Difficulty Reading Can Be a Sign of Dyslexia

Dyslexia, defined as a kind of “specific learning disorder”, causes the child to have a reading problem and to be unable to understand what he is reading.

If it does not improve in 6 months despite the interventions, attention!

Dyslexia, defined as a kind of "specific learning disorder," causes the child to have a reading problem and cannot understand what he is reading. Emphasizing that the diagnosis of dyslexia should be made when the child's education life begins, experts draw attention to the fact that in case the diagnosis is delayed, individuals who are depressed, anxious and have low self-esteem. He recommends paying more attention to the education of children with dyslexia during the pandemic period and taking care not to interrupt their education.

It is aimed to raise awareness about dyslexia in Dyslexia Awareness Week on November 1-7.

Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine Department of Child Psychiatry, NP Feneryolu Medical Center Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Asst. Assoc. Dr. Başak Ayık gave advice to parents by stating that individuals with dyslexia have difficulty reading.

They are having trouble reading

Stating that dyslexia is a kind of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD), Asst. Assoc. Dr. Başak Ayık said, “People with this type of learning disorder experience problems with reading. For example reading and writing zamThey cannot learn instantly, they read incompletely or incorrectly, they skip letters or syllables. Some dyslexic individuals also have difficulty understanding what they read. "Reading speeds are slower than expected," he said.

If the reading difficulty continues for more than 6 months, attention!

Stating that dyslexia cannot be mentioned in every individual with reading difficulties, Asst. Assoc. Dr. Başak Ayık used the following statements:

“In order to diagnose a person with dyslexia, first of all, appropriate interventions should be made to solve the existing problem. Problems that do not resolve despite appropriate interventions such as educational support, one-to-one tutoring, topic repetition, child and adolescent psychiatry interviews for attention support when necessary, and drug use, and have continued for at least 6 months are considered dyslexia. "

School period symptoms should be taken into account

Asst. Assoc. Dr. Başak Ayık stated that the existence of a dyslexia problem should be decided not by the symptoms of preschool, but by evaluating the symptoms during the school process and continued her words as follows:

“Although the symptoms of dyslexia in the preschool period are speech delay, low vocabulary, errors in spoken letters, difficult learning of object names, difficulty in listening, clumsiness, delay in hand selection, and fine motor retardation, the main problems are related to learning and school skills. In order to be defined as dyslexia, a person must have started school. The symptoms we saw in the previous period should only be considered as the possibility of dyslexia and should not be considered as a clear diagnosis in the preschool period. Again, depending on the severity of dyslexia, the year of school education may vary. Mildly affected children may show few symptoms in the first school year. "

Basic treatment of dyslexia is education

Stating that the main treatment that should be applied in dyslexia and all other specific learning difficulties is special education, Asst. Assoc. Dr. Başak Ayık said, “This education is different from the one given at school. While the child continues his education in a normal school, he is also taken to a special education individually or as a group. The education needs of the child should be determined according to the severity of dyslexia. Intensive individualized education should be provided by teachers who have been specially trained in this field. It is a known fact that frequent and one-on-one applications are more beneficial in solving this problem. The younger the training starts, the better the treatment response. Longer and more intensive training is required for children who are delayed for treatment. On the other hand, there is no drug treatment to eliminate learning difficulties. However, if there is an accompanying psychiatric illness such as anxiety disorder, depression or similar, their treatment is important. "Drugs can be used to increase attention in individuals with attention deficit."

If diagnosis is delayed, the effect can last for a lifetime.

Stating that academic difficulties persist in individuals with dyslexia, Asst. Assoc. Dr. Başak Ayık said, “If the person is not diagnosed at an early and appropriate age and support is not provided, the problems he / she experiences continue for a lifetime with different symptoms. In addition, individuals with dyslexia may have problems not only in the academic field but also in other areas of life ”.

Depressed, anxious and suicidal tendencies can be high

Noting that one of these problems is their social skills, Asst. Assoc. Dr. Başak Ayık said, “They may find it difficult to express themselves appropriately. If eligible zamIf they are not recognized at the moment and the necessary support is not provided, there may be depressive, anxious and low self-esteem individuals as a result of many years of effort and academic difficulties. Problems begin to appear in interpersonal relationships. Different psychiatric illnesses can also be seen. The American Psychiatric Association stated in 2013 that children, adolescents and adults with dyslexia are in the risk group for suicide. Apart from that, some of them are map reading - road, direction finding; organize their affairs, zamHe said, “It may also experience problems in completely different areas such as memory planning, money management and budget management”.

One-to-one lessons should be given importance in the pandemic

Stating that the online education system, which continues due to the pandemic, is a troublesome process for all students as well as for individuals with dyslexia, Ayık said, “Considering that especially individuals with dyslexia benefit from one-to-one education, it is expected that they will have more difficulties in distance education, where it is difficult to control and its response is variable. . We recommend that parents concentrate on educational support and one-to-one lessons during this period and not interrupt. "If education is interrupted, lowering expectations from the child and not going over it will at least reduce the anxiety and negative emotions that the child will experience."