Acquired and Developmental Dyslexia

Dyslexia: History, Definition, Relation to Normal Reading

Richardson (1992) has noted that much of the foundational work on dyslexia came from studies conducted in the first half of the century by physicians on people with diverse forms of brain damage. Originally dyslexia was considered to be a type of aphasia. However, Richardson states that it was also referred to as "word blindness" defined as the inability to interpret written or printed language despite normal vision. Richardson further reports that while the dyslexic condition had been postulated for years as related to brain defect or damage, it was not until 1979 that physical evidence of abnormal cell structure within the brain was actually found.

Kamhi (1992) has noted that the study of dyslexia has been "plagued" by definitional inadequacy. However, he notes that most researchers and educators agree that the condition is best defined as a developmental language disorder involving a life-long, possibly genetic, difficulty processing phonological information.

This difficulty involves encoding, retrieving, and using phonological codes in memory, as well as deficits in phonological awareness and speech production. A prominent characteristic of the disorder is spoken and written language defi

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eneral and both forms of dyslexia (acquired and developmental) in particular: directional confusion (or right-left confusion), deficient visual information processing, auditory-perceptual difficulties, deficient intersensory transfer of information, attentional difficulties, impairment in verbal intelligence, calculation difficulty, problems with finger differentiation, spontaneous writing and spelling impairment, form perception impairment, inefficient memorization strategies (such as verbal rehearsal), difficulties in gross and fine motor coordination, delayed lateral awareness or crossed dominance, speech difficulties, social emotional disturbance and neurological difficulties. Neurological bases Stein (1989) has stated that developmental dyslexia probably results from minor disorganization of the specialization of the two cerebral hemispheres. Many dyslexics complain that small letters appear to blur and move around, symptoms that are associated in these children with distorted vergence control, unstable binocular fixation, impaired visual direction sense, and reduced stereoacuity. All these abnormalities are also characteristic of patients with lesions of the right posterior parietal cortex. Dyslexic children with unsta
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Approximate Word count = 2930
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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