Dyslexia is a condition that causes someone to experience trouble reading, right? And also the only certain way to detect it is by way of a dyslexia test, right? O.K. Why has it been so difficult to get a clear definition of dyslexia?
The reason there is confusion is that the meaning for this term 'dyslexia' can depend on who will be using it. Should you become confused when reading about dyslexia, don't feel alone! It is just a bit confusing! People are using the concept of "dyslexia" to mean different things.
The situation is further complicated when you start to research more knowledge about dyslexia. You read about auditory, visual, orthographic and phonological dyslexia. What do all these mean? What are the various kinds of dyslexia and how do you distinguish between one type and another?
There is certainly a lot of confusion from the terminology being used.
To begin with, let's see if we can clear up some of the misunderstandings and have a clearer perspective on what the term "dyslexia" really means.
It is important to understand there presently exists two different schools of thought, two different ways in which the word "dyslexia" itself is used. The 2 different meanings of dyslexia are:
1. From the pure academic sense the term "dyslexia" contains a literal meaning according to the etymology of this word itself. Looking at the parts, 'Dys' means wrong or problematic (for example, as in 'dysfunctional') and 'lexia', meaning regarding words and letters. So literally, 'dys'-'lexia' comes from difficulties with words. From this sense, whoever has a problem with reading, for whatever reason, has dyslexia.
2. There is a much wider use and application, used by parents of dyslexics and by dyslexic adults. In the applications sense, dyslexia describes an array of symptoms that include problems with reading, writing and spelling plus other problems like difficulties with hearing and remembering that which was heard, poor short-term memory and certain problems with physical coordination.
So, as you can tell, the meaning of "dyslexia" depends upon who is speaking and also the context in which the word has been used. The only route to know whether a person is dyslexic or otherwise, and what type or severity she or he might have is through dyslexia tests.
It is estimated that 10% of the population has some type and level of dyslexia. That's the reason school-age children are now routinely screened for dyslexia. Any child with reading problems will have a preliminary dyslexia test. If needed, he or she will go through full dyslexia testing.
We are going to have to deal with the various kinds of dyslexia in another article...