Dyslexia reading success

What Causes Dyslexia and Facts About the Causes of Dyslexia

The fact there is no single explanation for what causes Dyslexia.

The Medical explanation

• Adults and Children of all intellectual abilities can be affected by Dyslexia.
• The exact cause of Dyslexia is unknown, According to the National Health Service NHS.
• The medical explanation says it’s thought specific genes inherited from your parents may act together to affect how some parts of the brain develop during early life, NHS.
• Dyslexia often appears to run in families, according to NHS

A Cognitive Educational explanation

The below causes interfere with the development of the phonological regions of the brain. This can be seen Medically via brain scans as a Phonological deficit in Broca’s area of the brains of Dyslexic readers compared to Non-Dyslexic readers.

1. The global/analogical processing style or learning and thinking style.
2. Code confusion or incomplete understanding of phonics and irregular phonics (the structure of the language plays a large part in this misunderstanding).
3. Fine graphic/ visual memory.
4. Brain fog – Cognitive impairment due to food allergies.
5. Processing/reading speed, also known as Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) speed.
6. Concentration and attention.
7. Emotions and psychology.
8. Lack of experience in literature reading and writing.
9. Low reading readiness.

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The word “dyslexia” is a bit of an umbrella term that seeks to define all people who encounter issues with reading. In reality, there is no single explanation that explains all reading issues. I’ve found nine contributing factors can affect a student’s reading and literacy, leading to dyslexia/reading issues. In my research, I’ve identified nine common factors that can play a role in reading issues.

1. Global Thinking, a Genetic Basis – Natural Processing Style

The global processing style gives these learners a different perspective and expression in literacy and learning. The international processing style is also responsible for the skills and talents associated with many dyslexic people.

We live in a cognitively diverse society. Each of us has different strengths and weaknesses; therefore, some master the skill set involved in reading exceptionally quickly, while others take an unusually long time, with the average learner sitting in the middle.

This comparative lateness is due to a natural variation in how we think and learn. This difference in how our brains process information is responsible for our innate skills and talents and influences how our future skills and talents develop. This means that people will acquire various abilities with differing degrees of time, skill, and ease – and this is the case with literacy.

Despite a learner’s comparative lateness in reading, most students will be actively exercising other skills like design, drawing, music, sports, the sciences, maths, drama, and social skills, as Cindy Gaddis, author of “The Right Side of Normal,” and other researchers have noted.

The key here is to integrate reading and writing into students’ hobbies by using journaling, note-taking, and reading and research into areas of interest as a part of their literacy development. Over time, a student’s literacy knowledge and experience will begin to compound and snowball to automaticity and fluency. Generally, when students encounter issues with reading, they develop strategies that rely heavily on analogical processing, such as creative and intuitive skills, to navigate their way through and around reading.

Many researchers call this a compensation strategy; we can look at it as a student using their strengths. The problem is that a student’s global thinking strategy may not be developing their visual and phonological literacy skills. Throughout the book, we will highlight methods used in literacy to harness the best of students’ global processing skills. Examples include synthesis, creativity, and geometric processing skills, such as phonological awareness and fine detailed visual memory.

2. Code Confusion, Incomplete Understanding or Misunderstanding of Phonics

The structure of our written system or “orthography” is both beautifully brilliant and complex. We will call this the “unreason” in the English language. Much of what is classified as Dyslexia is due to the irregularities and contradictions in the language. Students who have an incomplete understanding of phonics are labeled as dyslexic.

A student is a functional dyslexic (they can’t read well) because they are confused by the code and have a poor understanding of phonics and the sub-rules of reading and writing. This can be overcome with correct instruction, experience, and time.

3. Fine Graphics Memory

Fine graphic visual memory, or eye memory as it used to be called, gives readers the ability to read, write and spell without a heavy reliance on phonetic decoding. This form of reading is natural for some readers and needs to be developed and matured by other readers. Dyslexics/ global thinkers excel in big-picture graphic thinking rather than fine visual thinking.

4. Brain fog – Cognitive Impairment Due to Food Allergies

Children can become functionally dyslexic due to health issues, headaches, and brain fog, affecting learners’ reading readiness. This is the only area where a medical interpretation of Dyslexia is valid. Health-related issues can interfere with learning/reading readiness. This can be corrected by adjusting the child’s diet. If you suspect there’s an issue with food, get clinical advice.

5. Reading and Writing Speed – RAN Speed

It goes without saying that one of the main issues with dyslexic readers is speed. Just how quickly can the student sight-read or decode the text they are looking at is called “Rapid Automatized Naming” (RAN). You may have noticed that many children often know the word that he/she is reading and have probably read the same word multiple times, but for some reason, it’s just on the tip of his/ her tongue.

The ability to rapidly name images, text, or letters is a processing skill that is the heart of reading fluency. When reading, a student may know all the sounds and letter correspondences in the phonetic code but is slow to apply the knowledge practically. With that will speed up this process as read with regular reading and time ing becomes more automatic. Recognition exercises can also be used to increase a student’s (RAN) time response.

The ability to rapidly or automatically verbalize letters and text is connected to a person’s overall ability to read fluently. On my journey to overcome severe Dyslexia, I developed my RAN speed mainly through speed reading exercises, but occasionally, I did exercises like randomly naming objects in the room or on the table to increase my visual recognition speed.

The goal was to shorten the time it would take me to see an item or object and say its name aloud. I also used freestyle rapping and other vocal and visual exercises to increase my RAN speed. Note: the phonic decoding method of reading is the slowest method. The long-term goal is to develop automatic sight-reading; a student’s RAN speed will increase over time as they gain experience and move cognitively to sight-reading.

