Learning disorders

dyslexia and dysorthography in the age of information

Abstract

According to the work by Jorge Visca, Epistemologia Convergente* , both dyslexia and dysorthography are not the end result of a diagnostic, but rather units of analyses that are divided into three levels: the semiological level, which analyses the symptom; the pathogenic level, which studies the mechanisms that give rise to the symptom; and the etiologic level, which analyses the background scope of the reading or writing disorder. This form of assessing reading and writing disorders also takes into account cultural aspects, which are nowadays characterised by information. The way that information is transmitted and processed follows the paradigms of a neo- mechanistic approach, thus imposing a series of changes on the written language, including lack of concern with the formal aspects of language. It has been observed that the same symptoms that in the past were associated to specific language-learning disabilities are nowadays commonly found among a large number of learners. Identifying reading and writing disabilities is a task that requires diligent assessment within the digital culture scenario.