The word dyslexia means a learning disability related to the ability to read or of learning to read (Dunlop, Linda L., 1997). The word dyslexia is derived from the Greek dys, difficulty with, and lex (from legein, to speak), having to do with words. Words in their many forms are encountered in listening, speaking, reading, spelling, writing, in mathematics, and in organizing, understanding, and expressing thought. Since language is a very necessary tool for anyone�s education, dyslexic children have trouble in all of their educational endeavors. Dyslexia is more than just slow reading or poor reading skills. It is a specific handicap that certain people have, from childhood to adulthood, ever since language took written form. Dyslexia can be considered to be a dysfunction in the brain in the way the person processes information (Cronin, Eileen M. Ph.D., 1994). The cause for dyslexia is that dyslexia is passed from parent to child. In Sweden in 1950, Bertil Hallgren�s research established that dyslexia is transmitted genetically. It is a sex-linked dominant trait that manifests itself in generation after generation. Boys are affected far more frequently than girls (Cronin, Eileen M. Ph.D., 1994). The characteristics do not seen to be external; this dysfunction is identified only when a child begins school and is expected to acquire reading, writing, and spelling skills. Bizarre spelling is a clue that helps to diagnose dyslexia (Cronin, Eileen M. Ph.D., 1994) A dyslexic child can not tell the difference between letters or words of similar shape. The letter b often gets mixed up with the letter d, p with q, m with n, and so on. Some words can be read backwards also like (was becomes saw) or letters in the words get confused (horse becomes house; now becomes new). Some children even write or print their names backwards. Nonacademically, dyslexia effects the ability to comprehend anything requiring linear thought- TV news, recipes, shopping lists, banking information, etc. Dyslexics can have difficulty understanding and carrying out directions. They may have trouble distinguishing their right hand from their left. Dyslexic children are not usually called on in the classroom to read aloud because it is too time-consuming to listen to them stumble over words, mispronounce them, or get them mixed up in a meaningless jumble. Sometimes these children fake stomachaches or other ailments to avoid going to school. They don�t talk about school and seem to lose that wonderful sense of curiosity most children possess. School then becomes a bore to them. Some things that parent can do with their child every day that are not only fun, but also will help make the transition to school a little easier. Reading to your child every day will help them comprehend things better. Use nursery rhymes to build listening skills. Use clay to teach letters and numerals. Help your child to use words to describe relationships, & help your child learn to sort by using things they like, like M&Ms or flavored gummy bears. Researchers are getting closer to some concrete answers, especially from the brain research. Using state-of-the-art functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-machines that take pictures of the brain in action-scientists are investigating disruptions in specific neurosystems. They are also examining people with brain injuries and learning that some of the traumatic brain cases where the cause is unknown. Researchers theorize that dyslexia is linked to a glitch in the brain�s wiring that interferes with the ability to translate a written word into units of sound, or phonemes. Scientists have found that dyslexics often cannot recognize and break down spoken words into their phonetic segments or slice off one phoneme from a word-for example, they cannot figure out that �bat� without the b is �at.� Technically, this problem is known as a �phonological awareness� deficit (Wingert, Pat and Kantrowitz, Barbara, 1997). Dyslexic children need understanding and support in school and at home to cope with their specific difficulties. It should be explained that they have inherited a discrepancy that makes their mind interpret words differently than other �normal� children. Once the child is in school, he/she can link experiences and discussions to the pictures in his/her books and the words used to describe these pictures. This gives a child the ability to tell about his experiences and to link those experiences to action words that make sense for him/her. Basically, take the time to explain in detail the process of daily life. When the child has been referred for an Individualized Education Program (IEP), the psychologist is usually the professional who gives the child reading-comprehension, memory, and spatial-relation tests to help form a diagnosis. Mathematics and IQ tests may also be given. Someday, intervention may begin earlier when geneticists learn procedures to identify inherited learning disorders. John DeFries, director of the Institute of Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado, says that researchers now believe that as many as 20 genes may be involved in the reading process, just two or three �may account for most of the variation in reading difficulty that we see.� If scientists can identify these genes, they could screen kids to determine which are at risk and start working with them before they start to flounder. Now most children with learning disabilities don�t get help until they are between the ages of 9 and 14. To receive special aid all 50 states and the federal government require proof of school problems. Most states require a discrepancy between a child�s actual achievement levels and his intellectual potential, usually determined by some type of IQ test. Critics of IQ tests believe they are culturally biased and underestimate the intellectual potential or poor and minority children (Wingert, Pat and Kantrowitz, Barbara, 1997). Over 15% of our school population are dyslexic, as is over 85% of adult illiterates according to www.ols.net/users/orton/index.htm. Some researchers now say that as many as 20% of schoolchildren may have a neurological deficit, ranging from mild to severe, that makes it hard for them to read and write according to Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz.