A few words on dyslexia

Kto z nas językowców nie zmaga się z problemem dysleksji wśród naszych uczniów? Ostatnio można nawet mówić o swoistej "pladze" tej dysfunkcji. Ten artykuł jest fragmentem mojej pracy licencjackiej. Wyjaśnia on co to właściwie jest dysleksja i jak można rozpoznać ucznia dyslektycznego.

Annika Niburska
A few words on dyslexia.

1.1.Different definitions of dyslexia.
Nowadays, we can meet with a dyslexic student in almost every class in Polish schools. This problem has become a very serious and common in recent years. But despite of the fact that a lot of teachers and language teaching educators have nearly found out a lot about dyslexia, there are still a lot of people who do not know what this term exactly means and why it can appear in student’s life. Furthermore, some people constantly think that dyslexia is a sign of poor intelligence, the result of laziness or of not caring, a disease which can be cured with pills or diets or the problem with eyesight. These ideas seem to be absurd, that’s why some definitions and opinions that have been written and said about dyslexia are described in this part.
There are many definitions of this term and some of them are introduced to show how the point of view on this problem has changed. Before the National Institutes of Health began their research on dyslexia in the 1980's, the only definition of this dysfunction says: If a child's difficulty with reading could not be explained by low intelligence, poor eye sight, poor hearing, inadequate educational opportunities, or any other problem, then the child must be dyslexic (Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, LLC 1998). Of course, that definition could not be satisfactory for anyone, especially teachers, psychologists, researchers or parents of dyslexic children. There are three different definitions which are used today. One of them is the term known as simple definition which says that: Dyslexia is an inherited condition that makes it extremely difficult to read, write, and spell in your native language - despite at least average intelligence. (Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, LLC 1998).
More specific and accurate is the definition from the International Dyslexia Association which states that:
Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. (IDA 1998)
What is quite interesting, the International Dyslexia Association adds that dyslexia does not mean the lack of motivation, sensory weakness, improper instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, they state that it can take place together ...