Does your child have dyslexia? He may have got it from you!

Dyslexia is inscribed in the genes, according to a vast British study carried out on more than a million adults. If this learning difficulty, increasingly diagnosed in children (5% of pupils would be diagnosed in France, and 6 to 8% of the total population) had been considered as a hereditary disorder for several years, the experts had no idea. not yet determined the responsible genes. It’s done, according to this research, published this October 20 in nature genetics, the most advanced to date.

42 genes could be involved in dyslexia

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have analyzed the DNA of more than a million adults, including 50,000 dyslexics and dozens of genes thought to cause dyslexia have been discovered by scientists.

The study allowed experts to focus on 42 genes that could be linked to the disease. About a third of the genes have already been linked to other language disorders, general cognitive ability and academic achievement. Some are also linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ambidexterity, the ability to use both hands equally well, rather than favoring the right or the left.

Several of the associated genetic variants were also significant for Chinese speakers, suggesting that there are general cognitive processes in learning to read that do not depend on language type.

Many, however, are new discoveries. Lead researcher Dr Michelle Luciano, a language science expert, said the study sheds light on many unanswered questions about dyslexia.

“Our results show that common genetic differences have very similar effects in boys and girls, and that there is a genetic link between dyslexia and ambidexterity,” she said. “Previous work suggested that certain brain structures may be altered in people with dyslexia, but we found no evidence that genes explain this..”

“Our results also suggest that dyslexia is very closely genetically linked to performance on reading and spelling tests, which reinforces the importance of standardized tests to identify dyslexia” says Dr. Michelle Luciano.

On the other hand, it is too early for the results to be used to “genetically” diagnose dyslexia, the scientists said.

Above all rest assured, intelligence is not affected by dyslexia. But people who have it can have difficulties in school (if they don’t have extra support) that can be seen as simple learning mistakes. Most children with learning disabilities are not spotted until primary school, but some people with the condition are missed into adulthood.

Signs of dyslexia usually become apparent when a child starts school and begins to focus more on learning to read and write. A person with dyslexia may, for example:

• Read and write very slowly;
• Confusing the order of letters in words putting the letters the wrong way round;
• Have poor or inconsistent spelling;
• Understand information when spoken verbally, but have difficulty with written information;
• Struggle in planning and organizing tasks.

In contrast, people with dyslexia often have good skills in other areas, such as creative thinking and problem solving.

If you think your child may be dyslexic, the first step is to talk to their teacher about your concerns, and why not consider a diagnosis by competent professionals (school psychologist, speech therapist).