Dyslexia in younger schoolchildren: what is it in simple words

Causes

Quite proven methods for studying dyslexia in children and adults include neuroimaging methods (MRI, PET, etc.). Thanks to these studies, it was possible to confirm that disorders arise as a result of neurobiological reasons. In people with dyslexia, there may be some abnormalities in parts of the brain tissue.

Along with these factors causing the spread of dyslexia in schoolchildren , experts distinguish others:

• a phenomenon in which the right hemisphere of the brain functions more actively,
• imbalance between both hemispheres,
• traumatic brain injuries,
• serious infections such as meningitis,
• deviations identified during the birth of a child: early abruption of the placenta and so on,
• disturbances in the process of bearing a child that are associated with infections or consumption of harmful substances.

Social factors also occupy a special place (neglect in terms of pedagogy, dysfunctional environment, lack of communication, which are reflected in complete loss of speech and paralysis).

dyslexia in schoolchildren

We now propose to dwell in more detail on the symptoms of the disease.

Confession

Linguist Evelien Krikhaar says that in Groningen, parents who experienced learning difficulties in childhood show great motivation to cooperate.

This is important because the research is quite intensive. In laboratories in Amsterdam, Groningen and Nijmegen, 9 brain studies were performed on each child - the last study was carried out when the child was 41 months old. Something like a rubber swimming cap was placed on the child's head, into which a large number of electrodes were installed to measure the electrical activity of the brain. Based on the fact that children with dyslexia have difficulty distinguishing between sounds, the infant heard the word "buck" interspersed with the word "duck" from time to time. The brains of infants in the control group - without a hereditary risk of dyslexia - already at two months of age gave a “inconsistency response,” i.e. was able to unconsciously notice the difference. At-risk infants—those from families with at least one parent with dyslexia—showed significantly reduced or delayed nonconformity responding. “An amazing result,” says Krikhaar. "It's interesting that there are differences between groups of children as their brains continue to develop."

Symptoms

Dyslexia symptoms can be expressed in different ways and are directly related to the age category of the affected person. To make it easier to understand the essence of the symptoms, they are classified into several subtypes.

The first symptoms of the disease in question:

• Inaccurate holding of a pen or pencil.
• Impaired cognitive abilities.
• Changing the order of letters in the formation of verbal units.
• Changing the order of letters and syllables during writing or reading.
• Reluctance to read texts out loud or write essays on your own.
• The emergence of problems in mastering the alphabet and multiplication tables.
• The emergence of difficulties in orientation through the text.
• Inability to complete simple tasks.
• The emergence of difficulties in the process of mastering penmanship and reading.

Symptoms of dyslexia in preschool children:

• Speech development that began in the late period.
• Problems in learning and correctly pronouncing verbal units.
• Difficulties in memorizing words and reproducing them.
• Problems in learning the principles of writing and reading.
• Incorrect placement of letters and words.
• Difficulties in building communication with peers.

Symptoms of dyslexia in school-aged children:

• Problems with listening and reading speech perception.
• Using other words that are similar in meaning and pronunciation.
• Inversion of letters and movement of positions of letters, syllables and verbal units in the process of reading texts.
• Difficulty recognizing arithmetic symbols.
• Clumsiness and excessive activity.
• Problems remembering factual information.
• Balance imbalance.
• Late development of new skills and knowledge.

Symptoms of dyslexia in children studying in secondary school:

• Poor reading quality (compared to peers).
• Reluctance to read aloud or write.
• Impaired cognitive abilities.
• Unreadable handwriting.
• Incorrect spelling and pronunciation of words.
• Problems recognizing facial expressions and body language.
• Problems in building communication with peers.

Symptoms of dyslexia in children studying in high school:

• Poor writing quality.
• Slow reading and making an impressive number of errors.
• Incorrect pronunciation of words.
• Problems with recognizing, briefly transmitting and summarizing received information.
• Impaired cognitive abilities.
• Slow task execution speed.
• Difficulty adapting to certain changes.

Symptoms of dyslexia in adults :

• Problems in understanding speech and writing.
• Indistinguishable pronunciation of words.
• Signs of dysgraphia.
• Difficulty placing words or numbers in a sequential order.
• Absent-mindedness and inattention.
• Impaired cognitive abilities.
• Problems with the rational distribution of your own time.

