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Word Blindness
In 1877, the German neurologist, Adolf Kussmaul, called it “complete text blindness although the power of sight, the intellect, and the powers of speech are intact. -
Learning Disability
Not until the mid-twentieth century that children with specific literacy difficulties began to be no longer considered to be under the jurisdiction of medicine. Educational and psychological research began to accumulate at this time, broadening understanding and refining concepts of child development. -
Interested was Lost
Neurologist Macdonald Critchley and psychologist Tim Miles opened The Word Blindness Center in 1962. The center brought together many researchers who had worked with dyslexic individuals. -
Definition
It was finally defined as “A disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and socio-cultural opportunity. It is dependent upon fundamental cognitive disabilities which are frequently of constitutional origin.” -
The 1970s
In 1972, researcher Sandhya Naidoo published a book that was one of the first major studies of dyslexia. It was called Specific Dyslexia. Her book, along with Critchley’s, was a turning point in early dyslexia research. -
Law Passed
Texas passed the first state law for dyslexia, which makes schools test students for dyslexia and provide services for those who show signs of disability. Many other states do the same. -
2000-Present
New research reinforces what other research has found: with dyslexia, the VWFA is less activated than in neurotypical brains. What’s new is that this study found that the VWFA is less activated not just during the act of reading, but in an earlier developmental stage of hearing the difference between phonemes, such as how /b/ sounds different from /d/, also known as auditory phoneme discrimination.