When he reads a sentence, his eyes move from word to word in order, but his brain is still fixated on the first one. No matter how many times he reads the same sentence, he can only remember a few words in it, let alone grasp the whole meaning.

Despite his normal intelligence, he struggled with school life and had to give up going to university. Even more frustrating for him is society’s ignorance of the disability and prejudices against people suffering from it.

“When I tell people about my problem, some say I am only making excuses for my poor (academic) performance. It’s very upsetting,” the 28-year-old recently wrote to an online consultant at a private clinic in southern Seoul.

“This condition blocks me from showing my potential. I can’t even think of applying for a good job at a big company.”

He suffers from dyslexia, a neurological learning disorder that impairs a person’s ability to read and spell.

The disorder stems from a malfunction in the interaction between brain sectors that accept and process input signals. It typically leads to psychological problems such as low self-esteem, anxiety, aggressiveness and withdrawal from friends, parents and teachers.

The number of Koreans diagnosed with dyslexia has been consistently rising. According to the National Health Insurance Service, 207 Koreans were diagnosed with the disorder in 2011, up from 168 in 2007. In particular, the number of teens diagnosed with dyslexia shot up from 151 to 190 during the period.

A survey by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology with 56,000 underachieving elementary and middle school students in 2011 showed that 20 percent of them had learning disorders such as dyslexia and attention deficit also hyperactivity disorder.

Experts say early detection may help treat problems but it is technically difficult to diagnose dyslexia, which does not have a visible physical manifestation.

With public awareness of the disability still low, Korean schools lack proper systems to find and care for dyslexic students, experts say.

“Students usually display signs of dyslexia in third grade, when the curriculum becomes difficult. As they grow older, they continue to lag further behind their peers because they do not understand basic materials. They end up being labeled as ‘stupid’ or ‘lazy,’ and their self-esteem suffers,” Kim Yong-wook, professor at Daegu University, told The Korea Herald.

Observers also point out that since private clinics that treat dyslexia are concentrated in large cities, students living in the countryside in particular have even less of a chance of receiving proper diagnosis and intervention.

“In big cities, there are many private clinics for dyslexia, but not so much in rural areas. If the public education system can effectively support dyslexic students, we can make sure students in small towns also get the help they need,” said Kim Ae-hwa, professor of Dankook University Graduate School of special education.

She added that as students spend most of their time in public school with teachers and peers, it is the most ideal for public school teachers to accurately diagnose and refer such students to experts.

The cultural barrier also deters dyslexic students from receiving proper diagnosis.

“Parents do not want to admit that their child has a disorder because of cultural prejudice. Rather than being labeled as ‘disabled,’ parents prefer their children to struggle through mainstream curriculum. As a result, many dyslexic students do not receive the proper intervention they need to develop academically,” Kim of Daegu University said.

Also, due to the complexity of the diagnosis procedure, public school teachers are not capable of making that diagnosis, he added.

Kim noted that the term “learning disability” was first coined during the early 1960s in the U.S. while Korea started to recognize it only 20 years ago.

“In advanced countries, such as the U.S. and Canada, the governments offer a one- to six-month-long diagnosis program at public schools, operated by experts. But in Korea, we do not have the budget for such a program and teachers lack expertise in diagnosis,” he said.

Peter Coll, the headmaster of Landmark East School in Canada, told The Korea Herald that at the school, special learning needs are identified by an assessment process and an individual program is developed to meet the student’s needs within a regular classroom.

Dyslexics who do not receive proper intervention cannot receive higher training or education, and often end up isolated from the job market. With no feasible career, many turn to crime, Coll added.

“It is the society’s duty to help these students achieve their full potential. If not, it will be a loss to the society in whole, as we will lose out on the exceptional contributions they can make,” he said.

By Lee Sang-ju (sjlee370@heraldcorp.com)