In order to instantly recognize the presence of dyslexia in your child, we recommend that you watch the video “ How to understand that a child has dyslexia .” If you manage to notice signs of the development of the disease in your child, then you need to immediately make an appointment with a doctor who has the necessary equipment to conduct a quality examination.

dyslexia symptoms

Diagnosis and correction of childhood dyslexia

The speech therapist studies the history of life and development, features of speech formation, the state of the articulatory apparatus and motor skills. In preschool children, sound pronunciation, speech coherence, and the ability to perceive oral speech are assessed. Schoolchildren are examined for their writing skills, reading speed, and performance in various subjects.

According to indications, consultations with a neurologist, ophthalmologist, electroencephalogram, echoEG, and ophthalmological tests are prescribed. The choice of correction methods depends on the form of the pathology and its neglect. Traditionally, speech therapists conduct special classes.

Exercises for dyslexia

The goal is to eliminate defects in sound pronunciation, form grammatical word formation systems, develop speech hearing, and improve visual-spatial concepts:

1. "Find the word." We offer to find all objects starting with a given letter, over time we complicate it and look for things whose names do not begin, but end with a certain sound;
2. "Make words." We make separate words from magnetic letters “glued” to each other. For example, you need to separate “MOM GRANDMOTHER DADDY”;
3. “Write the word.” Have the dyslexic read the word and write it from memory. We gradually complicate it by adding phrases;
4. “Fix the sentence.” Offer to create a phrase from the mixed cards with written words. For preschool children, you can adapt it like this: make words from cards with syllables;
5. “Take a guess.” All the guys love this exercise. Draw letters, syllables, words on the child’s back, and let him guess them;
6. "Word Game" Take turns with the student to name words that begin with the last letter of the previous word. For example, “mother-atlas-owl-album-car”;
7. “Counting the sounds.” Prepare some pasta and a cup. Name the words and offer to place in front of you as much pasta as there are sounds in the word;
8. "Cute names." Let the baby affectionately name the words you said. Examples: table-table, car-typewriter, cat-cat.

You can use your imagination and come up with your own games and exercises that your child will enjoy and benefit from.

Diagnostics

Establishing a diagnosis of dyslexia in adults and children is a complex task, since difficulties in the reading process can arise for a variety of reasons: developmental delays, pedagogical neglect, hearing and vision impairment (for example, myopia), and so on. Dyslexia is characterized by the fact that the child makes the same mistakes, despite working with teachers and parents, so we are talking about the need to correct dyslexia .

It is worth noting that dyslexia is not a mental illness and is diagnosed by a number of doctors through a wide variety of tests.

Other methods for assessing the risk of developing dyslexia in preschoolers

Consider a battery of risk tests implemented in other language settings as predictors of dyslexia. Partially, these tests can be used starting from 5 years of age, which distinguishes them favorably from the domestic methodology discussed above.

Rapid Serial Naming Test

The test was developed by an international group of experts and tested for different age groups. Beforehand, a training task is performed, during which the researcher must make sure that the child knows the necessary names. The normal execution time for each task is 1 minute.

Serial image naming

The child is offered stimulus material with a set of repeating pictures (36 images). The task consists of quickly naming the depicted objects out loud. Errors made and execution speed are taken into account.

Serial color naming

The child is offered stimulus material with a set of repeating colors, which he must name as quickly as possible.

Serial letter naming

The child is offered stimulus material with a set of repeated letters, which he must name as quickly as possible.

Types of Dyslexia

• Phonemic. As a rule, children in elementary school encounter this form. The development of the disease is associated with the child’s involuntary mixing of similar sounds. This variety is reflected in spelling.
• Mechanical reading (semantic dyslexia). The child has the reading technique, but cannot grasp the meaning of the text. The reason for the development of this type of disease may be incoherence of words for the child.
• Agrammatic dyslexia, like agrammatic dysgraphia, is associated with difficulties in coordinating different parts of speech. An example is the following: “pink flower”, “interesting book”, etc.
• Optical. All letters are made up of the same icons: sticks, circles, etc. This dyslexia is reflected in the fact that children mix letters that are similar in spelling, which hinders the qualitative development of their cognitive and other abilities.
• Mnestic. It is interconnected with the fact that children cannot grasp the connection between the names of letters and sounds.

