Published:
10/21/2011 04:42pm
October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month
October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month. This month, we recognize the struggle that so many people with dyslexia experience with reading and writing. In the past 10 years the world has turned digital. People communicate textually more than ever. Dyslexics’ struggle to interact, be heard, and be understood is even more challenging.
For students it affects grades, confidence and self-esteem. At the same time, for adults, dyslexia creates a very real ceiling to job promotion. Most full time positions require writing skills and without them our society “runs the risk of consigning many people…to relatively low-skill, low-wage, hourly employment.”
What is Dyslexia?
• According to the National Institute of Health, Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence. Although the disorder varies from person to person, common characteristics among people with dyslexia are difficulty with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds), spelling, and/or rapid visual-verbal responding. In individuals with adult onset of dyslexia, it usually occurs as a result of brain injury or in the context of dementia; this contrasts with individuals with dyslexia who simply were never identified as children or adolescents. Dyslexia can be inherited in some families, and recent studies have identified a number of genes that may predispose an individual to developing dyslexia.
Did you know? Dyslexia stats
• About 20 percent of school-age children in the United States are Dyslexic.
• Only about 5 – 10 percent of school-age children in the United States with Dyslexia are diagnosed.
• Over 40 million, or 15 percent of adults in the United States are Dyslexic.
• Out of 100 dyslexics in the United States, only 5 are recognized and receiving intervention.
• More than 50 percent of NASA employees are Dyslexic. The organization deliberately seeks out these individuals because they have superb problem solving skills and excellent 3D and spatial awareness.
Famous people who are Dyslexic:
• Tom Cruise
• Richard Branson
• Jay Leno
• Magic Johnson
• Stephen Spielberg
• Whoopi Goldberg
Famous people your kids might know who are Dyslexic
• Arnaud Touanga, aka Real A
• Orlando Bloom
• Salma Hayek
• Patrick Dempsey (Dr. McDreamy)
• Keira Knightley
About wordQ + speakQ
wordQ + speakQ is assistive technology that has been designed to engage more of the user's senses to find an approach that works best for them.
For Dyslexics, writing and proofreading can be impossible tasks. It’s hard to see one's own mistakes. By incorporating word prediction, text to speech, and voice recognition, wordQ + speakQ's features allow Dyslexic writers to hear misspelled words and punctuation errors as they type. This integration improves spelling whether the writer types or dictates the words
The writer is able to proofread their work by hearing what's been written to check for grammar and punctuation.
wordQ + speakQ is for all with learning disabilities, helping people write using the skills they already possess and building on them.
wordQ + speakQ is about writing success.
www.goQsoftware.com
