Myth #6            Very few people are affected by dyslexia.

NIH reports that 1 in 5 children in the United States are dyslexic. Dyslexia affects the same amount of people cross culturally – even when different languages and alphabet systems are used.

Myth #7            People with dyslexia can’t read.

People with dyslexia can be taught to read if they are given the right type of instruction. The severity of the dyslexia will determine how long a student will be able to get by or cope without specialized instruction. Vocabulary will explode during a student’s third grade year. It is usually around this time when children can’t get by any longer using coping strategies to read. If children are taught phonemic awareness and a systematic method for sounding out words, they will learn to read up to their potential.

Myth #8            Some people outgrow dyslexia. 

Dyslexia is a life-long learning disability. It can improve with training and support, but it will never completely go away. Dyslexia will not get better by itself. Intervention is the only way to help dyslexia improve. The earlier a child receives intervention, the better off they will be.

Myth #9            Four and five year olds that have reversals in numbers or letters, are probably dyslexic.

It is developmentally appropriate for children to have reversals when they are learning to write. Children should not have reversals after the end of first grade or after two years of handwriting instruction. If children have reversals after the end of first grade look for other sings and symptoms of dyslexia.

Myth #10            People with dyslexia (poor reading ability) have lower intelligence (IQ).

There is no correlation between intelligence and dyslexia. In fact, many people with dyslexia are often gifted in other areas. Individuals with dyslexia can have any range of intelligence – low, average, or high. Intelligence and reading and/or spelling ability are not related.

All of the answers to the quiz were false. What was your score?  Don’t feel badly if you had a few answers wrong. Even up to my last year teaching in the public schools, (2014-2015) other teachers, administrators,reading specialists, and special educators weren’t knowledgeable about dyslexia and couldn’t tell the difference between myth and fact when it regarded dyslexia.  It is up to us to share the facts and advocate for the children we love and support. By the way…these are not the only myths about dyslexia, just some of the most common.