Dyslexia and ASD

[Mumble]

Could someone direct me to some information as to whether dyslexia is considered a form of (as opposed to co-morbid with) Autism? I have a feeling it's something that's been debated quite a bit, but I'm struggling to find any conclusions. Most things I've found support my view that dyslexia is not a form of Autism or on the Autistic Spectrum - to say it is I feel negates many of the difficulties specific to ASD - but I'd be interested in what the scientific position is on this.

[Suze]

My son is dyslexic as well as having autism.My feelings were his auditory processing difficulties lay at the root of the problem as regards his reading difficulties.His handwriting difficulties could be laid at the door of his dyspraxia dx and subsequently his memory/processing skills also.For me all these dx,s have just meant that they have enabled my son to access provision at school.It is extremely hard to categorise anyone by a simple diagnosis but in some situations it is a label that enables that person more help and hopefully understanding. Autism I feel is a word that covers a whole host of gifts and difficulties and under that "umbrella " are adults /children as diverse as the neurotypical population (hate that term apologises)...........hope that made some sense lol

[Sally44]

My son is also diagnosed with dyslexia.

And again some of the difficulties typical of an ASD affect his learning and meet the criteria for dyslexia.

He too has auditory processing disorder, visual perceptual difficulties, poor working memory and memory retrieval for auditory information (not visual).

He has visual dysgraphia, and poor left/right hand dominance.

 

Like you, I would find it helpful to understand 'what' is ASD and 'what' are the difficulties with Dyslexia and are they the same thing?

 

I have heard of different types of dyslexia, and via Wikipedia I have looked at lists of research papers put together by someone from the APDUK (Auditory Processing Disorder UK) website. His webname is Dolfrog. That was interesting. Because there are different 'types' of dyslexia, which means that although all children with dyslexia have difficulties with literacy, there are different reasons and causes for that. For example, some have the visual perceptual difficulties typical of Irlen Syndrome (as do some with an ASD).

 

From my understanding the biggest difference seems to be in the acquisition of language and language/communication disorders. Children with an ASD have to have these language difficulties. They also have difficulties with theory of mind and imagination for it to affect social interaction and for them to meet the criteria. Those with Dyslexia do not necessarily have language, theory of mind or imagination difficulties. But they can have the auditory and language processing delays and difficulties accessing language and thoughts as quickly as NTs ie. processing difficulties and delays as well as sensory and co-ordination issues (dyspraxia).

 

Also there are different difficulties that show themselves as ASD behaviours and fit the criteria. No two people with an ASD or SpLD are the same.

 

And the ways of 'teaching' children with a SpLD is usually a multi-sensory one - as in children with an ASD.

 

That has probably confused, more than clarified. But that is what I found when I started looking.

Edited December 15, 2010 by Sally44

[coolblue]

Could someone direct me to some information as to whether dyslexia is considered a form of (as opposed to co-morbid with) Autism? I have a feeling it's something that's been debated quite a bit, but I'm struggling to find any conclusions. Most things I've found support my view that dyslexia is not a form of Autism or on the Autistic Spectrum - to say it is I feel negates many of the difficulties specific to ASD - but I'd be interested in what the scientific position is on this.

 

Neither dyslexia or autism are a form of each other. We are not yet sure whether or not they actually definable medical conditions. They both started life as descriptive terms for a collection of behavioural characteristics. Dyslexia means 'reading difficulty'. Autism means 'self-absorbed'. They have gradually been assumed to be medical conditions because it's become clear that reading difficulties and some forms of self-absorbed behaviour have physical causes. Even though we haven't got those causes sorted out yet.

 

This means that if the reading difficulty and the self-absorbed behaviour are severe enough and also share a cause or causes, then the person could qualify for a diagnosis of dyslexia and a diagnosis of autism. A prime candidate for one of the causes of reading difficulties is auditory processing abnormalities (see Usha Goswami's work). It's not hard to see how auditory processing difficulties might also make it difficult for someone to develop normal social interaction. Couple that auditory processing difficulty with a visual one and you would quite likely end up with someone with a diagnosis of autism and dyslexia.

