According to Dyslexiförbundet, Sweden’s largest dyslexia association, dyslexia is described in terms of reading, writing and arithmetic difficulties, although it has been noted (by Alm, for instance) that there is a striking lack of definitional clarity surrounding the topic.
According to the Svenska Dyslexiföreningen (Swedish Dyslexia Association), dyslexia may be understood as being the overarching term that includes difficulties reading and / or writing, due to specific, often hereditary, obstacles mainly concerning phonological decoding, learning, and automating the connection between letters and speech sounds. Most people with dyslexia, they report, read with difficulty, get stuck on words, and / or misread and leave out parts or whole words. Reading is a complex ability and dyslexia therefore manifests itself differently in different people. For example, some have more problems with spelling than with reading.
They go on to say that the causes of dyslexia are not fully understood, and that many definitions describe it as a neurologically rooted impairment in the phonological component of language, which leads to difficulties in interpreting and storing language sounds and in quickly retrieving words from memory.
It often co-occurs “with other disabilities such as ADHD and dyscalculia”.
Høien & Lundberg (1992) put the number of dyslexics in Sweden at somewhere between 5% and 10% of the population (although at one point Høien & Lundberg, along with the SPSM, the Swedish National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, put the number at somewhere between 5% and 8%). The Svenska Dyslexiföreningen points out that dyslexia is more common among boys than among girls.
In Sweden, dyslexia is tested mainly in the first language but can also be tested in a second language. Dyslexia in English as a second language, though, may be especially difficult for the dyslexic subject, but is rarely systematically assessed. This is due to several factors: usually the tester has no formal competence in second language teaching, while according to Helland & Kaasa, there are no formal tests of second language assessment (Helland & Kaasa. 2005).
In 2014, Sweden established an education law to make dyslexia provision in the classroom more readily accessible for teachers and students. Teachers, under this new law, became responsible for making reasonable adjustments to benefit dyslexic students. Every student is now entitled to reasonable adjustments based on their individual needs and circumstances.
See for instance:
>>dyslexi.org/
>>dyslexiforeningen.se/engelska
>>dyslexiforeningen-se.translate.goog/vad-ar-dyslexi?_x_tr_sl=sv&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
>>spsm.se/
>>susannacederquist.com/in-english/
>>skolverket.se/andra-sprak-other-languages/english-engelska
>>lnu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1138296/FULLTEXT01.pdf
>>diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:164232/FULLTEXT01.pdf
>>Alm, J., & Kaufman, A. S. (2002). The Swedish WAIS-R factor structure and cognitive profiles for adults with dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, 321-333
>>Alm, J., & Melin, L. (2003). Achievement factors in dyslexia assessment: Relations to cognitive factors
>>Alm, J., Bringhammar, C., & Melin, L. (2003). A validation study of the Swedish Word Chain Test
>>onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/dys.286
>>researchgate.net/publication/7986045_Dyslexia_in_English_as_a_second_language
>>scirp.org/reference/referencespapers.aspx?referenceid=2469870
