
- Person does not hear soft vowels and softer consonants
- Person hears only bits and pieces of oral language, not whole word units
Poor spelling and word sounding
- Cannot connect sounds to printed letters
- Traditional phonics instruction is useless because they hear only 1/3 of what is said
- Constantly asking person to repeat
Poor test taking
- IQ tests involve careful listening, accurate interpretation of what is heard, quick understanding, then good oral explanation of information
- Auditory dyslexics only comprehend 60-70% of what they hear
Behaviors
- Act silly
- Give off the wall answers
- Daydream
- Higher incidence of depression, bulimia, anorexia, and aggression
Speech
- Often garbled with mispronunciation of words (alunumum for aluminum)
- Difficulty with rhyme
- Cannot hear the differences in short vowel sounds
Memory
- Intelligent auditory dyslexics rely upon memory

Dyslexia Websites:

Link to the International Dyslexia Association
www.interdys.org

Vision, learning and dyslexia from the optometerist point of view.
www.children-special-needs.org

Teens helping teens
www.ldteens.org

General information about dyslexia
www.ldonline.org

American Speech/Hearing Association
www.asha.org

Nixon Education Services Inc; PO Box 46; Spencerville, MD 20868-0046
alphabetmats@gmail.com