Is Dyslexia Hereditary? – Here’s What You Need to Know
Bookbot co-founder Adrian has a personal story to tell. Despite spending time reading with his son Forester every day, Adrian thought that he wasn’t progressing as he should be. School confirmed this: Forester was falling behind with his reading and writing in the classroom.
I couldn’t understand it,
Adrian says,
It just felt like we weren’t getting anywhere with Forester’s reading. I remembered devouring books when I was little. Seeing a bookshelf full of books was like looking at a shop full of candy for me. But for Forester it was different. Seeing a book just made him feel anxious.
Feeling powerless, Forester’s parents started looking for answers. It was Forester’s mum who first suggested that dyslexia might be the issue. They had him assessed and dyslexia was confirmed.
Adrian was eager to help Forester in whatever way he could, but he had no experience of dyslexia. He reached out to friends and family, telling them about Forester’s diagnosis.
I was surprised at the response,
he explains,
Whilst some people shared recommendations for support, other family members shared their own personal experiences with dyslexia.
It turned out that both my aunt and my dad had pretty significant dyslexic symptoms, though they were never diagnosed. And, after struggling with reading and writing throughout school, my brother found out he was dyslexic later on in life.
Adrian’s story is not one of coincidence. Scientific evidence supports the notion that dyslexia is, indeed, genetic.
Researchers have been busy trying to pinpoint exactly what causes dyslexia. But they are not quite there yet.
However, scientists do know that genes play a role.
Genes and heredity:
Genetics definitely plays a role because learning issues do often run in families.
Researchers think that a number of genes are likely to be involved which makes predicting outcomes is more difficult.
Some genetic traits such as eye colour are much more predictable and are obviously passed down in families. But learning issues are much less predictable.
Here’s an example:
If a child has a close relative with learning issues the chances of her having them may increase. She may have the same issue but not all of the same symptoms. Or she may have different issues that have some overlapping symptoms.
So, it’s not simple and it’s not predictable.
In summary, we don’t yet know exactly which factors cause which learning issues. But scientists are working hard to understand more.
Want to know more?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18060583
https://www.dyslexic.org.uk/research/genetics-dyslexia
https://news.yale.edu/2013/06/12/yale-researchers-unravel-genetics-dyslexia-and-language-impairment
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