To understand dyslexia, one should know “what is a learning disability.” There are several types of learning disabilities among children. Dyslexia is a language processing disorder, one of the common learning disabilities in children and adults around the world.


Certain specific learning disabilities can be caused by neurobiological abnormality, which can affect all forms of language expression, either spoken or written.

Individuals affected by dyslexia generally have difficulty in language processing. Associating sounds with the visual alphabets that make up written words and putting them in the correct sequence may be a problem for children and adults with dyslexia, which is a learning disability.


Even smart children with above average IQs who are motivated and interested in learning may have difficulty in learning to read and write. It must be understood that dyslexic children are not lazy or stupid, just because they are unable to make the connection between the sound and the letter that represents the sound and to combine the sounds into words.

Seen from the neurological perspective, languages which have alphabetic writing systems require a different set of neurological pathways to spell, read, and write, when compared to languages like Chinese, which use logographic systems. The parts of the brain which process visual symbols are different from the part that associates sounds to written symbols and the meaning of the  that set of written symbols. Hence, learning disabilities in children reading in one language may disappear when they read in another language with a different system of orthography. The neurological skills needed for a person to read, write, and spell can be different for another writing system. In those with neurological deficits of a certain kind, it can point to learning disabilities in adults and children learning that language.

Learning disabilities in children may not be immediately evident as most children learn to work around their difficulty by using different strategies to learn such as developing a sight vocabulary like toddlers do.  Dysgraphia is a learning disability in writing which may be seen in reversed alphabets, misspelt words, and illegible writing. Reversals are common in children without any learning disabilities at the initial stages of learning. Types of learning disabilities include dyscalculia, or difficulty in understanding basic mathematics, calculation, and solving problems. Learning disabilities in children with ADHD include behavioral problems that could be caused by frustration at school or the environment at home. Attention deficit indicates an inability to maintain focus on a task and tune out distractions.

Learning disabilities in children with Down’s syndrome or ADHD may vary according to the severity of their condition, and for them, language learning is usually slower than in normal children. Among various language learning skills, vocabulary development is faster than comprehension of grammar and structuring sentences. Among normal children and children with learning disabilities, skills to express oneself in a language continue to develop in adolescence and can be improved upon by focusing on enhancement of language comprehension skills.   

While learning disabilities in children is routinely identified in schools and special education programs help them cope with their disabilities, adults with similar problems often feel limited in their academic or career choices. As a first step in dealing with learning disabilities in adults, symptoms that indicate the presence of a disability should be noted and information about them should be gathered to assess the problem. For establishing and diagnosing learning difficulties in adults, testing is carried out after an initial screening process or after any symptoms are seen. Dyslexia in adults often comes to light when students of higher education realize that the strategies they had used in school to compensate for their difficulty in learning are no longer effective. Regardless of the extent of the learning difficulties in adults, diagnosis made after the evaluation tests should underscore the individual’s strengths and weaknesses and point to the instructional strategies and resources available that may be beneficial for that individual.

Adults with learning difficulties may exhibit some or all of the following characteristics. It should be clearly understood that the list is not exhaustive. It is quite possible that an adult who exhibits any of these characteristics is quite normal and not dyslexic. However, when an adult displays many of these signs, an assessment by a qualified professional may be called for.

• May not hear sounds, words, or sentences correctly, is unable to repeat what is said.

• May do routine tasks differently each day.

• May be good at reading but not at writing or vice versa.

• May have a short span of attention or be easily distracted.

• May misinterpret a message with a poor comprehension of its content.

• May be socially inept, finding it difficult to understand hints and social cues.

• May be unable to memorize facts and numbers.

• May be unable to meet deadlines for a task and shows inability to understand schedules.

• Seems to have no sense of direction, gets lost easily.

• Cannot understand maps and written directions.

• Makes errors while copying information, spells the same word differently on two lines.

• Writes with a mix of small and capital letters or misspells, changing the order of letters in a word.

• Capable of giving oral explanations, but unable to write coherently.

• May become confused by columns/ boxes in forms.

• Finds math calculations and word problems difficult to understand.  

• Not good at driving because of the confusion between left and right and poor co-ordination.

• May have problems with complex sentence structures, organized note taking, and organizing written work.

Learning disabilities, whether they are found in children or in adults, can be dealt with easily with understanding, patience and emotional support from family and friends. Special education programs with trained teachers, extended time frames for submission of assignments in school, audio books and tapes of lectures help dyslexic children realize their true potential. For adults with learning disabilities, accommodations may be made at the workplace in training courses, getting oral feedback from supervisors and writing reports, so long as their performance on the job is not affected by their disability.