What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a brain-based condition that a person has when they are born. People with dyslexia learn to read with mostly the creative right-side of their brain, instead of the more efficient and logical left-side. Research shows that nearly 1 in 5 people have dyslexia, and it is inheritable.
No one is born knowing how to read.
We all have to learn how.
For many years, it was believed that poor reading skills were due to lack of exposure to reading, poverty, and a general disinterest in reading. Although these can contribute to poor reading, the most common reason a person fails to read above a 5th grade level is dyslexia. People with dyslexia do not utilize some of the key components on the left-side of their brain that make reading efficient. Instead, they read with a less efficient, visual area located on the right side of their brain.
The good news is, that with evidence-based reading programs which are designed for the dyslexic brain's organization, they can learn to access the more efficient left-side areas to read more accurately and easily. The major problem in the US today is that our universities and colleges do not teach these programs in their teacher prep programs, and our schools consequently do not teach these programs either. A child with dyslexia will never become an efficient reader without outside tutoring paid for by their parents. Teachers will have to spend thousands of dollars taking courses outside of their Masters degrees in Reading to learn these programs.
Literacy Lifeline is raising money to help teachers and students have access to dyslexia training and tutoring.
