Causes And Risk Factors Of Dyslexia

Premature Birth

Often a cause of low birth weights, premature births are also likely to increase the risk of a child developing dyslexia. Again, if a baby is born too early, their brain hasn't had enough time to develop within the womb. The birthing process and loss of support from the mother's body could be too much of a strain for the infant to handle. As a result, the resources being put to use to develop the brain are instead allocated to other parts of the body to keep it alive. This reduction of resources for the brain means the brain stagnates and development has ceased. Processes for reading and language could be severely damaged due to this lack of development.

Researchers already determined babies who were born prematurely increased the chances of their developing learning disabilities. One study even found five percent of the babies studied who were born prematurely had a learning disability. Children born prematurely were also found to have a higher risk of developing autism.

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Certain Genes Affecting Reading And Language

Thus far, in studies covering dyslexia, there have been genes found that are associated with dyslexia. These are called dyslexia loci DYX1–9 and were named by the Human Genome Nomenclature Committee. There are, however, numerous other studies on chromosomes as well. These studies have found linkages that may result in dyslexia or similar speech and reading impairments. Because of a large number of genes available to be potentially non-functional, it's clear if you're already pre-disposed to developing dyslexia, the risk increases with each gene that appears to be not performing correctly. Certain genes affecting reading and language skills are crucial to study regarding learning disabilities.

It may very well be that you are not from a family with a history of dyslexia. Instead, it may come about because of one of the other genes assisting the reading and speaking process are malfunctioning. A different term may be given to the disability rather than dyslexia, and so knowing what specific genes are affected and not working is critical to understanding proper treatment.

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