It is ironic that as the educational standards, instruction methods, and measurements of learning are developing at a rapid rate the incidence of dyslexia among children is growing right along with it. Child psychologist have begun reporting more and more cases of dyslexia, and even cases that are identified at younger ages, as young as 3-5 years old.
The standard theory of the evolution of dyslexia doesn’t seem to apply to this trend. The hypothesis states that the learning disability is created when instruction and learning is introduced later in the neurodevelopment stages of children. Those who developed this hypothesis determined that late introduction to educational stimulation caused a variety of learning problems, but children are constantly learning, from day one they are taking in sensory perceptions from their environment.
What evidence does suggest is that the main cause of dyslexia is a result of how the brain interprets information from spoken and written cues. The brains ability to process can be impaired by certain factors; the symptom displayed is dyslexia. Dyslexia does not have an intelligence threshold of any sort. Even the most intelligent people can be affected by this learning disorder.
It is clear that one of the main precursors of the learning disability is heredity. If dyslexia is, indeed, hereditary, then families pass the potential for the dyslexia from generation to generation. This area of dyslexic study has generated a lot of interest, but there is still much research and study to be done to determine and isolate particular genetic factors that contribute to the learning disability.
Experts have found a network of cells that lie just beneath the surface of the brain in dyslexic people. In individuals who do not have dyslexia the same brain cells are found along the surface of the brain, not beneath the surface. Currently, it is believed that this group of cells in the front and left areas of the brain migrate to the surface after birth. For some reason, these cells do not move in people with dyslexia. These cells, in these particular areas of the brain, are associated with the ability to read and write.
While the scientific explanations help us understand more about dyslexia, they do not explain why the number of dyslexic cases is growing. As the numbers continue to increase, more time, effort, and money will be spent on therapy and structured learning for dyslexic children. However, before the problem of dyslexia can be rectified, the root causes have to be discovered.