The following is an excerpt from the Bridges to Reading booklet. We have included the table of contents for this booklet, as well as the text from the first page of the booklet. This booklet is one of 5 in the Bridges to Reading Kit. A Note to Our Readers Educational and medical specialists use a variety of terms to refer to reading problems. A child is considered to have dyslexia if he or she has difficulty learning to read despite having adequate intelligence, attention, motivation, and exposure to education.
Many children seem to have no trouble at all learning to read.
Even when very young, they begin making connections between letters and sounds, sounds and words, words and thoughts. For these children, the process of reading seems simple and natural. For other children, however, learning to read is a continuous struggle. Difficulties with basic reading and language skills are the most common of all learning disabilities, affecting up to 80 percent of people who have learning problems. According to the National Institutes of Health, one out of every ten children has significant problems with reading skills.