The National Center for Learning Disabilities reports that students who are deemed dyslexic have a neurological genetic disorder; structural brain problems cause them to process written words and sentences improperly. The cause may be genetic or may be unidentifiable. These problems can also stem from a long history of failed academic systems in a child's life.
The article "Signs of a Reading Disability" points out that reading is the crucial skill that a student will learn. Reading disabilities may come in different forms such as dyslexia, dysgraphia -- the inability to write correctly -- or a problem in reading comprehension. These disorders may become more serious if not treated properly so that students can receive help and nurture this specific challenging disability throughout adulthood.
Students who are dyslexic have problems decoding alphabets, words and sentences that are written form. Students deemed to be dyslexic have to be diagnosed by a school professional by a series of tests or be referred by the school nurse or children's doctor, according to an article by the Mayo Clinic. Teachers may misconstrue the disorder and mistake the student as being off task as the cause in decoding errors. Parents may agree to have students tested for dyslexia or even agree to refer students to be tested for special education if reading disabilities persist.
Dyslexia, which is an issue with decoding letters and words, is one type of reading disability. Problems in decoding can be the start of more severe reading disabilities in the future. In addition, problems in reading comprehension or retention may also be signs that a student has a reading disability. Difficulty in decoding can lead to problems in reading comprehension, which is when students confuse meanings of words in passages. Another problem -- reading retention, which is when students are unable to remember what was just read -- may evolve because proper decoding and comprehension was not successful.