Reading disorders are one of the most common forms of speech pathology in school-age children. The doctrine of writing disorders has existed for more than 100 years. By now, a certain concept has emerged for the interpretation of written speech as a complex mental activity of a person, necessary for him in everyday life. The works of Luria A.R., Kornev A.N. are devoted to the problem of written speech. Lalaeva R.I., Levina R.E., Kashe G.A., Spirova D.F., Sadovnikova I.N. and other specialists.

Modern ideas about higher mental functions are based on the teachings of A.R. Luria, Tsvetkova L.S. and others who became the founders of the systematic study of neurophysiological mechanisms of the psyche. According to the theory developed by these researchers, any higher mental function is a complex system, the work of which is ensured by a number of interconnected brain areas. A.R. Luria identified three blocks formed by special structures of the brain and performing all mental functions at different levels. The first block provides regulation of tone and wakefulness. The second block receives, processes and stores information. The third block implements programming, regulation and control of mental activity. It was A.R. Luria in his works first described a functional writing system. Taking into account the psychophysiological, psychological and social proximity and inseparability of writing and reading skills, we can identify the components of a functional reading system:

— selective activation;

— processing of visual information;

— processing of auditory-verbal information;

— processing of kinesthetic information;

— processing of visual-spatial information;

- serial organization of movements serving reading (motor and articulatory eyes);

— programming, regulation and control of reading operations. [1]

Reading is a complex skill. It is essentially a combination of several skills. Of these, the most interesting are: a) the method of reading; b) speed (tempo) of reading; c) correctness; d) reading comprehension. Of these, the most informative is the way of reading and understanding the text. The main indicator of the formation of technical reading indicators is the reading method, i.e. the maximum number of characters that a child can recognize at once. This number of characters in this case is its operational reading unit [2, p. 9]

Dyslexia is a partial disorder of the reading process, manifested in persistent and repeated reading errors due to the immaturity of the higher mental functions involved in the reading process.

With dyslexia, the operational reading unit usually does not exceed one character, and reading speed rarely reaches the 2nd grade level even after many years of training. The mistakes that children with dyslexia make are not qualitatively different from those that are normally observed in those beginning to master reading. Reading comprehension suffers to varying degrees with dyslexia. Sometimes it is only slightly violated, and sometimes it is almost absent (the so-called mechanical reading) [2, p. 9].

With dyslexia, the following groups of errors are noted:

Failure to assimilate letters, inaccurate correlation of sound and letter, which manifests itself in substitutions and mixtures of sounds when reading: a) replacements and mixtures of phonetically similar sounds (voiced and unvoiced) (for example, tevochka, lobata); affricates and sounds included in their composition (for example, dandelion; b) replacement of graphically similar letters (X-Zh, P-N, etc.); c) undifferentiated, variable substitutions (F-M-L, etc.)

Letter-by-letter reading is a violation of the fusion of sounds in a syllable and a word.

Distortions of the sound-syllable structure of a word: a) omissions of consonants in conjunction (bench - kameka); b) omission of consonants and vowels in the absence of a confluence (locomotive-parvoz); c) adding sound (in the rain - in the rain); d) rearrangement of sounds (shovel - lotapa); e) omissions, rearrangements of syllables (kanava-kavana).

Impaired reading comprehension, which can manifest itself both at the level of an individual word and at the level of sentences and text.

Substitutions of words (overwhelmed - slammed).

Agrammatisms when reading. The most common errors observed are agreement between noun and adjective, violations of case endings, and changes in verb endings [3, p. 128]

The ratio of reading errors depends on the stage of reading acquisition. At the analytical stage of mastering reading, substitutions of sounds, violations of the fusion of sounds in a syllable (letter-by-letter reading), and distortion of the sound-syllable structure of a word predominate. Violations of reading comprehension are most often secondary in nature, they are caused by technically incorrect reading. At the analytical-synthetic and synthetic stage of mastering the skill of reading, the dominant errors are distortions of the sound-syllable structure of the word, agrammatism, word substitutions, as well as violations of reading comprehension.

The entire global scientific community unanimously agreed that for the professional diagnosis of reading disorders one cannot do without standardized methods.

