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Because dyslexia is a neurological condition, as we have seen
(in the) definition of this condition, it exists, so to speak from birth on.
So, obviously, one cannot speak about dyslexia before the child
has started to learn to read, and spell, and write.
But, however, one can observe RISK FACTORS of
dyslexia before the child learns to read and spell.
Beve Hornsby, a pioneer of early identification of dyslexia, has drawn (up) a list
of risk factor(s) before formal schooling which we have completed.
These risk factors must never be considered in isolation.
There are three magic words which you should retain.
It is the COMBINATION of several risk factors,
the RECURRENCE despite your corrections and
the PERSISTANCE over time which would alert you.
These factors are causes of dyslexia in the family.
Be aware that the parents of the child you have in your classroom, or
the grandparents, certainly, may not have been diagnosed as dyslexic,
because at that time dyslexia was not so well known as it is nowadays.
So, do not hesitate to ask the parents,
'What is your relationship with reading and writing?
Are you reading for pleasure?
Do you have difficulties writing?
Did you have difficulties yourself learning to read, and spell, and write?'
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Difficulty to follow a rhythm and to reproduce it.
Difficulty to learn songs or poems by rote -
the child retains the idea but could not repeat the exact words.
Difficulty in naming familiar objects.
This is the phenomenon of the word on the tip of the tongue.
This is not a problem of vocabulary, as we said earlier, but
of accessing the name corresponding to even familiar objects
in the phonological long-term memory.
Another risk factor is when you see that a child has difficulties
to follow a sequence of instruction(s) given simultaneously.
And if you think about it, teachers often do that when they say, 'Please,
open up your bag, take your binder, open your binder at page 67 and
do exercise number six'.
This is very complicated because, usually,
dyslexic learners have difficulty with short-term memory, and
when they hear the last sentence, they will have forgotten the first sentence.
So, they seem completely lost, and they don't know what to do.
(Obviously, a trick to avoid this confusion of the child is
to break down the sequence into bits.
So, 'Please open your bag'.
And, you wait until everyone has opened the bag.
'Take your binder', etcetera.)
Difficulty in naming some words;
the child confuses the sounds of the word and produces them in the wrong order.
For example, he will say, 'disonaur' instead of 'dinosaur'.
Important lack of organization and frequent loss of personal items.
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And difficulty with time and
space, which is something you see often in dyslexic learners.
The notion of time doesn't really make sense to the dyslexic child who will show
difficulties with concepts like before and after, yesterday and
tomorrow, last week, next week, sometimes even morning and afternoon.
The child also had difficulties estimating time passing especially during
evaluations (tests).
They can also be easily disoriented when asked to follow an itinerary.
Dr Jenny Thomson
Dr Vincent Goetry
