Dyslexia And Learning Difficulties
We focus on real improvements in your child’s sound production and clarity of speech.
When attempting to understand learning difficulties, the clinical picture is usually unique to every child. It is important to understand the whole spectrum of these disorders to be able to navigate through life with these complex, and often misunderstood conditions.
What is Phonological Awareness?
Phonological awareness is the understanding that words are made up of smaller parts (e.g. syllables and sounds). A very strong relationship exists between phonological awareness and the development of reading and spelling skills.
Children with phonological awareness difficulties may:
• be confused about the difference between letters and sounds
• have difficulty recognising the same letters/sounds in different words
• tend to have difficulty with sound-letter correspondence, especially for vowels
• be slow at sounding out words when they read, and forget what they’ve sounded out before getting to the end of the word
• guess words from the initial letter, have difficulty blending sounds together
Dyslexia
“Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person’s fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, processing speed, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, language skills/verbal comprehension, and/or rapid naming.” (Grigorenko, Elena L. (January 2001). “Developmental Dyslexia: An Update on Genes, Brains, and Environments”. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry)
Dyspraxia
“Developmental dyspraxia is a chronic neurological disorder beginning in childhood that can affect planning of movements and co-ordination as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body.” (Fliers EA, Franke B, Buitelaar JK (2011). “[Motor problems in children with ADHD receive too little attention in clinical practice”)
Auditory Processing Disorder
“Auditory processing disorder (APD), also known as central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is an umbrella term for a variety of disorders that affect the way the brain processes auditory information.1] Individuals with APD usually have normal structure and function of the outer, middle and inner ear (peripheral hearing). However, they cannot process the information they hear in the same way as others do, which leads to difficulties in recognising and interpreting sounds, especially the sounds composing speech. It is thought that these difficulties arise from dysfunction in the central nervous system (i.e., brain). APD has been referred to as dyslexia for the ears.” (Dawes P, Bishop D (2009). “Auditory processing disorder in relation to developmental disorders of language, communication and attention: a review and critique”)
Visual Processing Disorder
Difficulties with processing written information such as letters and numbers. Individuals with such conditions may see letters written back to front or in incorrect order.
Dysgraphia
An inability to properly form letters. For example, a person with dysgraphia may have unreadable writing. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) A developmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to concentrate. This includes uneven levels of concentration, not be able to concentrate, through to over-concentrating or hyper-focusing.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD)
A developmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to concentrate. This includes uneven levels of concentration, not being able to concentrate, through to over-concentrating or hyper-focusing.