Nobody wants to have to struggle with feelings of inadequacy their entire life. But so many do. The countless emails we get at Learning Success tell that story. Most are very emotional stories about feeling stupid and trying to hide it. They missed out on opportunities. Their social lives were damaged. And worst of all, their self-esteem was damaged. If they had just gotten the help they needed when they needed it the most. This needs to stop, and hopefully this video goes a long way in stopping it. Please share it with someone it might help.
The subject of whether there are more dyslexic boys has been argued about endlessly.
A 1990 Study purported "no significant differences in the prevalence of reading disabilities in research-identified boys compared with research-identified girls".
But a 2004 study refuted the 1990 study. They concluded. "Reading disabilities are clearly more frequent in boys than in girls."
Up til now, the latter study seems to be more popular. Most information out there claims that 2-3 times more boys are dyslexic. The information I’m about to show you not only contradicts that, but also gives some evidence for the emotional toll this takes on girls.
Let’s get into it.
The data comes from our very popular online Dyslexia Screener. The screener is linked in the description.
More Girls Searching for Dyslexia Help
The first thing we noticed was that over 60% of those searching for and taking the screener were filling it out for a girl. As seen in this chart
These people had searched for terms such as "Dyslexia Test", landed on our website, and completed the screener. So presumably, the majority of searches for "dyslexia Test" are people looking for help for a girl. Yes, actually more girls than boys despite popular knowledge saying there are more dyslexic boys than girls
This doesn't settle the debate. The number of searches does not necessarily give us proof that there are more dyslexic girls. It is strong evidence but not proof. But, since it does contradict common ideas, it did force us to stand up and take notice. And when we dug deeper into the data, that's when we found something even more alarming. We believe that what I’m about to show you is far more important, and far more distressing than whether or not there are more dyslexic boys than girls.
Distressing Dyslexia Data
What was it? Well, it was a couple of things
The first thing that stood out was the age spreads.
The ages of the boys the screener was being filled out for were MUCH Younger than the ages of the girls!!!
The boys were being screened at very young ages. Ages at which intervention is much simpler. Ages where self-esteem has not yet been deeply damaged. The majority were between seven and nine. If caught at that age the emotional issues that come with a learning struggle can be prevented. The boys were being screened at these early ages.
But for girls, this was much different. The girls were identified much later. Most in their teens or even more often, as adults.
Check out this chart of the data.
Notice that the boys, in blue, are being screened at early ages. At age 8, roughly half as many girls are being screened. But then at age 14, that reverses. There are far more girls. At age 18 plus, those numbers skyrocket.
This chart shows percentages as a percentage of given gender. In other words, girls as a percentage of girls screened and boys as a percentage of boys screened.
But let's look at the data a different way . As a percentage of total screenings.
Expressed in this way we can clearly see the number of screenings for girls nearly triples those for boys at ages fourteen through sixteen and over double for adults. Are you getting the picture? This problem is severe. It’s affecting lots and lots of girls.
Looking at the percentages below and above age 13 we get this graph.