Neuropsychological diagnostics, examinations of writing and reading of primary schoolchildren were developed by T.V. Akhutina, O.B. Inshakova. The technique allows specialists to comprehensively assess the difficulties in mastering reading skills in primary schoolchildren studying in secondary schools; it is of a test nature, allows obtaining not only quantitative, but also qualitative characteristics of the mental functions studied in children, and assesses the psychological mechanisms underlying reading impairment in children .

There are many different methods for examining reading in children, and they must be used strictly differentiated, depending on the child’s level of mastery of reading skills, on the stage of its formation, and also in order of gradually increasing complexity. This will allow us to determine what the child’s main difficulties are.

Children who have just started learning are encouraged to read individual letters. To complicate the task, you can use font variations. Next, ask to find a specific letter among others. It is necessary to pay attention to the rate at which the child recodes a grapheme into a phoneme and vice versa, and the persistence of errors.

Next, children should be offered reading simple syllables, three and four letter syllables, frequency words, low-frequency words, orthoepic reading of frequency words, low-frequency words, reading quasi-words and texts of varying complexity.

The following parameters are subject to evaluation: the correctness, number and nature of errors made, the correctness of the chosen reading direction, and difficulties in visual tracking. The use of finger tracking during reading and the hand used, stress placement, correctness of phonetic reading, formation of orthoepic reading of high-frequency and low-frequency words, reading productivity, speed, reading method, expressiveness, ability to compose a retelling of the text, accessibility of the text are recorded.

A method for early detection of predisposition to dyslexia was developed by A.N. Kornev. (1982) He proposed a number of tests, which include: “Series Speaking”, “Rhythms”, “Ozeretsky Test “Fist - Rib - Palm”, subtest “Repetition of Numbers”.

A.N. Kornev and O.A. Ishimova, developing a method for diagnosing dyslexia in students in grades 2-6, to identify children’s predisposition to dyslexia before starting school, presented age norms for the main reading indicators of the Moscow population of schoolchildren. Forms of reading diagnostics have been defined:

— as an indicator of the success and effectiveness of the educational process;

— psychological and pedagogical diagnostics of reading to identify children who are lagging behind in reading acquisition and need correctional help from a teacher;

— differential diagnosis of reading disorders in children.

Accordingly, the study of reading skills is carried out in three stages:

The first stage: using the Standardized Methodology for Studying Reading Skills (SMINCH), the level of development of reading skills is established, the coefficients of reading technique are calculated (RTR) and their correspondence to the intellectual development of the child being examined is determined.

Second stage: if dyslexia is diagnosed during the first stage of the study, then according to the AVM-WIS testing data, the persistence of the identified disorder and its prognosis are determined.

Third stage: when the decision is made to include the child in the correctional group, using the Test of Operational Reading Units (TOPECH), the type of syllables with which it is necessary to begin work is determined, and the syllabic complexity of the words available to the child for reading at this stage.

A reading study using SMINC is intended for clinical and psychological diagnostics in the practice of speech therapists and psychologists and should be carried out individually. It is necessary to create a relaxed atmosphere in the relationship with the child and establish contact.

Two texts are offered: “How I caught crayfish”, “The ungrateful spruce”. Reading speed and accuracy are examined. Based on the results of reading texts, two assessment scales will be obtained, KTCH1 and KTCH 2. By examining the qualitative features of reading, 6 gradations of the reading method are assumed (Kornev A.N. 2003): letter-by-letter, letter-by-letter - to syllabic, syllabic, syllabic - to reading whole words, whole words and groups of words. You can evaluate your dominant reading method and undergo a more in-depth examination using TOPECH.

After reading the text, reading comprehension is checked by answering 10 standard questions given in the manual. A sign of a pathology requiring specialized help in Moscow is an extremely low level of reading comprehension. The TOPECH technique is used to determine the maximum degree of complexity (number of characters) operational reading units that are automated in a child. Based on the results of the study of reading technique (speed, accuracy and method of reading) and the quality of understanding, a diagnostic conclusion is drawn up and corrective work is planned to overcome this disorder.

Correctional work to overcome dyslexia is based on generally accepted didactic principles. Methods for developing reading techniques are: choral, “buzzing”, whispering, conjugate, reflected, independent, with the obligatory tactile sensation.

