Not sure how it happened, but it seems that there has been a wave of parents that think that their child has “dyslexia.”
They also often note that many people in their family, such as the parents and grandparents also have or had dyslexia (even though most were never formally assessed).
Having been in the business a while, I know that before about 15 years or so ago the word “dyslexia” was almost never mentioned (except by people like myself) 
.
The problem with the “D-Word” (as I jokingly refer to it) is that it is nearly universally misunderstood.
Try this experiment. While gathering with friends and family at your Super Bowl get-togethers, ask about five people individually, “What do you understand dyslexia to be?”
(Since it’s not a particularly fun experiment at a Super Bowl gathering, do it quietly off to the side.)
In an almost group hypnotic response, you will likely get some variation of the following response, “Isn’t that when you read upside down and backward?”
It’s like asking someone, “What’s jogging? Can you define it for me,” and they say, “Isn’t that when you try and run as fast as you can – sort of like they do in the 100-yard dash.”
Huh?
The misunderstanding would have the impact of rendering the word challenging to use.
That’s the problem we have with the “D-Word”
(More on this in the next post.)
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