• Question: Why do some people have dyslexia and other such variations?

    Asked by cai192546 to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi Cai… tough one… and thats because no one really knows. .
      It could be explained by ineffective neurone connections in the brain, a bit like being wired up differently.

      It could be that you are just slower to pick things up, if you’re hearing isn;t as good, and you dont realise this, or poor sight as a child and this isn;t picked up on..

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      As Julia said no one really knows – some things that are labelled as dyslexia in two people could be caused for a variety of different reasons. Its complicated – but that means we need people to figure it out!! 🙂

    • Photo: Drew Rae

      Drew Rae answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      I just thought I should add that dyslexia is one of those things that is “diagnosed by exclusion”. This means that rather than positively finding out that someone has dyslexia, doctors work out that someone is of normal intelligence, and doesn’t have sight or hearing problems that could explain poor reading.

      There are a number of health difficulties like this – we know generally that something isn’t right, but before we can find a solution, we need to work out exactly what is causing it. Chronic fatigue is in the same boat.

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Hi cai192546! Another great question from you =) Keep them coming!!

      Julia’s description is good! – dyslexia and other disabilities are probably caused by a wiring mix-up in the brain. Probably there is some hereditary basis to this. The brain is so complicated though it is really tough to figure out! This is true for a lot of mental health disorders too, we still can’t figure out what causes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or even depression although we have some ideas. Most of these are also discovered by “diagnosis by exclusion” as Drew has described. This makes it tough to identify these things. But until we know the root cause it is the best we can do. Basically, much more work needs to be done to understand our brains! Great question, really at the forefront of science!

    • Photo: Kimberley Bryon

      Kimberley Bryon answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      As the others have said, we don’t really know what the cause of dyslexia is. Hopefully we can figure it out in the near future and then we will be able to help treat it. The brain is so complex that trying to understand anything to do with it is very hard.

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