Dyxlexia and Comorbidity

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Dr. W. Pringle-Morgan originally described dyslexia as “congenital word blindness,” in that he had a patient who was normal in all learning aspects other than his pronounced inability to read (Morgan, 1896). In order to test the severity of the child’s deficiency, Dr. Morgan devised a simple test to determine reading/writing capabilities in the patient, noting from his results that the patient was incapable of writing words exactly as they were spoken, as well as not being able to recognize all but the simplest words from a text. Other skills tested (arithmetic and algebra) fell within acceptable ranges of capability, and no other obvious deficiencies or defects were present. It was speculated that the child suffered a congenital condition similar to that described in adults to be “word blindness,” as his “visual memory for recalling written words” was absent. Anecdotal evidence, provided by the patient’s father in regards to teaching his son the alphabet, indicated that the child did suffer from an inability to map symbols (letters) to his memory for recall.
The eventual renaming of “word blindness” to dyslexia allows for a better definition and characterization of a condition that affects approximately 5% of the population (American Psychiatric Association., 1994). The 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) has placed dyslexia into a group of learning disorders diagnosed prior to adulthood, along with disorders in mathematics and written expression. The DSM-IV estimates that up to 25% of patients diagnosed with dyslexia may also present with another type of disorder, such as Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Major Depressiv...

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