Children with dyslexia must be diagnosed early and given treatment as soon as possible, say experts today.
Writing in The Lancet, Dr Robin Peterson and Dr Bruce Pennington of the University of Denver, USA, explain that dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving slow and inaccurate word recognition. It is seen across the world, affecting about seven per cent of the population.
They report that much progress has been made on the behavioural, neuropsychological and neurobiological aspects of dyslexia and its causes. This shows that dyslexia "is characterised by dysfunction of the normal left hemisphere language network".
Six genes have also been identified as possible contributors, and the evidence shows they may interact with the environment to determine whether they trigger dyslexia or not.
But despite these efforts, "much work remains to be done to fully understand the causes of dyslexia and to improve the lives of children who struggle to learn to read", write the authors.
Most children are still only diagnosed after having serious difficulties in school, when it is much harder for them to master new skills. However, common coexisting conditions – ADHD, language impairment, speech sound disorder – are likely to be apparent much earlier, and could indicate a child’s risk of reading problems.
"Brain-imaging studies have shown that effective intervention seems to promote normalisation of activity in the left hemisphere reading and language network," the authors state.
They conclude: "Many effective treatments are low cost, which further draws attention to the importance of early identification, prevention, and treatment of dyslexia for public health."
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