What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is NOT
The primary difficulties of a student identified as having dyslexia occur in phonemic awareness, manipulation and single-word decoding, reading fluency, and spelling. Secondary consequences of dyslexia may include difficulties in reading comprehension and/or written expression. These difficulties are unexpected for the student’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. Additionally, there is often a family history of similar difficulties.

The following are the primary reading/spelling characteristics of dyslexia:
  • Difficulty reading real words in isolation
  • Difficulty accurately decoding nonsense words
  • Slow, inaccurate, or labored oral reading (lack of reading fluency)
  • Difficulty with learning to spell
Dyslexia Handbook 2007, 2010 8

The reading/spelling characteristics are the result of difficulty with the following:
  • The development of phonological awareness, including segmenting, blending, and manipulating sounds in words
  • Learning the names of letters and their associated sounds
  • Phonological memory (holding information about sounds and words in memory)
  • Rapid naming of familiar objects, colors, or letters of the alphabet

Secondary consequences of dyslexia may include the following:
  • Variable difficulty with aspects of reading comprehension
  • Variable difficulty with aspects of written composition
  • A limited amount of time spent in reading activities
  • The result of a visual processing problem  (Causal relationship between visual processing and reading problems is speculative)
  • "Most experts believe that dyslexia is a language-based disorder.  Vision problems are not the cause of primary dyslexia or learning disabilities.  Diagnosis and treatment approaches that lack scientific evidence of efficacy, including eye exercises, behavioral vision therapy, or special tinted filters or lenses, are not endorsed." American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Ophthalmology (2009)
  • Simply a discrepancy between IQ and reading achievement

There is not a cure but treatment focused on the underlying deficits is successful.

Warning Signs for Dyslexia

Source:  Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shawitz, M.D.
A child with Dyslexia may exhibit some of the symptoms below; however this list is not all-inclusive.  Also, children with Dyslexia will exhibit a wide variety of strengths, which can sometimes make it difficult to isolate specific weaknesses.

Preschool - 1st Grade

Child Weaknesses:
  • History of a speech and Language impairment (remediated or persistent)
  • Trouble learning common nursery rhymes
  • Difficulty learning (& remembering) the names of the letters in the alphabet
  • Seems to be unable to recognize letters in his/her own name
  • Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
  • Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns
  • Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page (will say ‘puppy’ instead of the written word dog because in the illustration there is a dog)
  • Does not understand that words come apart
  • History of reading problems in parents or siblings
  • Difficulty sounding out very simple words like cat, map, hat
  • Does not associate letters with sound

2nd grade and beyond

Child Weaknesses:
  • History of a speech and Language impairment (remediated or persistent)
  • Very slow in acquiring reading skills.  Reading is slow and awkward
  • Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild guesses because he or she cannot sound out the word.
  • Doesn’t seem to have a strategy for reading new words
  • Avoids reading out loud
  • Searches for a specific word and ends up using vague language such as “stuff” or “thing” a lot
  • Pauses, hesitates, and/or uses lots of “umm’s” when speaking
  • Confuses words that sound alike, such as saying “tornado” for “volcano”, substituting “lotion” for “ocean.”
  • Mispronunciation of long, unfamiliar, or complicated words
  • Seems to need extra time to respond to questions
  • Has trouble with remembering dates, names, telephone numbers, and random lists.
  • Has trouble finishing tests on time
  • Extreme difficulty learning a foreign language
  • Messy handwriting
  • Low self-esteem that may not be immediately visible

Dyslexia Myths

There are many misconceptions about Dyslexia.  I can remember having a conversation about how to diagnose Dyslexia with a psychological examiner my 2nd year our at a SLP.  Sadly, the information she shared with me over a decade ago is still believed by too many other professionals.  This examiner was actually very progressive in her thinking at the time and extremely knowledgable about diagnosing Dyslexia.  Hopefully through awareness and education we can correct many of the myths out there.

The two best websites that have great information about common myths and what is the truth are below.  I am sure there are many others but these two are my favorite.

The University of Michigan
http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/dyslexics/learn-about-dyslexia/what-is-dyslexia/debunking-common-myths-about-dyslexia

Yale University
http://dyslexia.yale.edu/Myths.html
American Speech Language Hearing Association
  • Language-based learning disabilities are problems with age-appropriate reading, spelling, and/or writing.
  • The child with dyslexia has trouble almost exclusively with the written (or printed) word. 
  •  The child who has dyslexia as part of a larger language learning disability has trouble with both the spoken and the written word.


IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) also use this Definition
  • A specific learning disability that is neurological in origin
  • Results from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding ability.
  • Secondary problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience which can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge


British Dyslexia Association
  • Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty, which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills.  It is likely to be present at birth and to be lifelong in its effects.
  • It is characterized by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed, and the automatic development of skills that may not match up to an individual’s other cognitive abilities.