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October is Dyslexia Awareness Month

Posted about 3 months ago by Lisa Wiertel
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Every October is Dyslexia Awareness Month.  The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as the following:

“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”(IDA, 2022)

 

It has been estimated that 15-20% of the population has a language based learning disability.  70-80% of that number is a reading based disability which dyslexia being the most common.

Dyslexia is not the result of poor reading instruction.  Dyslexia is neurologically based and genetic so the chances of an individual with dyslexia having a close family member with dyslexia is high.

I have two sons with dyslexia and I know how eager I was to find information when they were diagnosed.  Below I have listed some resources to explore to find out how to support someone with dyslexia.  I have also included books we have at Richmond Public Library about dyslexia for parents and caregivers to learn more. Finally, I have suggested some children’s books that feature dyslexic characters.

Resources on the Internet

International Dyslexia Association

Decoding Dyslexia

Decoding Dyslexia Virginia Facebook Group

LD Online

Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

Virginia Department of Education

Books on Dyslexia at RPL

The following books can be checked out from the library to learn more about dyslexia.  Click on the book to reach our catalog.

Children’s Books with Dyslexic Characters

Picture Books

Chapter Books

Source:   Frequently Asked Questions. International Dyslexia Association. (2021, July 26). https://dyslexiaida.org/frequently-asked-questions-2/

More RPL Resources for Dyslexia

Our website has customization viewing options available.  One can click on the accessibility tool, ReciteMe , on the bottom left hand corner to make changes to how one can consume the information on our site.  One option is to hear the text being read as well as changing font types and font size.  One of the choices is “Open-Dyslexic” which some dyslexic readers find helpful when reading text.  There is also an option on the ReciteMe toolbar to change the colors of the website.
The free reading app Libby that is used to download and read electronic media has customizations available too with one of the options to also change the font style to Open Dyslexic.  To find out how, click this link for instructions on how to change the font on Libby to Open Dyslexic.
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Lisa Wiertel

Lisa Wiertel is a Youth Services Librarian working out of the Westover Hills Branch. She is a native of Buffalo, NY (Go Bills!), but Virginia has been home for a long time. She is a mixed media artist, long distance hiker, and a nature lover. She loves books where she can explore her love of history that also challenge her way of thinking.

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