Have you heard the term "dyslexia" and wonder if it applies to your child?
Well heres the best news you'll hear on the subject If your lucky you are.

Why is dyslexia a gift?
Dyslexic people are visual, multi-dimensional thinkers. We are intuitive and highly creative, and excel at hands-on learning. Because we think in pictures, it is sometimes hard for us to understand letters, numbers, symbols, and written words. Dyslexics can learn to read, write and study efficiently when we use methods geared to our unique learning style. With high skills and talents in the art, music, technology, or spatial relations in fields like engineering, drafting, and design.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge. Adopted by the IDA Board, November 2002 and by the National Institutes of Health, 2002.

sadly The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) fields that dyslexia warrants no more then the footnote of a definition that describes dyslexia as a learning disability in the area of reading.

The facts are Dyslexia Can manifest its self in may many ways. The term dyslexia is defined / manifested in many different ways. While reading is the primary problem, along with Spelling some definitions of dyslexia also include difficulties with:
* Writing
* Listening
* Speaking
* Math

A person with dyslexia is someone whose problem in reading is not the result of emotional problems, lack of motivation, poor teaching, mental retardation, or vision or hearing deficits. Dyslexia is a persistent, lifelong condition. There's no cure for it, but there are ways to approach learning and be successful.

Although kids with dyslexia have language processing and learning difficulties in common, the symptoms and severity can be quite different. Kids learn some academic skills at a level lower than others their same age and intellectual peers, but they can do other things at an academic skills at a level much higher then there peers . They may be talented in the arts, skilled in technology, or adept with spatial relationships. These strengths and talents need to be encouraged and reinforced.

The Roper Starch Poll "Measuring Progress in Public and Parental Understanding of Learning Disabilities" says that as much as 44% of parents who noticed their child exhibiting signs of difficulty with learning waited a year or more before acknowledging their child might have a serious problem. Many times parents believe they are doing what's best for there child by ignoring Signs of Dyslexia. Fear that there child might be stuck with a stigma of retardation or learning disability by there school, there teachers even there peers. Every parent wants bragging rights about how great there child is, unfortunately Dyslexics skills and talents are often over looked by even those closest to them. Most kids have problems in school at one time or another. Ask yourself and the teacher if your child has shown any shines in a way that would be greater than normal over a period of time or different environments. by comparing notes parents and teachers can determine if the signs are present at school, home, or child care.

* Has difficulty pronouncing words, may reverse or substitute parts of words
* Has difficulty carrying out a sequence of directions
* Doesn't hear fine differences in words as in bringing a pin when a pen was ask for.
* Has problems stating thoughts in normal organized way, the child may have there own way of organizing there thoughts
* Confuses the order of letters in words
* Doesn't recognize words previously learned, or uses them in wrong context.
* Spells a word several different ways; doesn't recognize the correct version; spells words correctly but uses them in the wrong place Picture instead of puncture.
* Has poor reading comprehension; Has a High reading comprehension, but trouble reading allowed.

Ages 10-adult
* Has difficulty remembering what he just read; Remembers what was read but has sequences of events out of order.
* Has difficulty concentrating when reading or writing; Writing tends to have digressions, Reading often put down to go and look up or daydream about information about minor subject mentioned in the text.
* Is unable to tell important information from unimportant details; high retention of esoteric or eclectic knowledge.
* Spells poorly; misspelling is not phonetic; Spelling may have a phonetic logic similar to Latin pronunciation.
* Has problems taking notes accurately; Has own version of shorthand that is difficult for even them to translate.
* Has difficulty organizing and completing written projects; Has a tendency to be prolific in writing having several digressions and side points that are not relevant to the mane body of the writing project.

Prepare to talk with your child's teacher about the problems you've observed at home and learn how your child is doing in the classroom. There are many techniques that may help your child, such as gaining new skills, by using bypass strategies, or accentuating you child's natural talents and skills. its suggested that you actively study your child's behavior.

* Take notes on the types of errors your child makes, how often they occur, and where you've noticed them.
* Keep copies of her work and results from group tests.
* Conference with her teacher to get a sense of how your child doing in comparison with her peers.
* Check to see if the school offers any special instructional programs that might be appropriate for the child. Programs geared specifically to Dyslexia.
* Request a meeting the school's student/teacher support team. ( prereferral school teams have different names in different school districts and states.) Express your concerns to the group and see if they can help you develop a plan of action and see if they can help evaluated the child's progress.
* Ask the teacher if she thinks your child might have a "learning disability." unfortunately this is the term most schools use as a cover all term. not just for dyslexia falls under "learning disability" other issues such as ADHD, Depression, and behavioral issues are lumped under the same term. If you feel your child's problems are significant and they may need special education services to benefit from the general academic curriculum there are things you should do. first make sure the schools special education services is not a broom closed where they hide problem students. you can make a written request for and assessment of the special education services. Send it to the school principal , district administrator and/or members of the School board. You'll need to be specific about the child's Dyslexia, and the information you gathered.

in 2001 when the US Department of Education presented its 23rd annual Report to Congress it stated that 27% of children with learning disabilities drop out of high school. Omitted from that report is the fact that many dyslexics having grown tired of there mistreatment in Understaffed and ill informed Public schools often take there GED (General Educational Development) to get out of the school system as soon as they can. yet they are still lumped into that 27%

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 15% of American students may have dyslexia. Your child's teachers and other school professionals will want to identify the specific skills your child already has and those they need to develop a program to master. issues like hearing differences in sounds, learning letter names, spelling words that don't follow the rules, and others This will allow you and the teacher to plan the next steps of your child's educational program by building on there preexisting skills and interests.

* Depending on your child's age and language skills, speak with her about the difficulties you've observed.

* Ask her how she feels about school and what she feels she needs help with.

* Tell her you know she tries hard, but you and her teachers are going to help her find ways to succeed.

* Work in collaboration with school staff; let your child see you functioning as a team.

* Look into private tutoring through community agencies or privately if you can afford it.

* Encourage her to use her strengths and talents.

* Be patient with her and support her efforts.

* Comic-books; the visual reference of panel by panel art work can aid in holding focus and improving reading comprehension. It can also increase reading interest in other subjects non comic-book related.

* Latin: The phonic structure of Latin lends itself easily to many forms of dyslexic spelling errors. with a understanding of latin many latin based words become much easer to spell for dyslexics.

* Word notebooks; keeping steno pad handy as a self made Thesaurus like book of correct spellings of the child's commonly misspelled words. this easy reference tool can Improve writing and spelling greatly.

* Accentuating interests; if a child shows artistic or musical talent, accentuate that interest with books on the subject. with a base interest the child will want to know more and may learn to compensate for there Dyslexia so they can learn more about there favorite subject.

* Open discussion: finding successful adults in your community that are dyslexia. there insights openly discussed with the child may help the child develop there own methods for compensating.

* engage to understand perspective; Remember as a non dyslexic your normal view of things is more narrow then the average dyslexics. dyslexics tend to see not just the big picture but the frame and the wall its hanging on. If you don't immediately get what a dyslexic child is telling you, ask questions, engage the child in conversation so that you can better understand there perspective.