Explaining Dyslexia

Dyslexia is an "unexpected difficulty with reading."  It is not a disease or an affliction, it is simply the description of a learning difficulty. 

The sources of this difficulty can be manifold -- the chart indicates just how complicated reading is.  Dyslexia does not mean that a child is below grade level with their reading, especially in earlier grades.  It means rather that there is a discrepancy between performance in other academic areas and reading.

According to Sally Shaywitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia, up to 40% of children do not take to reading easily.  This is not surprising -- reading is not a natural.  It is a relatively new human invention and so there it no reading spot in the brain. This is why development of reading skills is so unpredictable.

How We Provide Dyslexia Help

Most reading issues are language-based -- difficulty in connecting word memory to text due to weak auditory processing. Children do not switch d's and b's because they see them the same, it's because they hear them the same.  If the brain can learn to hear more accurately, with more clarity, d's and b's will sound distinct.  This is what our service does.

We go right after this weakness, using targeted exercises (Fast ForWord software) that gradually speeds up auditory processing, creating more "pixels" in the word memory, making matches to text more comfortable, reading less effortless and automatic. 

Our interventions build cognitive skills.  Younger children, five and younger may start with The Listening Program and a number of other age-appropriate programs and exercises.  Children six and older will most likely start with Fast ForWord, the industrial strength cognitive skill builder that has had tremendous success with dyslexic children and adults.