Systems of the brain: differences in thinking skills

One of the main ideas about dyslexia looks at how the brain processes the sounds in our language. This area is called “phonology”.

You might have learned to read using a “phonic” approach. Children are first of all taught to link a sound to a letter. Early reading books contain pictures and letters e.g. “A” for apple, “B” for ball.

The Letterland reading programme, for example, uses a range of characters to help children identify different sounds. The “Kicking King” sound is the same as the “Clever Cat” sound, but most children are able to tell the difference in the “shape” of each letter.

Many children who are later identified as dyslexic may be sent to a speech therapist in their early years because they often muddle up sounds when they are speaking. They may say words like “aminals” (animals) or “par cark” (car park). They generally overcome these speech difficulties quickly. When they are asked to “sound out” new words at primary school they experience further problems. The children know the letter sounds and “sound out” well. They have greater difficulty in linking the sounds together. This can be very frustrating for the child and also for parents and teachers.

The part of the brain that “stores” the list of sounds is the area of concern.
This is closely linked to difficulties in what is called “working memory”. People sometimes call this “short term” memory. We use this to hold information in our minds for a short time while we decide what to do with it. Many scientists believe that working memory difficulties are the major underlying cause of dyslexic symptoms.

Another idea comes from the fact that the brain is split into two major parts. Usually, the left hand side controls language and practical matters. The right hand side is said to be more responsible for creativity and intuition. Some people believe that dyslexic people experience differences in the ways the two halves of the brain work together. Dyslexic people experience some difficulties in the left hand side of the brain, but this is compensated for by greater abilities in the right hand side. The idea is that dyslexic people have well developed visual and creative skills. They can use a “visual” method to solve problems rather than use language based approaches.