Effect of language orthography
The complexity of a language's orthography, or writing and spelling system, has a direct impact on how difficult it is to learn to read in that language; formally, this is the orthographic depth. Although English has an alphabetic orthography, it is a complex or deep orthography that employs spelling patterns at several levels. The major structural categories that make up English spelling are letter-sound correspondences, syllables, and morphemes. Some other languages, such as Spanish, have alphabetic orthographies that employ only letter-sound correspondences, so-called shallow orthographies. It is relatively easy to learn to read in languages like Spanish; it is much more difficult to learn to read in languages that have more complex orthographies, as in English. Logographic writing systems, notably Chinese characters, pose additional difficulties.
From a neurological perspective, different types of writing, for example, alphabetic as compared to pictographic, require different neurological pathways in order to read, write and spell. Because different writing systems require different parts of the brain to process the visual notation of speech, children with reading problems in one language might not have a reading problem in a language with a different orthography. The neurological skills required to perform the tasks of reading, writing, and spelling can vary between different writing systems and as a result different neurological skill deficits can cause dyslexic problems in relation to different orthographies.
- Cluttering is a speech fluency disorder involving both the rate and rhythm of speech, and resulting in impaired speech intelligibility. Speech is erratic and dysrhythmic, consisting of rapid and jerky spurts that usually involve faulty phrasing. The personality of the clutterer bears striking resemblance to the personalities of those with learning disabilities.
Exacerbating conditions
Dyslexia is believed to be a neurological condition that influences the individual's ability to read and spell written language. It can lead to problems with auditory memory and auditory sequencing. Many people with dyslexia have auditory processing problems including history of auditory reversals, and may develop their own Logographic cues to compensate for this type of deficit. Auditory processing disorder is recognized as one of the major causes of dyslexia. Some children can acquire auditory processing disorder as a result of experiencing otitis media with effusion (Glue Ear, Sticky Ear, Grommits) and other severe ear conditions.
- Scotopic sensitivity syndrome, also known as Irlen Syndrome, is a term used to describe sensitivity to certain wavelengths of light which interfere with visual processing.
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Occurs in between 12% and 24% of those with dyslexia.
- Aphasia
Experience of speech acquisition delays, and speech and language problems can be due to problems processing and decoding auditory input prior to reproducing their own version of speech, and may be observed as stuttering, cluttering or hesitant speech.
Further Reading
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