Dyslexia Confusion

Question: I’m confused about the term dyslexia. It seems to be applied now to every child who has trouble learning. But that doesn’t make any sense to me. I would appreciate any information about what causes dyslexia, and any other information about the condition that you can provide.

Answer: Your confusion is understandable because even experts disagree on the definition of dyslexia and its cause. The most widely used definition stresses difficulty in learning to read despite the person’s having the required intelligence as well as the opportunity for learning and proper instruction.

Among factors that have been associated with dyslexia are a low socioeconomic background and large family. Men appear to be affected about three times more often than women, and heredity also appears to play a role.

Dyslexia may give rise to other problems. For example, dyslexia may lead to behavior problems because of a child’s inability to read. In turn, this may cause the child to be labeled as having an “attention-deficit disorder” linked with hyperactivity. This would be particularly unfortunate because the approach to treatment is different for each of these disorders.