Dyslexia: Understanding the Disability and Learning the Teaching Aspects - Literature review Example

Dyslexia, also known as the developmental reading disorder is the most common childhood learning disability which primarily manifests in school-going children. There is no single definition that exists for dyslexia. However, those who know about the condition and have worked with dyslexic children are in a position to easily identify the condition. According to NINDS (2009), dyslexia is defined as "a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read." The World Federation of Neurology (cited in British Dyslexics, 2009) defines this condition as "a disorder manifested by difficulties in learning to read, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and socio-cultural opportunity.

" The British Dyslexics (2009) puts the definition as "Intelligent, bright or even gifted individuals, that for no obvious reason, struggle to learn through the medium of written or spoken language." Other commonly used definitions include "learning difficulty characterized by problems with written or spoken language such as reading, writing, spelling, speaking, or listening" and "congenital disturbance of brain function causing a variety of learning difficulties, especially relating to reading, writing, and spelling" (British Dyslexics, 2009).

It is surprising that despite immense research in dyslexia and information available about the condition everywhere, many teachers and even parents don't accept that a condition called dyslexia can exist. Some teachers also falsely blame dyslexic children as lazy without understanding that the child actually has a problem and needs help. All dyslexic children share some common aspects enabling them to be easily diagnosed. The increased awareness of dyslexia has led to many parents and teacher teaching programs, mostly based on multi-sensory learning.

This article will give a detailed account of the nature of the disability, identification of symptoms, evaluation tools, and teaching strategies for the dyslexic children.