A learning disability that is characterized by a
disturbance in the process of reading or interpreting letters or words. This
term is reserved for individuals who have significant problems reading when
there is no evidence of any generally debilitating disorder, like mental
retardation, major brain injury, severe emotional problems, or cultural factors.
The dyslexic individual shows a cluster of specific characteristics with the
major symptom of an inability to read. Some of the other symptoms are: reading
or writing words, letters or numbers backwards, mispronouncing words, fine-motor
coordination problems, memory problems, inability to repeat words or sounds that
are heard.