Dyslexia

Dyslexia has been defined as a neurological deficit creating impairment in a person's fluency or conceptual accuracy in the reading process. (APA, 2000; Nicolson, 2010, et.al).  It is postulated that poor spatiotemporal attention to the visual input can lead to poor reading ability and is often compounded by poorer phonological skills (Visyasagar, 2005).  Studies also have shown that these neuroanatomical deficits are related to the left hemisphere. These results also suggest the part of the brain that contains the cortical deficits affecting people with dyslexia are not the parts of the brain that recognize visual stimuli (color, shape, etc.). It logically follows that utilizing a multimodal approach that involves other areas of cerebral function, will improve auditory focus and support phonological awareness necessary for the reading process. The use of color to associate with speech sounds and the interaction with the shapes help clarify the association with sound.  The process of placing these sounds from left to right when blending them to make (build) words is the precursor to spelling and reading.