Formation of reading skills involves the following stages:

— mastery of sound-letter notations;

- syllable reading;

— development of techniques for reading words together (synthetic techniques)

- synthetic reading

The areas of work to eliminate dyslexia correspond to immaturity, violations of one or another function. The main goals of correction of dyslexia caused by immaturity of oral speech (FFS) are:

• formation of precise differentiation of phonemes of the Russian language;
• the formation of complete ideas about the sound composition of a word;
• consolidation of skills in sound-syllable analysis and synthesis of speech units;
• correction of sound pronunciation defects

Elimination of dyslexia caused by systemic underdevelopment of speech, in addition to the correction of phonetic-phonemic processes, should solve the following tasks:

• quantitative and qualitative enrichment of the active vocabulary;
• development of word formation skills;
• clarification of the meanings of syntactic structures;
• development of skills in constructing a coherent statement;

The named tasks are implemented in the system of traditional speech therapy classes and constitute their main content, developed and highlighted in the works of G.A. Kashe, R.I. Lalaeva, L.N. Efimenkova, G.G. Misarenko, T.B. Filicheva, G.V. Chirkina, A.V. Yastrebova and others.

The goal of correcting dyslalia, which is caused primarily by immature visual functions, is to teach the child ways to process visual material that would allow him to effectively perceive visual information and provide the conditions for successful mastery of the visual components of reading. The objectives of correctional pedagogical work are to develop and correct the gnostic and motor components of students’ vision. The methodology includes two blocks:

• this is the development and correction of gnostic visual functions
• the object of correctional influence of the second block is the motor functions of vision

The tasks of development and correction of gnostic visual functions involve: the development of voluntary visual attention, skills of visual analysis and synthesis, and visual memory.

By developing and correcting visual motor functions, we work on the accuracy of tracking eye movements, the formation of a strategy for scanning the perceptual field, visual-spatial representations and the development of visual-motor coordination.

The methodology for developing a stable skill of following the gaze in the direction from left to right and combining this skill with synchronous hand movement was developed by O.T. Inshakova. The material used is visual dictations by I.T. Fedorenko. Memorization techniques are the basis of mnemonic tables developed by N.A. Guryeva.

Tasks are selected according to the principle of increasing difficulty. At each stage, correctional and developmental tasks are solved first using picture material that is well known to the child, and only then letter material (letters, syllables, words, sentences) is introduced into the work. In addition, the picture material offered to children also gradually becomes more complex: from color realistic to black and white and then to silhouette and contour, which is a preparation for the perception of letters and numbers.

Long-term practice of working at a speech therapy center with primary school students who have mildly expressed OHP, OHP shows that dysgraphia is easier to prevent and eliminate than dyslexia. An analysis of the end-of-year results in the Russian language and reading convinces us that dysgraphic errors are almost completely eliminated, children make fewer spelling errors, while the reading technique of some students remains at a low level. The problem of studying dyslexia in secondary school students requires further research and development.

List of used literature.

1. Luria A.R. Essays on the psychophysiology of writing. M., Publishing House of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR, 1950.

2. Kornev A.N., Ishimova O.A. Methodology for diagnosing dyslexia in children / methodological manual, St. Petersburg: Polytechnic Publishing House. University, 2010

3. Akhutina T.V., Inshakova O.B. Neuropsychological diagnostics, examination of writing and reading of primary schoolchildren: a methodological manual. – M.: V. Sekachev, 2008.

Consequences of dyslexia

A child with such a disease faces significant problems that are associated with the complexity of grasping the meaning of the text. The process of deference takes a longer period of time, which results in low performance in educational institutions. Because dyslexics spend little time reading, they may have a small vocabulary. In addition, such people are characterized by poor orientation in space, the inability to self-organize, imbalance and low self-esteem.

consequences of dyslexia

Common questions and answers

Is it possible to cure dyslexia completely?

It all depends on the specific situation. Sometimes it is possible to correct the problem to such an extent that it does not affect future life. But it is important to start work on time.

Who treats dyslexia?

We have already partially answered this question about dyslexia, what it is and how to treat it. After making a diagnosis and excluding other pathologies, the main treatment is carried out by a speech therapist according to a special program.

Is dyslexia always an intellectual problem?

