Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty mainly affecting reading and spelling. However it can also cause other problems including:
- poor short term memory
- confusion over some letters such as b/d
- poor comprehension
- difficulty with left and right
- lack of confidence
- poor self esteem and motivation
- difficulty with multi tasking
- good in speech but unable to reflect knowledge in writing
- inconsistent errors e.g. spell a word correctly one day and not the next
- poor organisation and time management
The British Dyslexia Association estimates that dyslexia affects 10% of the population. This would mean that in a class of 30 students, you can expect that 3 will have some degree of dyslexia.
Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence, most dyslexic people have average or above average ability. It is identified as a disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010.