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Dyslexia

Dyslexia


Each of the two articles I have selected deal with the science of dyslexia, particularly relating to the connections between dyslexia and the sounds of words. The first article, "The New Science of Dyslexia" from TIME magazine, explores some of the science behind dyslexia while addressing some popular misconceptions about the condition. It speaks to an audience with little scientific knowledge of the condition, but brings together both testimonials from teachers and dyslexia sufferers, but also advanced scientific discoveries related to the fMRI, different areas of the brain, and new methods of instructing dyslexics. The article also talks about the evolution of reading and how our brains developed and continue to develop in response to differing stimuli. Finally, the article also discusses the role of an active parent in regards to looking for signs of dyslexia in young children.

I also read "Phonological Dyslexia: Loss of a Reading-specific Component of the Cognitive Architecture?" from the academic journal Cognitive Neuropsychology. This article is a scientific study of phonological dyslexia, a specific type of dyslexia where readers have difficulty connecting sounds to the letters they see. The authors are arguing that, rather than having a problem in a reading specific phonologically-focused part of the brain, those with phonological dyslexia just have a problem with phonology in general. The authors believe that there is not necessarily a part of the brain that specifically turns letters into sounds in the brain, because this would not happen from an evolutionary perspective. They present evidence from a case study they performed.

There are two very important ways that these articles are similar. First, they both deal with dyslexia by examining the connections between phonology and letters as symbols for those sounds. I never really thought about dyslexia or reading in that way, so I thought that it was interesting to see how both articles handled the topic. Second, both of the articles discussed how reading was not an evolutionary phenomenon in humans, and how that fact affects the teaching of reading and the way the brain is trained to deal with reading.

There are significant differences as well. The two articles are written for very different audiences. While the TIME magazine article does try to teach about the science of dyslexia, it is aimed at an audience that has little scientific background or training. In comparison, the scholarly article is written using a vocabulary and format aimed at an academic audience, and is nearly inaccessible to a layman. The second difference is that the TIME magazine article looks at dyslexia within the framework of how the condition affects the daily life of those who suffer from it. While the other article does discuss the case example of a subject with dyslexia, it does not go into any detail about how dyslexia affects children and adults who have to deal with the condition.

While I found the academic article very interesting once I could understand what the authors were arguing, I felt that the TIME article was more enjoyable. The main reason for this is that I liked how the article looked at the effects of dyslexia and described how it would feel to experience the condition. By giving tangible examples, like stating that I should imagine what it would be like to read a word as if it were new every time I read it, I was able to get a better appreciation for the condition. These examples were then connected to the experiences described by parents, dyslexics, and teachers, and these experiences helped me to gain a clearer understanding of the implications of the condition. This way, I could grasp the science of the brain, and understand how that science manifested itself in the world of those interacting with it. In the other article, I just felt so disconnected from the topic at hand, like a scientist in a sterile environment, that I couldn't really feel like I fully understood the science I was learning.




References

Farah M. et. al. (1996). Phonological Dyslexia: Loss of a Reading-specific Component of the Cognitive Architecture? Cognitive Neuropsychology, 13(6), 849-868.

Gorman, C. (2003, 28th July). The New Science of Dyslexia. TIME Magazine, 162(4), 53-59.
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Posted by: SANDBERG FAITH SMITH

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