Dyslexia, which is the most common learning disability, affects one’s ability to read and write. As such it is not a disability of vision but a disturbance of higher cortical processing in the brain, namely brain word analysis pathways. Dyslectics have difficulties decoding the correct phonemes from the written text when reading as well as correctly spelling the words when writing.
To date, the exact cause for dyslexia remains unknown, although it is clear that the genetic component does play a major part. It is also known that one of the most important risk factors for the development of dyslexia is the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Ocular Problems in Disguise of Dyslexia
Certain ocular conditions such as strabismus, amblyopia, convergence insufficiency, and refractive errors might sometimes mimic the symptoms of true dyslexia, a thorough ophthalmologic examination should be performed before the diagnosis of dyslexia, in order to exclude any underlying potentially treatable conditions.
The treatment of dyslexia is in the hands of a specialized multidisciplinary team. That said the condition is sometimes misdiagnosed and the real problem may lay in vision. It is therefore important not to miss the underlying vision-related conditions that can be effectively addressed by all sorts of different treatments, including vision training.
