Dyslexia epidemiology and demographics

In the United States, researchers estimate the prevalence of dyslexia to range from five to nine percent of school-aged children, though some have put the figure as high as 17 percent.^[1][2] Recent studies indicate that dyslexia is particularly prevalent among small business owners, with roughly 20 to 35 percent of U. S. and British entrepreneurs being affected. Researchers consider that many dyslexic entrepreneurs are successful by delegating responsibilities and excelling at verbal communication.^[3]

Dyslexia’s main manifestation is a difficulty in developing word-level reading skills in elementary school children. Those difficulties result from reduced ability to associate visual symbols with verbal sounds. While motivational factors must also be reviewed in assessing poor performance, dyslexia is considered to be developmental. Most scientific criteria for dyslexia exclude cases that can be explained as arising from environmental factors such as lack of education or total sensory deficits.

Dyslexia can be substantially compensated for with proper therapy, training, and assistive technology. Many coping strategies are developed subconsciously by the individual dyslexic.

Dyslexia has many variations dependent on the cultural choice of visual notation of speech. So the nature of the notation used in different cultures creates different types of problems for their groups of dyslexics. The differences between the English text and Chinese characters is a good example.

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