The symptoms of dyslexia, which is characterized as the difficulty in writing, speaking and spelling, usually occur during the childhood literacy period, when it is usually diagnosed.
However, it can also only be diagnosed in adults, and although dyslexia has no cure, the child or adult with proper treatment can have a better quality of life.
The causes of dyslexia are related to genetic factors, late development of the central nervous system, problems in brain structures and ineffective communication between some neurons. However, this does not affect the child's intelligence.
The treatment for dyslexia should be done by following up with a psychologist, speech therapist and pedagogue for school support, with the aim of helping the child with dyslexia to overcome, as much as possible and within their abilities, their difficulty in reading, writing, spelling and math.
Symptoms of dyslexia in childhood
Symptoms of childhood dyslexia include:
- Start speaking later; Delayed motor development such as crawling, sitting and walking; The child does not understand what he hears; Difficulty learning to ride a tricycle; Difficulty adapting to school; Problems sleeping; The child may be overactive or underactive; Crying and restlessness or agitation frequently.
From the age of 7, dyslexia symptoms can be:
- The child takes a long time to do the homework or can do it quickly but with many mistakes; Difficulty in reading and writing, making up, adding or omitting words; Difficulty in understanding texts; The child can omit, add, exchange or invert the order and direction of letters and syllables; Difficulty concentrating; The child does not want to read, especially out loud; The child does not like going to school, getting a stomachache when going to school or having a fever. test days; Follow the line of the text with your fingers; The child easily forgets what he learns and gets lost in space and time; Confusion between left and right, up and down, front and back; The child has difficulty to read the hours, for sequences and to count, needing fingers; the child does not like school, reading, math and writing; difficulty in spelling; slow writing, with ugly and disorderly handwriting.
Dyslexic children also often have difficulty riding a bicycle, buttoning, tying their shoelaces, maintaining balance and exercising. In addition, speech problems like switching from R to L can also be caused by a disorder called Dyslalia, which is the speech problem of Cebolinha da Turma da Mônica. See more here.
Symptoms of dyslexia in adults
The symptoms of dyslexia in adults, although they may not all be present, can be:
- Take a long time to read a book; When reading, skip the end of words; Difficulty thinking what to write; Difficulty making notes; Difficulty following what others say and with sequences; Difficulty in mental calculation and time management; Reluctance to write, for example, messages; Difficulty in properly understanding the meaning of a text; Need to reread the same text several times to understand it; Difficulty in writing, with mistakes in changing letters and forgetting or confusion in relation to punctuation and grammar; Confusing instructions or phone numbers, for example; Difficulty in planning, organizing and managing time or tasks.
However, generally, the individual with dyslexia is very sociable, communicates well and is affable, being very friendly.
Diagnosis of Dyslexia
To confirm that the person has dyslexia, it is necessary to carry out specific tests that must be answered by parents, teachers and people close to the child. The test consists of several questions about the child's behavior in the last 6 months and must be evaluated by a psychologist who will also give you instructions on how to monitor the child.
In addition to identifying whether the child has dyslexia, it may be necessary to answer other questionnaires to find out whether in addition to dyslexia the child has some other condition such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which is present in almost half of the cases of dyslexia.
