Why is reading so hard for people with DYSLEXIA?
As a mom with three kids with dyslexia, I needed to know more about WHY this is SO HARD for them.
This is all so interesting. There is an actual difference in the brain in people with dyslexia. Researchers still do not understand it all, but there are differences. More and more research is being one to understand this more, so always keep checking the latest research.
Today, this is how I understood it all.
When you learn to read, the process is as follows:
***There are two routes your brain takes: SLOW or FAST***
Let’s talk about the SLOW ROUTE first: This is the route new/beginner readers use.
· The visual parts of your brain see the squiggles/word on a page and send it to the OCCIPITAL LOBE
· The information is transferred to the VISUAL WORD FORM AREA (which is in left hemisphere)-putting meaning to the squiggles.
· Then it is transferred to the TEMPORAL LOBE where the squiggles are decoded into letters and sounds to form the word. DECODING HAPPENS HERE.
· The FRONTRAL LOBE then processes meaning of the word.
An experienced/fluent reader can do more of a FAST ROUTE. They can skip over the temporal lobe and have a direct path from worm form area to frontal lobe. This makes reading more automatic and fluent.
The brain with dyslexia, may be using the longer path for reading, even with familiar words. This makes reading slower and harder. Even adults with dyslexia may have to rely on this slower route with new words.
The brain also has white and gray matter.
Gray matter=processing.
White matter=pathways that connect different parts.
There are differences in these pathways in people with dyslexia. The white matter pathways may not work as efficiently.
People who read efficiently, use mostly their left hemisphere to read.
People with dyslexia are also using their right hemisphere, so they are having to use MORE of their brain to read, which explains why it take more effort/work if more of their brain is having to work to perform a task.
The brain scans of students with dyslexia are different in at least two ways: *Their brains are less active in the left hemisphere where language is processed, and *Their brains are overactive in other areas of the brain to compensate. They use their right hemisphere to help read.
In Summary: This was helpful information for me, as a parent, to understand why reading is SO CHALLENGING for my three kids with dyslexia and why they have to re-read the same word OVER and OVER again in the same paragraph.
Knowledge is powerful and it helps me have more patience when I sit down and help them with reading. I hope this helps you too!
What did you gain from this information?
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