DESCRIPTORS,*Dyslexia; Elementary Secondary Education;-*Learning

For many years dyslexia has been incorrectly applied to those who have demonstrated difficulty in learning to read. Given the proper guidance and opportunities forbecoming sensitive to demonstrations of the workings of language and engaging their minds in learning, many students will overcome their so-called learning disabilities. However-, there are some language disorders that have a neurophysiological basis. One study suggests a lack of cerebral asymmetry may lead to dyslexia. Computerized axial tomography (CAT scan) has given support to the hypotheses that to the extent that learning to read involves gestalt perception and right hemispheric, processing,. abnormal specialization of the right hemisphere may also be an instrumental factor in developmental dyslexia. Other researchers have-Combined psycholinguistic methods with neurolinguistic methods to suggest that learning to use a graphic code cosies only after knowing the correspondences between acoustics and the graphic code, the grapheme-phoneme corresiondence rules. When these rules break down because of a neural coding problem, alexia and agraphia may occur. Other studies show that word-blindness (alexia without agraphia) may be caused by a variety of brain insults. A knowledge of the brain functions of language acquisition and,development in out-of-school life will lead to a development of improved language arts pedagogies. (HOD) 4 Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document