Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a common learning disability that hinders the development of reading skills. Specifically, it impairs a person's ability to translate the sounds within words (phonemes) in the correct sequence; this causes reading to be slow and inaccurate.
Dyslexia also affects memory of spoken and written words.
The cause of dyslexia is not clear, although it may be genetic since it runs in families.
Treatment of dyslexia is usually intense, individualized education that seeks to retrain the way the mind processes the sounds within words.
| Author | Amy Fackler, MA |
| Author | Debby Golonka, MPH |
| Editor | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA |
| Associate Editor | Pat Truman |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics |
| Last Updated | July 13, 2006 |
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Last Updated:
July 13, 2006
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