--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

> but it did occur to me for one that Cree script users
> ought to suffer more from dyslexia. When I first enccountered the
> term, over 30 years ago, reversal problems were being presented as
> the chief issues, whence jokes such as 'Dyslexics Rule KO'.

Dyslexia, otherwise know as a specific learning disability in
reading, involves deficiencies in three main types of processing.

phonological processing - the ability to manipulate sounds in words,
especially below syllable level

working memory - the ability to attach sounds to symbols, more
relevant for larger inventories

visual processing - differentiating and recognizing visual symbols

Reversals are one type of difficulty in visual processing. They are
common at an early stage of reading in any script and do not
necessarily indicate dyslexia.

Dyslexia is probably found in readers of any script. However, it is
a consequence of different deficiencies for readers of the different
scripts and is more common in some scripts than others.

There are two main types of dyslexia, phonological and visual (or
surface) dyslexia. Deciding the incidence of each in any script is
complicated as they inteact with each other differently at different
stages of maturity in reading.

On the

> other hand, perhaps reversal errors are less catastrophic in Cree,
> as at least they don't destroy the sequence of consonants.

Reversal errors are usually outgrown as one becomes a competent
reader. You are right to comment on the fact that reversals errors
would not affect the reading of consonants as it does in English.
However, it is the syllabic nature of the system which makes it easy
to read.

Suzanne

>
> Richard.