YOUR child is a livewire, forever on the go, words tripping each other up in their hurry to be verbalised. Or maybe he is quiet and shy but polite, speaking only when spoken to. If he is turning in consistently poor results in language skills in school, or fumbles obviously while reading aloud, one possibility you have to consider is dyslexia. A learning disorder more common in boys than girls, dyslexia reportedly affects two to five per cent of children in the country.

What is dyslexia?Dyslexia may be defined as organising or learning difficulties affecting language, line co-ordination skills and working memory skills of children, says Dr Jitendra Nagpal, consultant psychiatrist at Vimhans, New Delhi.

But it is not the only learning disability.

Dyscalculia is a mathematical disability relating to difficulty in solving arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts. Dysgraphia is a writing disability in which a person finds it tough to form letters or write within a defined space.

Er... its a mental illness, right?Not at all, emphasises Nagpal. Dyslexia is not a medical, neurological or psychological problem. Dyslexia, dyscalculia et cetera are conditions that describe specific difficulties in acquiring scholastic skills. Children with these disorders show some developmental deficit in the basic psychological processes involved in understanding and using spoken or written language and other symbolic representations.

The deficit is not generally due to mental retardation or sensory impairment.

SIGNBOARD

A child can be said to have dyslexia only when...  He has no global intellectual disability that affects all academic work  He has not suffered abuse, violence or other circumstances that make him so distracted or anxious that he is unable to concentrate  He has had the chanceand possesses the attention span and concentrationto learn to read, and is at least two years behind in reading skills  He is able to see and can sufficiently understand the written letters and words, but cant read them

What are the symptoms?According to Nagpal, the second or third year of school is when learning disorders are most commonly identified. It does not mean that the child is an academic write-off, but that he may not be able to rise to an expected level, he says. Typically, the disability will manifest itself as a reluctance to go to school, do schoolwork or homework. It may be accompanied by hyperactivity, poor coordination, emotional instability and problem behaviour.

What does it mean for their academic future?Since dyslexia is a neurological difference, no one ever grows out of it totally. But all it means is that a dyslexic childs rate of developing reading and writing skills will be slower than a non-dyslexic childs, says Nagpal.

Dyslexics have some great positives in their favour. They are usually highly imaginative, acutely aware of their environments, and curious about the way things work. As they think in pictures rather than words, their mental processes can be 400 to 2,000 times faster than that of a verbal thinker.

Any way a parent or teacher can help?Early identification is of greatest help; it may even arrest the disorder. Motivation and effort are of utmost importance, on the part of both the child and the adults in his environment. Under these conditions, even the severely dyslexic can read to an extent that allows independent life and vocation.