6. Concentration and Attention

Functional Dyslexia can be due to a lack of concentration and attention. Novice readers often tire quickly when reading which causes them to lose focus. The mental effort novice readers face is responsible for avoiding reading altogether.

The avoidance of reading and writing is a massive problem because literacy skills are not being exercised and developed, and the concentration and attention required for literacy are not being cultivated. Students’ lack of concentration and attention is often associated with ADHD. One of the keys to addressing so-called ADHD issues is to appeal to students’ interests and drive, in addition to cultivating self-regulation skills. The Student interest is an essential element of Brain Principle 7.

Learners’ brains don’t pay attention to boring things; progress is accelerated when learners are interested. As a result, reading readiness comes more naturally and greater concentration and focus is developed. For more information relating to ADHD check out the work of Stephen Tonti who advocates that ADHD is a difference in cognition, not a disorder. Stephen’s work is vitally important because millions of children are being unnecessarily medicated with powerful drugs due to a lack of awareness of this cognitive difference.

7. Stress, Emotions, and Anxiety

Functional Dyslexia can be caused by the stress and anxiety associated with reading and writing. The hormone ‘cortisol’ is reading readiness enemy number one.

A student may become functionally dyslexic (have a reading problem) because of stress and anxiety which leads to avoidance of reading and writing; this results in the learner not cultivating his or her literacy skills. Stress and anxiety associated with reading and writing can affect a student’s focus, memory, and general reading readiness. From personal experience, high levels of stress sometimes caused words on a page to become an indistinguishable blur.

This state can be likened to stage fright when an actor or speaker forgets their lines once in front of an audience. Ron Davis, the author of “The Gifts of Dyslexia”, calls this state’ disorientation’. Science has shown for years that elevated cortisol levels interfere with learning and memory. Stress, anxiety, fear, and lack of self-belief are all contributing factors. To ensure a learner’s emotional well-being and reading readiness, review Brain Principle 5: “Relaxed Brains Learn Better.”

8. Lack of Experience in Reading  and Phonetic Knowledge & Awareness

Lack of experience is a major contributing factor that can result in, or be seen as, Dyslexia (difficulty with words). Reading problems can arise because a student is inexperienced and has not cultivated the skills necessary to grasp the code and read fluently.

Reading studies show that infrequent readers and readers who haven’t had the opportunity to learn to read have less grey and white matter in the areas in the brain associated with reading. Studies from researchers such as Guinevere Eden (Georgetown University) and Jason Yeatman (Stanford University) amongst others show that strong and regular reading habits stimulate the growth of grey and white matter in the brain areas associated with reading.

This means literacy skills can be significantly improved. Regular reading, writing, and correction develop and refine literacy skills. This allows the student to…

• Strengthen memory
• Decode words faster
• Sight-read
• Make better automatic reading and spelling predictions

For skilled readers, reading is largely an unconscious process, but for novice readers, it is the opposite: reading is conscious and non-automatic, and consequently takes a lot of effort and energy. This fact may explain why, at times, a student may read a word more or less fluently on one occasion, and yet on another occasion, read the same words with great effort and struggle. Fluent reading requires the use of many mental processes.

The best way to develop these processes is learning through practical daily experiences and explicit instruction until the student has acquired the tools and habits of self-study. Below is an example of a text that has been reordered. Read it and reflect upon the techniques you employ to decode it.

Here’s an example Test Your Literacy Skills

Laernnig pohincs wlil hlep yuor cihldern laern hwo ot raed adn sepll, but tehir is mroe ot raeding tahn laenir pohinc dceodnig. Tihs si cealr besausce yuo aer nto jsut usnig laenir pohincs to dcedoe rghit wno, ro sihgt raeidng. Waht yuo rae usnig is a cmoinbatoin fo btoh, as wlel as ascsicaiotn adn epxreeicne. In fcat, tihs is what a page lokos like to an inexperienced rdeaer. I would imagine that most people would have had difficulty decoding the word linear (“laenir”).

This is because it’s not a commonly-read word. Over the years I’ve noticed that skilled readers casually exercise their literacy skills in play or spare time outside of formal practice, and this process of regular reading and writing contributes to the development and success of skilled readers in literacy. This area is addressed throughout the book and is central to Brain Principle 6: “Positive Immersion.”

9. General Reading Readiness

Low reading/writing readiness, caused by stress, emotions, low self-regulation, or lack of interest, can result in disengagement from literacy which can create a negative ongoing spiral or path. The later brain principles can remedy this disengagement. Some students may have a combination of contributing factors that affect their reading.  

Making a Very Important Distinction

The nine contributing factors that we have explored here can affect all students, however, There are two main causes, of reading and spelling difficulties commonly attributed to Dyslexia:

• Some students will encounter Dyslexia as a result of the spelling code
• Other students will experience difficulties or Dyslexia as a result of their unique processing and learning style, as well as experiencing difficulties with the spelling code.

“Johnny’s Hero’s Journey” is an inspirational book for young dyslexic readers, teaching the brain principles that aid in the development of literacy skills. This anime-inspired story fosters the development of literacy skills and habits for readers aged 6 to 16+.

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“Dyslexia Awareness: The Secret Phonic Lottery” is a creative masterpiece in dyslexia and neurodiversity research, not just a book but a catalyst for students, aiding dyslexic readers, educators, parents, and advocates alike.

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