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Question: Dyslexia Treatment

Answer: There's no known way to correct the underlying brain abnormality that causes dyslexia — dyslexia is a lifelong problem. However, early detection and evaluation to determine specific needs and appropriate treatment can improve success.

1. Educational techniques
Dyslexia is treated using specific educational approaches and techniques, and the sooner the intervention begins, the better. Psychological testing will help your child's teachers develop a suitable teaching program.

Teachers may use techniques involving hearing, vision and touch to improve reading skills. Helping a child use several senses to learn — for example, listening to a taped lesson and tracing with a finger the shape of the letters used and the words spoken — can help in processing the information.

Treatment focuses on helping your child:
- Learn to recognize and use the smallest sounds that make up words (phonemes)
- Understand that letters and strings of letters represent these sounds and words (phonics)
- Comprehend what he or she is reading
- Read aloud to build reading accuracy, speed and expression (fluency)
- Build a vocabulary of recognized and understood words
If available, tutoring sessions with a reading specialist can be helpful for many children with dyslexia. If your child has a severe reading disability, tutoring may need to occur more frequently, and progress may be slower.

2. Individual education plan
In the United States, schools have a legal obligation to take steps to help children diagnosed with dyslexia with their learning problems. Talk to your child's teacher about setting up a meeting to create a structured, written plan that outlines your child's needs and how the school will help him or her succeed. This is called an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

3. Early treatment
Children with dyslexia who get extra help in kindergarten or first grade often improve their reading skills enough to succeed in grade school and high school.

Children who don't get help until later grades may have more difficulty learning the skills needed to read well. They're likely to lag behind academically and may never be able to catch up. A child with severe dyslexia may never have an easy time reading, but he or she can learn skills that improve reading and develop strategies to improve school performance and quality of life.

(Source: Mayo Clinic, 09 Dec 2020)

Source Link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20353557