Dyslexia is a neurologically based disorder that affects learning to read and write and which currently affects between 10 and 15% of minors worldwide. The main characteristic of this is that it appears in children who do not present any other physical, psychological or sociocultural alteration that explains it.
Due to this high incidence, early detection of dyslexia by analyzing symptoms It is essential to prevent the child from suffering any type of consequence both academically and socially.
As mentioned above, detecting this disorder at the earliest possible ages is essential to facilitate children’s learning and adapt teaching methods.
In this way we can avoid the frustration that not achieving the objectives established at school can cause the child, as well as the lack of motivation and the emotional consequences that undiagnosed dyslexia usually causes.
If dyslexia is not adequately detected, both the child and the people around him They may come to think that they are less intelligent than the rest of their classmates, when in reality it is common for them to have an IQ between normal and high. However, this comparison can harm the child’s self-esteem.
First symptoms of dyslexia
Usually, the first symptoms of dyslexia They tend to appear around four or eight years of age the most common problem being that related to the vocalization of unknown words, the alteration of the order of the letters in writing or the lack of attention and concentration.
As a consequence of their difficulties, minors who suffer from dyslexia They tend to be disinterested in school tasks or activities even going so far as to refuse to do them or to go to school.
Although dyslexia can present in different ways in each of the children who suffer from it, there are a series of common indicators that can help us identify it. As mentioned above, it is essential that both parents and teachers are able to identify these first signs or manifestations. to be able to intervene preventively
Some of the first symptoms of dyslexia that may lead us to assume that a child may develop dyslexia are the following.
1. Slow speech acquisition
Children with possible dyslexia have difficulties developing spoken language. They take longer to learn to speak, both to say single words and to form sentences. Besides, They have poor verbal fluency and in many cases they tend to have some difficulties when it comes to understanding others.
2. Problems in reading and writing
As in speech, these little ones also present difficulties when learning to read and write
3. They confuse the words
In both oral and written language, children who suffer from dyslexia They may show confusion or errors in words with a phonetic similarity For example, they may confuse boot and drop.
In the same way, they can suppress the phonemes of some words, confuse them or change the order of the syllables depending on the sound.
4. Lack of vocabulary
Exists a clear poverty in the vocabulary of these children This symptom is due to the difficulties they have when learning new words, many of which they obtain through reading.
Another very common early sign of dyslexia is mirror writing. This means that those children who are learning to write can they write the letters backwards as if they were seen in a mirror.
6. Concentration problems
As a consequence of the difficulties presented in other areas, boys and girls with dyslexia tend to be distracted; presenting problems or alterations in attention and concentration
7. Consequences on academic performance
All the above difficulties end up being reflected in the academic performance of the minor However, the academic level can present great variability within a short period of time.
That is, the child may go through a season in which he or she does not have any difficulties at school, followed by another in which lack of attention and problems with tasks and activities occur almost daily.
8. Working memory problems
A curious early symptom of dyslexia that helps in its early detection but that occurs in many cases but not in all, is that the boy or girl manifests working memory difficulties or problems That is, they have a tendency to forget many things that have been explained to them, in a very short time.
Possible treatments and interventions
Once the first symptoms of dyslexia are known, their detection is essential to understand the child who suffers from it and to be able to intervene preventively. In this way, difficulties will be compensated and personal, social and academic growth will be facilitated.
First of all, it is necessary to know that due to the great variability of symptoms associated with this disorder There is no standard treatment valid for all cases of dyslexia Therefore, it will be necessary to adapt the interventions to the needs and demands of the minor.
Therapeutic intervention, teacher collaboration the use of new technologies and understanding and education from home are some of the resources that can help a boy or girl with dyslexia obtain the same results and feel as integrated as any other peer.
