The Effect of Consanguineous Marriages on Arab Offspring in the Arab Community

Abstract

To better understand the effect of intergenerational consanguineous marriages on the onset and severity of dyslexia, this study focused on investigating the frequency of dyslexia in diverse family backgrounds, including consanguineous and non-consanguineous spouses. Despite the advance of modernization and globalization, certain cultures that are mainly focused in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, continue to prioritize and practice family marriage and this is despite the warnings and recommendations of global health organizations. Dyslexia is a common learning disability that affects the development of language, and its main effect appears as difficulties in reading, spelling and decoding. This disability is related to phonological problems and not to intellectual ability. The reading and spelling errors are strongly influenced by heredity and genetics, with approximately 50% hereditary influence and genetic variables that contribute to the appearance of the disability among the offspring. The study compares the ability to deal with phonological and orthographic challenges in dyslexic children born from marriages from different marriage backgrounds, relatives and non-relatives, to peers. Phonological coding, spoken language abilities, working memory and reading comprehension are among the genetic and neurological aspects that have been studied.