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Disability Research Disability:  Dyslexia

Overview: Developmental reading disorder (DRD), also called dyslexia, is a reading disability that occurs when the brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols.

Causes: Dyslexia is caused by a problem in areas of the brain that help interpret language (NOT vision problems). Dyslexia is a specific information processing dilemma that may appear in a combination with developmental writing and arithmetic disorder, which all involve using symbols to convey information. Emotional disorders, mental retardation, diseases of the brain, and certain cultural and education factors can also cause learning disabilities such as dyslexia.

Symptoms:
 * Difficulty determining the meaning (idea content) of a simple sentence
 * Difficulty learning to recognize written words
 * Difficulty rhyming
 * Combination with writing or math learning problems.

Treatment: Treatment strategies for dyslexia vary from person to person. For children with the condition, an individual education plan should be created. Extra learning assistance, called remedial instruction, private, individual tutoring, and special day classes are all recommended for children that have dyslexia. Another important aspect to treatment that people often neglect is positive reinforcement. People suffering from dyslexia often have poor self-esteem. This can be solved with psychological counseling as well as positive reinforcement.

Prevention: Dyslexia is known to run in families. Affected families should make every effort to recognize the disability early and provide early intervention, which will in turn result in the best possible outcome.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">Source: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002379/