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Dyslexia is a reading disorder, which can be classified as a developmental disability that affects about 15-20% of the population. It is a lifelong condition that most people do not understand. Most dyslexic people need to have accommodations provided by either a teacher, tutor, or therapist. These children need special attention in order to succeed in school, however the same technique does not work for every dyslexic child. There are two subtypes of dyslexia, which are acquired and developmental.Then under the sensory system of dyslexia , there are three more subtypes of dyslexia: auditory, visual, and attentional. Despite having different types of dyslexia all require special attention, which could include the following teaching method: several multisensory teaching approaches.

History and Statistics

Dyslexia is not a learning disorder that is new to the world. Dyslexia was first recognized in 1878 by the German neurologist, Adolph Kussmaul. While studying his adults with reading problems Kussmaul coined the term "word blindness" to describe the difficulties they face. Nine years later in 1887, the term "dyslexia" was introduced by German ophthalmologist —specialist in surgery and study of the eye— Rudolph Berlin. The term "dyslexia" is from the Greek meaning, "difficulty with words." Then in 1925, the first theory of how this difficulty of reading came about was established by Samuel T. Orton.The teaching strategies that he developed are still being used in today's schools. Eventually in 2002, the International Dyslexia Association adopted their official definition of dyslexia: "Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities". Although many theories have been developed to further understand dyslexia, there are still many unknown reasons. Based on an International Dyslexia Association study, 15-20% of the population have dyslexia related symptoms, and 13-14% of the school population nationwide has a condition that can qualify them for special education. Dyslexia is one of the most common causes of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties. As many as three out of twenty students will have some form of dyslexia. Of the people that have bad reading skills, 70-80% of them have dyslexia. To many people's surprise, the percentage of males and females that are dyslexic is nearly balanced.

Types of Dyslexia

The big umbrella is dyslexia, but under that are two different types of dyslexia. Those two types are acquired and developmental. Acquired dyslexia is the result from either a type of trauma or injury to the specific part of the brain that controls reading and writing. An example of certain traumas ould be a stroke or even a brain tumor. Developmental dyslexia is the essence of dyslexia. It is the extreme difficulty reading, which can be caused by hereditary, brain based, phonologic disability. It is the most common type of dyslexia.

Sensory System

Focusing more on the sensory system of a child, there are three subtypes that exist. They are auditory, visual, and attentional dyslexia.

Auditory Dyslexia, which is also known as audio dyslexia, is defined by the difficulty people have with processing the sounds of letters or groups of letters. In some cases, sounds may be reversed, or even jumbled, but it is not the "difficulty hearing." Many people get this confused with difficulty of hearing because they do not quite understand what those people realistically hear. With this dyslexia people are able to capture the sound perfectly, but the brain does not process it accurately.

Visual dyslexia is the difficulty with reading resulting from optical problems in the eye or the visual processing, which resides in the brain. This can result from farsightedness or nearsightedness, but it can also result from many other visual stressors. To detect visual dyslexia one could look for some signs, that include skipping words or lines when reading, squinting, headaches or migraines, and many other symptoms.

The third type of sensory system dyslexia is Attentional dyslexia. This involves identifying letters correctly, but the letters jump on the page. This is caused by the migration of letters in the words, and the brain processing it in a different way than normal.

Multisensory Approach

There are several teach techniques that have been developed, however the Multisensory Approach is the most popular. This type of learning involves using two or more senses. It can utilize sight, touch, and hearing to give students with dyslexia a more effective way of learning. In a traditional classroom, students normally use their sense of sight and hearing, but dyslexic children have problems with processing visual and auditory information at the same time. It is more effective to give the children touch, smell, and even taste when learning certain concepts. Some example of incorporating multisensory teaching into a lesson are as follows: using different colors around the classroom, the use of music, using scents in classrooms to convey certain feelings, making stories come alive, and even encouraging discussion.

The use of different colors around the classroom makes for a better learning environment. Bright colors, for example, motivate children to be creative. Then different shades of green help these people concentrate, especially in reading and computer stations. By using the different colors around the classroom children will have a better association with each station and will benefit from the stimulating colors.

Many teachers will try to incorporate music into their routines, in order to further engage dyslexic students. By setting math facts, grammar rules, and maybe spelling words to music, children might be able to understand the material better. While using soothing music, when working at desks, will allow the students to concentrate.

While using scents seems a bit weird, it is a very effective technique that can change the mood of a classroom instantly. There are many beliefs about scents and some include: lavender and vanilla help promote relaxation, citrus, peppermint, or pine can improve alertness, and cinnamon helps to enhance focus. These scents are used to stimulate the brain while learning and to give the child a sense of alertness.

These approaches help dyslexic children perform better in school, which will result in a better life because learning becomes easier and less stressful on the children and on the parents.