What can be done to prevent the condition?

Pregnant women should avoid the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and any unnecessary medications while pregnant. Counseling to avoid teen pregnancy and comprehensive prenatal care for all pregnant women may help prevent some instances of dyslexia.

What are the long-term effects of the condition?

A very bright child with dyslexia may not be identified until later because he or she is able to compensate enough to maintain average grades. Often by fourth grade, when the task changes from learning to read to reading to learn, he or she will begin to fall behind. Some children with dyslexia may be able to get by until high school or college before they encounter significant difficulty.

Failure to identify dyslexia can lead to significant frustration, loss of motivation for school, depression, and lifelong educational and occupational underachievement.

What are the risks to others?

Dyslexia is not contagious and cannot be spread to others. Some cases of dyslexia are genetic. In these cases, genetic counseling may be helpful.