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Definition: dyslexia from The Columbia Encyclopedia

(dĭslĕk'sēӘ), in psychology, a developmental disability in reading or spelling, generally becoming evident in early schooling. To a dyslexic, letters and words may appear reversed, e.g., d seen as b or was seen as saw. Many dyslexics never learn to read or write effectively, although they tend to show above average intelligence in other areas. With the aid of computerized brain scans such as positron emission tomography (PET), recent studies have offered strong evidence that dyslexia is located in the brain. Damage to the brain can cause a reading disability similar to dyslexia, known as acquired dyslexia or alexia.


DYSLEXIA

From The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences
Introduction: What Is Dyslexia? Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty affecting literacy development. Children and adults with developmental dyslexia show difficulties in reading and spelling that are not explicable in terms of their age, intelligence, or educational experience. Children with dyslexia typically have marked difficulties in learning to read and spell words, though their understanding of what they read may be good. These difficulties are often accompanied by difficulties in short-term memory and organization. In adulthood, the word-reading difficulties may resolve, but spelling and other underlying difficulties remain. Behavioral Manifestations of Dyslexia Reading development depends on two foundation skills, letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness, the ability to identify the small sounds in speech (Byrne 1998). A child’s ability to establish mappings between the letter strings of printed words and these speech sounds (phonemes) allows printed words to be…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine
Dyslexia is a developmental disorder in the acquisition of reading skills, in children of otherwise normal intelligence, which cannot be explained on the basis of educational deprivation or sensory impairment. The child may have fluent speech and good communicative skills, yet has difficulty in…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science
Dyslexia is a specific impairment in the ability to read; it may be acquired (impaired reading caused by brain damage in a previously literate person) or developmental (failure ever to have learnt to read adequately). When we learn to read, we build up a system in our mind that is capable of turning…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Encyclopedia of the Human Brain
GLOSSARY Unlike the ability to speak, which has presumably evolved over tens of thousands of years, the ability to read is a relatively recent development that is dependent on both the capacity to process complex visual stimuli and the ability to link the visual stimulus to phonologic, syntactic, …
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Full text Article dyslexia

From The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology
Basically and loosely, any reading disorder. However, there is a distinct lack of consensus among educators, psychologists and physicians on exactly how to characterize reading failures, particularly in terms of the aetiology of the condition, the cognitive and perceptual elements that must underlie…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Developmental reading disorder ; Specific reading disability The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke defines dyslexia as “a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy Through Adolescence
(Science Source.)
A girl with dyslexia working on...
Dyslexia is a learning disability noted for spatial reversals and shifts. It is characterized by problems in reading, spelling, writing, and sometimes math. In many cases, dyslexia appears to be inherited. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by a significant disparity between an…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
A student with dyslexia has difficulty copying...
Dyslexia is a reading disability that is not caused by an identifiable physical problem (such as brain damage, or visual or auditory issues). Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by a significant disparity between an individual's general intelligence and the person's language…
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Full text Article DYSLEXIA

From Dictionary of Probation and Offender Management
Dyslexia is a lifelong developmental condition. It is a ‘hidden’ disability characterized by a range of difficulties which often include literacy, short-term memory, sequencing and personal organization (including poor time management). Low confidence and low self-esteem are also frequently…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Human Diseases and Conditions
Science Source. Students with dyslexia often have...
Dyslexia (dis-LEX-ee-uh) is a learning disability that affects a person's ability to interpret written words and read, write, and spell properly. Dyslexia, which is not a form of intellectual disability, affects people of all levels of intelligence . When Tommy opened his history book, this is the…
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Full text Article Dyslexia

From Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
Dyslexia testing. (Will & Deni McIntyre/Science...
Dyslexia is a learning disability noted for spatial reversals and shifts. It is characterized by problems in reading, spelling, writing, and sometimes math. In many cases, dyslexia appears to be inherited. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by a significant disparity between an…
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