what causes dyslexia

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that affects a persons ability to read, spell, write, and speak. Dyslexia is not due to problems with intelligence, hearing, or vision, but rather results from individual differences in the parts of the brain that enable reading. Dyslexia is highly genetic and tends to run in families. It is linked to certain genes that affect how the brain processes reading and language. While we don’t know what the ultimate cause of dyslexia is, we do know something about the "intermediate" cause. Brain regions dyslexics are using to read are not very good at processing phonemes—the basic sounds of language. Children raised in impoverished reading environments can present as dyslexic, but respond very quickly to intervention, as long as they are caught at a relatively young age. Drinking during pregnancy or contact with heavy metals does not cause dyslexia.