The reasons for illiteracy are complex. Not infrequently, unfavorable family and social circumstances play a role: social difficulties in the family, disinterested and overburdened parents, neglect, a prolonged illness, all of these can contribute to children not learning to read and write properly during their school years.Reading is experienced negatively especially when children or young people are demotivated, punished or even socially excluded when they try.
In families where books and newspapers are part of everyday life and where even young children are read to a lot, functional illiteracy is virtually non-existent.
Illiteracy and dyslexia
Around four percent of schoolchildren in Germany suffer from reading and spelling difficulties (LRS), or dyslexia.The World Health Organization defines LRS as a developmental disorder of reading and writing skills. Affected children stand out in school because, except for their performance in reading and writing, they actually perform well in school. The question of whether dyslexia has anything to do with illiteracy can be answered “no.” It is suspected that genetic influences or damage during pregnancy and birth affect information processing in the brain, thus disrupting development. The parental home and the child’s environment, on the other hand, have little significance with regard to the causes of the disorder.
