if i have one child with dyslexia

LIke other conditions with a genetic component — she might, she might not, and it’s very possible that she’ll have some learning problems but a very different profile — strengths adn weaknesses in different areas.

Our first child was slow to read, but finally caught up with everyone else by the middle of third grade. Reading is not his strength but it is not a disability either. He is also not particularly good at spelling but again it’s not so far off from everyone else that you could call it a disability either.

Our second child has dyslexia and dysgraphia (written language disability). He was unable to read consistently until sixth grade and still struggles. He still spells as though he was in second grade even though he’s 12.

My feeling is that even if children inherit whatever it is that causes their brain to be different, it can manifest itself differently and with different degrees of severity. I also think a child’s temperment can influence whether they are able to work around the problem or simply give up. Our first believes he can do anything. Our second decided he was just too stupid to read or spell and just gave up. It has taken years to convince him otherwise.

Early intervention is also key. Watch for problems with speech delays or clarity of speech. Look for problems with phonemic awareness (recognizing differences in sounds, recognizing similarities in sounds, remembering which letter symbol makes which sound). Surprisingly our first son got some early intervention because he was already being watched for ADD and they noticed his other delays. Our second didn’t get any early invention because he was always the quiet good boy (and because I didn’t have a clue then how to recognize a learning disability).

If only I had known then what I know now!

I guess there is a chance they could be both be dyslexic, but it’s not a given. I have a daughter who is a senior this year. She is an honor student. I have an 8th grade son, who can’t even spell honor. LOL. All joking aside, they have the same parents and are totally different in everything. He’s great in sports, she’s ok, but has to work at it, his talent comes naturally. You just never know which genes they’ll get.
When my son first realized he wasn’t learning to read and write and do math like everyone else, especially his sister….. I explained it to him like this. Everyone has something they are good at (although I haven’t really found my “thing” yet). I said yes your sister could recongize all the abc’s when she was 2, she could read early and she always gets good grades, but you learned to ride a bike when you were 3, she was 7. When you started baseball you played the infield and hit homeruns, she played the outfield and they had to tell her which way to run “if” she hit the ball. She gets awards for getting straight A’s, you get awards for pitching a no hitter. So that doesn’t make her a better person than you, it makes your strengths and weakness different.
So the whole point of this post is, who knows how’ll your next one will turn out, but she’ll be ok,no matter what. My LD son has put me through the wringer, but I guess if I had to chose, I wouldn’t change a thing, about either of them.

Genetic?! The experts can’t even agree on what dyslexia is. What dyslexia is is difficulty reading due to problems with visual processing. The literal meaning is impaired reading.

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Dear Ball:

Yes, dyslexia does run in families. Some differences have been found on the sixth chromosome in some families, and on the 15th chromosomes in others. However, not every member of a family will be affected by this disability.

Actually, dyslexia is a combination of greek and latin. dys means difficulty with, and lexis means words. Thus, “difficulty with words”. It is not limited to reading only. The difficulty can be visual and/or auditory, and it can be receptive (words you see or hear) and/or expressive (words you say verbally or in writing). This information comes from the Emeritus Series and the Annuals of Dyslexia publications of the International Dyslexia Association which was originally founded as The Orton Dyslexia Society in honor of Dr. Samuel Orton who was the first to study dyslexia in the United States in 1928 . The organization has been in existance for over 50 years.

It does not mean definitely that your other daughter will have those issues but,as you said, there is a tendency for these things to run in families. Keep a watchful eye out.