health

There is no medical or surgical cure for dyslexia; however, dyslexic individuals
can learn to read and write with appropriate education or treatment.
Treatment for dyslexia is highly individualized. After the child’s
specific difficulties in reading and understanding language have been analyzed
by an expert, a treatment program is drawn up tailored to his or her
needs. Most children with dyslexia benefit from a multisensory approach
to language. A multisensory approach is one that involves several senses
(seeing, hearing, touching) all at the same time. Teachers who use this
approach teach children to link the sounds of the letters with the written
symbol. Children also link the sound and symbol with how it feels to
form the letter or letters. Another way to use the multisensory approach
is to have the child listen to an audiotape while tracing the shapes of letters
with the fingers and the words spoken.
Children with severe dyslexia may require tutoring on a one-to-one
basis or in small group sessions several times a week. Whereas a child
with normal language skills may need sixty to ninety hours to master a
specific set of tasks involving reading, children with dyslexia may need
between eighty and 100 hours to make the same progress. In general, the
earlier a child is diagnosed and special education programs are started, the
greater the likelihood that he or she will learn to read well enough to succeed
in school. Some children with severe dyslexia, however, may never
learn to read or write well and are usually helped by training for occupations
or career paths that do not require strong language skills.
Children with dyslexia often need and benefit from psychotherapy
because of their struggles with low self-esteem. Many come to feel that
they are stupid or less capable than they really are; they are likely to drop
out of school if they are not diagnosed and treated early.