A friend told me about her daughter who has quite intense emotions. She can relive events very vividly even if they happened more than 10 years ago. She still knows all the details, her emotions are still fiercely charged as if she can’t process them. These situations pop up regularly. The daughter is now 16. It is the speech therapist who said that there is a connection with dyslexia. My question : Is that true ? Is that possible ? Is there anything to do about that?
Answer
Nothing is known in science about the connection between dyslexia and the experience of emotions. That makes sense, because dyslexia is defined as a disorder or problem in the cognitive field (reading development). It is well known from research that practitioners often think they see all kinds of connections that are not really there. However, because this relationship has not been studied, it cannot be concluded that it does not exist. But the connection is unlikely because otherwise the many dyslexics out there would have long noticed this. So perhaps this is about a coincidental connection with this specific person.
Answered by
prof. dr. Wim Van den Broeck
Psychology, Developmental Psychology, School Psychology, Learning Disabilities
Pleinlaan 2 1050 Ixelles
http://www.vub.ac.be/
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