 

Each individual is unique in terms of their genes and their environment. Sometimes individuals have similar difficulties because they share same underlying genetic/environmental causes. Sometimes individuals have similar difficulties because of different genetic/environmental causes.

 

There is little doubt that people with a diagnosis of autism and/or dyslexia have physical (medical) causes for their difficulties. It doesn't follow that autism and/or dyslexia are each a distinct, definable medical condition. The assumption that they are has led to a great deal of confusion, and, IMO has held up research for decades.

 

 

 

cb

[Suze]

Good explanation , coolblue...it made alot of sense

[coolblue]

Thank you Suze!

[emmasmum]

My daughter was recently "screened" for dyslexia at my request. School said she was at low risk.

 

When we went to tribunal they said the report indicated she was at significant risk and neither LEA or school denied this. I have now asked for the LEA EP (who previously said she wasn't qualified to diagnose dyslexia - to arrange a proper dyslexia assessment as part of the stat assessment process.

 

She now says that Emma's reading ability and the memory tests she does will enable her to tell whether she meets the BPS criteria for dyslexia - I've googled this and it's very much about ability to read at single word level and about the actual reading rather than understanding etc. My daughter's problems are with planning, organisation, memory and auditory processing.

 

Sorry - I've not really answered your question but I have come across quite a few youngsters with ASD who either have a dyslexia diagnosis or for whom it has been considered in the past.

 

Carol

[Mumble]

Thanks for your replies. Coolblue, that's a really helpful explanation.

 

I do think it's tricky - I've recently been in discussions with my uni about whether to go through testing for dyslexia, but I'm finding it difficult to discern whether the issues picked up are caused by the ASD issues I have. Very tricky.

[coolblue]

If getting a diagnosis of dyslexia would entitle you to more support/time etc I would go for it. It doesn't matter what is causing an educational need, it's the need itself that's the important thing.

 

cb

[Boy]

Most of the people I know with dyslexia are very obviously not autistic. I'm not saying that the two conditions can't occur together, because they obviously can, but if it was part of the autism spectrum then I'd have thought that there'd be more similarities between people with autism and people with dyslexia (excluding those with both).

[smiley1590]

i have dyspraxia and i know that dyslexia is like cousin to dyspraxia as does run on along the spectrum line my reading was good for my age always found english fun spelling was pretty good but know common with A.S /ASD to have sp LD alongside norm like dyselxia dyspraxia or dysgraphia? as co morbid like ADHD epilespy so can work alongside and mix in with A.S/ASD struggle to find what is what going on as get lost in mindfield of it all as so much going on confusing!

 

XKLX

[trekster]

I have heard that dyslexia is part of the neurodiversity spectrum but not the autistic spectrum.

[coolblue]

i have dyspraxia and i know that dyslexia is like cousin to dyspraxia as does run on along the spectrum line my reading was good for my age always found english fun spelling was pretty good but know common with A.S /ASD to have sp LD alongside norm like dyselxia dyspraxia or dysgraphia? as co morbid like ADHD epilespy so can work alongside and mix in with A.S/ASD struggle to find what is what going on as get lost in mindfield of it all as so much going on confusing!

 

XKLX

 

 

Donna Williams describes the autism spectrum as a 'fruit salad', which I think is also an excellent description of neurodiversity. If you made a giant fruit salad and dished it out to people in a queue, each person's bowl of fruit salad would be different. But some people might have quite a lot of banana, so you could say they have 'banana fruit salad'. Other people might have a lot of apple, so they would have 'apple fruit salad'. Other people might get equal amounts of banana, apple and orange, so they could have 'banana, apple and orange fruit salad' or a mix of 'banana fruit salad, apple fruit salad and orange fruit salad', depending on which way you look at it. Some people might be lucky and get five cherries, in which case they would probably be Einstein.

 

It's only confusing because of the labels. Some labels are useful because they indicate known genetic variations which result in known characteristics, such as Down Syndrome or Fragile X syndrome. Other labels are just descriptions of characteristics and can confuse the issue. Those labels are basically lumping together all banana, orange and apple fruit salads assuming that if they look similar they must be the same. If you think of everyone as being different, with certain strengths and weaknesses, rather than having or not having hypothetical conditions it stops being confusing.

 

cb

Edited December 16, 2010 by coolblue