Exposure to literacy begins at birth through early social interactions that include oral language, pictures and print. These strong foundations often lead to a child developing an interest in books, reading and writing. However, some children may encounter challenges which can impact on their learning.
While every child is unique, there are often shared trends in their developmental journeys. Subtle cues of learning difficulties, in the early stages, often escape attention; however, detecting them early on could avert the onset or escalation of problems leading to academic underachievement and emotional distress. Once recognised, children can engage in a variety of interventions. Some can yield significant results, however, not all may be equally effective.
What is dyslexia?
“Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed…” British Dyslexia Association 2010.
While not all observed signs or signals will evolve into a specific learning difficulty or dyslexia, their presence should bring an awareness that something may require investigation or preventative measures. Based on my professional experience working on multidisciplinary teams for many years, there are eight overarching categories to consider if you think your child may be dyslexic:
A reported family history must be viewed with some caution as not all literacy difficulties are genetic in origin; there are often individual factors at play. These factors may reflect neurological or cognitive impairment issues, issues with hearing, high absentee rates at school or mismatches between how something is being taught and how your child learns. Generally, a more reliable indicator of a genetic link is whether a sibling has encountered a similar difficulty, as their family environment and educational experiences should be comparable.
Gleaned through interviews with thousands of parents of children with learning difficulties, I have found recurring commonalities in their case history information. The following are the medical circumstances during pregnancy or childbirth which are most frequently reported:
Reported maternal pre-eclampsia or toxaemia
The presence of meconium (the first stool) in an infant’s lungs
Hypoxia or anoxia, with the new-born baby turning blue
Umbilical cord entanglement around the baby’s neck, leading to foetal distress
Excessively prolonged labour and/or assisted delivery (eg emergency caesarean sections, ventose or vacuum delivery, high forceps delivery), often due to foetal distress.
Developmental milestones encompass the ages and phases during where children are expected to acquire abilities like speech, crawling and walking. Among these early milestones, certain factors hold notable importance and, if delayed, could signal the necessity for more thorough examination:
Has your child?
Did your child:
Did your child?
“Pure” dyslexia (that with a known biological, neurological or genetic cause) rarely occurs in isolation and is usually a component of a more complex profile, which can include elements from some of the following neurodiverse family of diagnoses:
Nevertheless, other specific learning difficulties (pertaining to reading and spelling, without a known neurological or genetic origin) can emerge due to issues with the ear, nose, and throat, which often causes fluctuating hearing loss. Has the child undergone surgery to remove tonsils or adenoids, or have grommets inserted?
The eye of the ‘COVID’ Storm has passed, but the fallout from it (educationally) will reverberate for years to come. A growing number of children are grappling with literacy challenges attributed to school closures and disruptions, rather than inherent literacy issues.
With this in mind, is your child?
Is your child?
Has your child been referred to or consulted with an educational or clinical psychologist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, behavioural optometrist, diagnostic audiologist or any other allied health professional? If yes, did they receive a diagnosis?
Knowledge is power
The objective of this initial article is to help educate readers - more so, any parents who may be reading - regarding possible signs to observe starting from the early stages of pregnancy. If you have noticed a combination of signs from these eight categories, it’s important to remain alert regarding the potential development of a problem. This increased awareness can help prompt evaluation and action, with the goal of preventing or reducing long-lasting specific learning difficulties for your child.
Remember, there is no shame in having a learning difficulty and it’s not a failure on your child’s part - these interventions can help them achieve their personal best in educational success and increase confidence in their abilities.
About:
Rita Treacy is a speech and language therapist specialising in the area of specific learning difficulties/dyslexia for over 35 years. During her career she was Principal SLT, for 10 years, within the Lucena Clinic CAMHS. She is co-owner/director of WordsWorth Learning Ltd (WWL) and author of the online ‘WordsWorthLearning’ literacy programme. Rita wrote her first book in 2017 “Dyslexia Unravelled” (published by Orpen Press). She has been involved in a number of high profile EU/Horizon 2020 & Prison Projects and runs a specialist private practice in Nenagh, Co Tipperary for the assessment and treatment of specific learning difficulties.
Visit wordsworthlearning.com or call Rita on (086) 6010144
Success for Teagasc students at Agro Challenge in Slovakia
Empowering rural youth: A women's rugby team inspiring active participation