A person with dyslexia, however, can't distinguish between the different sounds within each word. Dr. Shaywitz and her husband, Bennett Shaywitz, also co-director at the Yale center, validated this theory by using magnetic resonance imaging technology to observe the brains of study subjects as they read. Now that we are able to conduct imaging studies of the brain, we can see parts of the brain where there is a glitch in the neurocircuitry. Despite their reading limitations, people with dyslexia often possess special talents in areas that require visual, spatial and motor integration. They often excel in art, athletics, architecture, graphics, electronics, mechanics, drama, music and engineering.
Researchers also report that more than half of all cases of dyslexia are inherited.
Despite this fact, Dr. Silver points out that the symptoms of dyslexia are most commonly first noticed by teachers, who often misinterpret them as signs of laziness or lack of ambition. He adds there are no accurate estimates of the number of adults coping with undiagnosed dyslexia. Part of the problem is how to define a learning disability. Some people define it as two standard deviations between your ability and your performance. However, a recent poll conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, a public opinion polling consultancy, found that 56 percent of U.S. respondents thought learning disabilities are caused by a child's environment, while 48 percent attribute such problems to laziness.