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Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often
familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and
processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it
is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive
language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing,
spelling, handwriting and sometimes in arithmetic. Dyslexia
is not a result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment,
inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities or
other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these
conditions. Although dyslexia is life-long, individuals with
dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate
intervention. (International Dyslexia Association)
Other helpful definitions:
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Serious and persistent difficulties
in attention and focus.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
Serious and persistent difficulties
in attention and focus that falls into one of three types/categories:
Inattentive, Hyperactive or Combined Type.
Auditory Discrimination
The ability to distinguish slight differences
in auditory stimuli, especially in sounds and words that have
subtle differences.
Auditory Processing Deficit
The inability to process oral language
in a meaningful way, which in turn affects comprehension.
Automaticity
Automatic and correct responses to
stimuli without conscious effort.
Decoding
A process of recognizing unfamiliar
written words by sequentially segmenting the sounds represented
by the letters of the word and then blending the sounds into
a meaningful word or syllables that are then combined into
words.
Dyscalculia
The difficulty in understanding or
using mathematical symbols or functions.
Dysgraphia
The difficulty in producing legible
handwriting with age-appropriate speed.
Dysnomia
A marked difficulty in remembering
names or recalling words needed for oral or written language.
Dyspraxia
A severe difficulty in performing writing,
drawing, buttoning and other tasks requiring fine motor skills,
or in sequencing the necessary movements. This may also affect
vocal sequencing needed for basic speech.
Encoding (Blending)
In spelling, a process by which students
segment sounds of a word, translate each phoneme into its
corresponding letter, and then spell the word.
Expressive Language Disorder
The inability to express thoughts verbally.
This includes difficulties with word retrieval and may also
affect a student's written work.
Executive Dysfunction
The inability and or delay in the processing
of complex, meaningful information.
Multisensory
The use of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-motor
pathways to reinforce learning in the brain.
Phonics
The study of speech sounds, how they
are produced, how they are perceived and what their physical
properties are. Includes speech sounds represented in print.
Phonological Awareness
One’s sensitivity to, or explicit awareness
of, the phonological structure of one’s language. It involves
the ability to notice, think about, or manipulate the individual
sounds of words.
Receptive Language Disorder
The inability to process and store
information correctly, which causes difficulty with information
retrieval.
Visual Discrimination
The ability to distinguish slight differences
in visual stimuli, especially in letters and words that have
graphic similarities.
Visual Motor Integration Difficulties
(VMI and Visual Agnosia)
The inability to take visual information
and transfer it into written form, i.e. difficulty in copying
notes from the board or drawing objects in art class.
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