Scientists have claimed that they can identify dyslexia even before children start school, long before they become labeled as poor students and begin to lose confidence in themselves.
“We call it the dyslexia paradox,” said Nadine Gaab of the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience at Children’s, whose study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Often, by the time they get a diagnosis, they usually have experienced three years of peers telling them they are stupid, parents telling them they are lazy. We know they have reduced self esteem. They are really struggling,” Gaab said in a telephone interview.
“The beauty is spoken language can present before written language so people can look for symptoms,” said Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a director of the Center for Dyslexia and Creativity at Yale University.
Signs of early dyslexia can include difficulty with rhyming, mispronouncing words or confusing similar-sounding words.
Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience, dyslexia, early dyslexia
