Learning Problems-The-

Dyslexia or reading and writing difficulties: a conceptual demarcation

Synonyms in a broader sense
Diagnosing reading and spelling problems

Synonyms in a broader sense

Dyslexia, LRS, reading and spelling weaknesses, reading and spelling weaknesses, reading and spelling weaknesses, dyslexia, dyslexia.

definition

LRS includes all problems in the area of reading, writing and spelling that can arise in the course of the learning process due to various causes. The problems do not have to be limited to the written language area. This means that children with general school problems can also suffer from poor reading and writing skills.

The Dyslexia represents a special case of reading and spelling weaknesses. It includes children who have problems reading and spelling, but only those children whose problems are limited to this area of learning (partial performance weakness) and with all their written language problems over normal or also have above-average intelligence. In contrast to children with a reading and spelling disorder, whose problem is called acquired, in the case of dyslexia, biogenetic causes are assumed.

In other words: All children - regardless of their intelligence - can have problems in reading and spelling, but only those children fall under the term "dyslexia" who, despite having normal to above average intelligence, only have problems in reading, writing and spelling.

LRS definition

The term “reading and spelling weakness” (LRS) encompasses all possible variants of problems in the area of reading and (spelling) writing, regardless of various causes and / or side effects. Dyslexia represents a specific sub-area of reading and spelling weaknesses, but is not to be equated with the terminology.

Dyslexia - Definition

Dyslexia is a partial performance weakness that relates exclusively to the area of reading and (spelling) writing and occurs despite normal to above-average intelligence.

Dyslexia - a construct?

A construct is the creation of a term to describe problems and to excuse them. A "disease" is being defined that has been included in ICD 10, the International Classification of Diseases, and critics are wondering whether this is really necessary for funding.

Regardless of whether dyslexia or LRS is present, there is a so-called need for support in both cases. This means: regardless of cause and intelligence, an individual support plan must be drawn up, preceded by a precise determination of the problems and deficits (support diagnostics). While in the case of dyslexia the support relates to the reading and spelling problems and ideally also to the psychological stress, a support plan for a LRS child can also include components of other school areas, such as problems in the area of mathematics. This is due to the fact that some LRS children not only have their problems in reading, writing and spelling, but are generally seen as average to underperforming in school.

In some discussions about the term dyslexia one finds the opinion held that the assignment of a dyslexia diagnosis is actually not important, since one should only grasp the problems in order to be able to support them in a targeted manner. Whether a child is dyslexic or not is irrelevant. In other words: one demands that problems - irrespective of the cause and allocation of illness - be tackled in a targeted manner and demands individual support in accordance with the fundamental problems for all children.

This opinion is often due to the fact that dyslexia was often used in earlier years to justify bad grades, true to the motto: "My child cannot perform better, it is dyslexic."

It is not about being able to assign the "blame", but about helping the child in their predicament and giving them the support they need to overcome or improve the problems. Everyone should decide for themselves whether the diagnosis "dyslexia" has to be explicitly pronounced.

We can agree with the demand that every child has the right to individual support according to his or her individual starting point for learning.

Diagnosing reading and spelling problems

One of the ways in which you can determine whether you have a reading or writing disorder is by looking at the child's behavior. Children who have problems reading, writing and spelling are similar in symptoms to children with dyslexia:

Reading happens slowly and hesitantly, which is why they usually do not particularly enjoy reading.
Recognizing and naming letters creates problems.
The sound - letter assignment (= naming the letters with the corresponding sound, e.g. L instead of ell) is very difficult.
Based on known letters, a word skeleton is created from which they rhyme the word. That means: they guess and mix up words. Often they also guess words to be read from the context of the text.
Repeating long words (e.g. locomotive, ship captain, lighthouse keeper, ...) causes problems.
In addition, language problems (stuttering, lisp, stammering, ...) can occur.
The grinding together of letters and sounds to a place turns out to be difficult, often simple and well-known words are read out loud.
The error-free copying of words, sentences and texts causes great problems and often happens with (many) errors (poor concentration)
Writing words true to sound (= words that you write as you speak them, e.g. flower) after dictation (sound synthesis) is also much more difficult due to the weaknesses mentioned above. This means: simple words that are true to the sound are not necessarily an aid to (correct) writing.
They have a lot of spelling mistakes. These are “typed”, which means: they are examined diagnostically by assigning them to the various types of errors.
...

As already indicated above, these should be examined and analyzed intensively. Usually this is done by grouping the errors into category groups. Particularly in the context of the delimitation: dyslexia - LRS should therefore also be differentiated: If there is a partial performance weakness and all other subjects are not affected by this weakness, one can rather assume dyslexia. LRS children usually do not have these isolated weaknesses that are concentrated in only one area of study. You can find more information about the symptoms on our website:

Symptoms of dyslexia

Following the Determination of the types of errorswhich in principle can also be carried out with any dictation specific statements about funding to be hit. Implementing this should not only be a matter for the school, as support hours are usually tight and are attended not only by individual students or by a group of students with similar problems, but by a group of students with a wide variety of problems. This includes children with problems in reading, writing and spelling as well as children with problems in arithmetic or children with problems only in reading or writing or spelling. It is extremely difficult to do justice to all these children within the framework of a special lesson and successes are usually more long in coming than when one can devote oneself specifically and exclusively to one child.

individual support plan

An individual support plan should be drawn up based on the individual problem areas of a child. In addition to the problems, this funding plan should also contain specific approaches in the area of funding that should be addressed in the near future.This can also include taking advantage of extracurricular support or recommending contacting a child and adolescent psychologist or educational counseling. Different problems with different cause areas require different measures to be taken!

In any case, in the interests of the child, close contact based on trust between the parents and the school (class or subject teacher) is recommended. As soon as the support plan has been drawn up, it should also be discussed with the parents so that extracurricular measures are not only recommended on paper, but also have a chance of being implemented. Especially when teachers recommend going to parenting advice centers, that does not mean that the parenting methods of the parents are being questioned. Educational counseling centers are multifaceted and can provide assistance in many ways. Last but not least, it can mediate in terms of supporting the extracurricular exercise.

It is important that the domestic or other extracurricular forms of exercise and support are based on the working methods and learning content of the school. This has the advantage that the child does not have to constantly adjust to changing rules and procedures and does not have to deal with additional problems in addition to the actual learning problems.