In no case. With the right approach, a child with dyslexia can not only get a good profession, but also become very successful in it. Suffice it to say that such famous people as Steve Jobs, John Lennon or billionaire Richard Branson were dyslexic.

Dyslexia is by no means a death sentence, but a problem that requires careful attention from adults. If they put in the effort and time, the child will have a chance at a good education and a great future.

What measures should be taken if a child has a disease?

with the correction of dyslexia in younger schoolchildren . Depending on the type of disorder, certain dyslexia treatment methods are used.

However, in the end, it is worth noting that despite all the negative consequences, the mentioned consequences do not prevent people from finding their calling in other areas of life. As a rule, such patients subsequently become creative individuals. Many parents think that this disease can negate the child’s further development, but as an example we would like to give you famous people who suffer from dysgraphia and dyslexia : Albert Einstein, Hans Christian Andersen, Monroe, Tom Cruise, Keira Knightley and others.

The most important thing is to accept the disease and provide the child with quality care to further become a specialist in a certain field.

How the work is structured

The task of neuropsychological work

- restructuring and compensation of impaired brain functions, which ensures the regulation of various types of activity and behavior.

Children with writing and/or reading impairments need psychological support,

which will help the child feel successful in the activities available to him and strengthen his faith in his own strength.

Speech therapy work

planned depending on the structure and mechanisms of identified violations. The speech therapist takes into account all the recommendations and conclusions received and plans classes, the purpose of which is to normalize the processes of writing and / or reading, the formation and consolidation of relevant skills.

Coordination of the activities of the speech therapist and teachers involves the development of recommendations

regarding how to present educational material to children with reading and/or writing disabilities, and
requirements
for assessing written work and reading results.

Work with verbal material is structured differently depending on the individual characteristics of perception. It can be oral only (listening), written only (reading), or oral and written combined (listening and reading). It is possible to convert verbal material (for example, word problems) into graphic or subject material (diagrams, models).

Prevention

Measures to prevent disorders of higher mental functions in children include:

• compliance by the mother with safety rules and medical recommendations during pregnancy;
• stopping smoking, drinking alcohol and illicit drugs during pregnancy;
• prevention of situations fraught with head injuries in children;
• timely start of literacy, reading and writing;
• constant verbal communication with the child;
• development of fine motor skills.

Experts strongly recommend that adults do not lisp, using distorted words and diminutive suffixes, correct speech errors with children beyond preschool age, and teach children the correct pronunciation of words.

If your child has problems with reading, do not rush to blame everything on laziness or inattention. He may have exhibited symptoms of dyslexia. Sign up for a consultation at the SM-Doctor clinic, find out what the cause of the problems is and how to eliminate them.

Classification

The child may not be able to distinguish between individual symbols and letters, and then doctors talk about a literal disorder, and if the child generally has difficulty perceiving words and sentences, the verbal form of the disease is diagnosed.
In accordance with the impaired mechanisms of speech perception in children, the following types of dyslexia are distinguished:

• phonemic, developing due to a violation of the ability to recognize, analyze and differentiate individual sounds, letters and syllables;
• semantic, due to a weak vocabulary, the inability to combine individual syllables into whole words;
• agrammatic, when the child does not understand the structure of the language, by what rules phrases and sentences are built;
• mnestic, in which children have difficulty relating sounds to letters and suffer from speech memory disorders;
• optical, associated with insufficient or abnormal formation of visual-spatial perception.

Tactile dyslexia is also distinguished separately: this form of disorder is typical for visually impaired children, when they have difficulty recognizing symbols through tactile sensations.

About our Center

Our center’s specialists (neurologist, neuropsychologist, speech therapist, speech pathologist) will diagnose the level of mental and speech development, assess the state of cognitive functions using special tests, exercises, and neuropsychological studies.

Based on the diagnostic results, a program of correctional classes is selected for each child individually. No two children with dyslexia are exactly alike. The best and “working” version of correctional classes is built in 4 stages: two stages of intensive multidirectional correctional work by a neuropsychologist and speech therapist-defectologist - 15-30 lessons daily - for start and consolidation, and two stages of intermediate maintenance correction - with a multiplicity of 2-3 once a week. The entire treatment process takes up to six months, when we can confidently talk about achieving a lasting therapeutic result.