What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference that primarily affects a student’s ability to decode words, develop reading fluency, and spell accurately. These challenges are unexpected for the student’s age, cognitive level, or educational exposure and often run in families.

Core Characteristics of Dyslexia:
Students with dyslexia may experience difficulty with:
  • Reading real words in isolation
  • Decoding unfamiliar or nonsense words
  • Reading aloud fluently and accurately
  • Learning to spell, even common or frequently used words
These difficulties are rooted in weaknesses in the development of phonological skills.


Underlying Causes:
The reading and spelling challenges associated with dyslexia stem from difficulties with:
  • Phonological awareness — including blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds in spoken words
  • Letter-sound correspondence — difficulty learning letter names and the sounds they represent
  • Phonological memory — trouble holding verbal information (like sounds or syllables) in working memory
  • Rapid automatic naming — delays in quickly naming familiar items such as letters, numbers, or colors

Secondary Consequences:
Although decoding and fluency are the primary areas of concern, students with dyslexia may also experience:
  • Challenges with reading comprehension as a result of slow or inaccurate reading
  • Difficulties with written composition and spelling
  • Reduced exposure to reading, which can impact vocabulary development and background knowledge over time

This description reflects the current understanding outlined in state dyslexia handbooks (2007, 2010, 2017) and is consistent with the criteria used in dyslexia identification and intervention planning.

What Dyslexia is NOT?

​Despite persistent myths and misconceptions, scientific research continues to clarify what dyslexia is not. Understanding these distinctions helps ensure that students receive accurate identification and appropriate intervention.

❌ Dyslexia is not caused by vision problems.
Dyslexia is a language-based disorder—not the result of visual deficits. While some students with dyslexia may also have visual tracking or convergence issues, these are not the root cause of reading difficulties.

“Most experts believe that dyslexia is a language-based disorder. Vision problems are not the cause of primary dyslexia or learning disabilities… Treatments that lack scientific evidence—such as eye exercises, behavioral vision therapy, or tinted lenses—are not endorsed.”
— American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Ophthalmology (2009)

The American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Academy of Pediatrics, and International Dyslexia Association all emphasize that interventions targeting visual perception or visual processing have not been proven effective in remediating dyslexia.

❌ Dyslexia is not simply a discrepancy between IQ and reading achievement.
Dyslexia can affect individuals of all intelligence levels, and modern definitions no longer require an IQ-achievement gap for diagnosis. In fact, many students with dyslexia demonstrate average or above-average intelligence—and still struggle with decoding, fluency, and spelling.

According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) and the International Dyslexia Association, reliance on IQ-discrepancy models delays diagnosis and may prevent students from receiving appropriate early intervention.

❌ There is no cure for dyslexia—but there are highly effective treatments.
Dyslexia is a neurobiological, lifelong condition, but students can make significant gains when provided with appropriate intervention. The most effective treatments directly target the phonological processing, decoding, and language comprehension skills that underlie reading difficulties.

Structured Literacy approaches—including Orton-Gillingham-based methods—are supported by decades of research and are shown to improve outcomes for individuals with dyslexia.
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With explicit, systematic instruction and the right supports, individuals with dyslexia can become skilled, confident readers and writers.

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.

Early Signs for Preschool - 1st Grade
🔹 Language & Communication Weaknesses
  • History of a speech or language delay (whether resolved or ongoing)
  • Persistent mispronunciation of familiar words or ongoing “baby talk”
  • Struggles to learn and recall common nursery rhymes
  • Trouble recognizing rhyming patterns or producing rhyming words

🔹 Alphabet & Sound Awareness
  • Difficulty learning the names of letters in the alphabet
  • Trouble remembering or identifying letters in their own name
  • Limited awareness that spoken words are made up of smaller sounds (phonemic awareness)
  • Difficulty associating letters with their corresponding sounds
  • Struggles to sound out simple CVC words like cat, hat, or map

🔹 Reading Behavior Clues
  • Reading errors that show no connection to the actual printed letters (e.g., says “puppy” instead of dog by relying on illustrations rather than decoding)
  • Shows confusion or frustration when trying to identify or blend letter sounds
  • Appears unaware that words can be broken into individual sounds

🔹 Family History
  • A parent or sibling with a history of reading difficulties or diagnosed dyslexia

Signs of Dyslexia:  2nd grade and beyond
(Adapted from the work of Dr. Sally Shaywitz)

As students progress through elementary school, the signs of dyslexia often become more visible in reading fluency, language use, and academic performance. Below are common indicators in children from 2nd grade and up:

📖 Reading & Decoding Challenges
  • Persistent history of speech or language difficulties
  • Slow, effortful, or awkward reading
  • Struggles to decode unfamiliar words—often resorts to guessing
  • Lacks clear strategies for sounding out or figuring out new words
  • Frequently avoids reading aloud in class

🗣️ Oral Language & Word Retrieval
  • Hesitates when speaking; frequently uses filler words like “um” or vague terms like “thing” or “stuff”
  • Misuses or confuses similar-sounding words (e.g., tornado instead of volcano, lotion for ocean)
  • Mispronounces long or unfamiliar words
  • Needs extra time to respond to oral questions
  • Trouble retrieving specific words or expressing thoughts clearly

🧠 Memory & Processing Difficulties
  • Difficulty remembering names, dates, phone numbers, and random sequences
  • Trouble completing tests or assignments within time limits
  • Extremely challenged by learning a foreign language

✍️ Written Expression & Executive Function
  • Messy handwriting or inconsistent spacing
  • Weak spelling and written organization
  • Avoids or struggles with writing task

❤️ Emotional & Social Indicators
  • May appear withdrawn, unmotivated, or frustrated
  • Low self-esteem, often masked by humor, silence, or perfectionism
  • Expresses feelings of “being dumb” or “not smart,” despite average or above-average intelligence

Dispelling Myths about Dyslexia

There are still far too many misconceptions surrounding dyslexia—even among professionals. I vividly remember a conversation early in my career as a speech-language pathologist, when I asked a respected psychological examiner how dyslexia should be diagnosed. That conversation happened over a decade ago, yet many of the outdated ideas she helped clarify are still widely believed today.
Thankfully, she was ahead of her time and deeply knowledgeable. Since then, I’ve made it my mission to share accurate, research-based information with families, educators, and fellow professionals.
With continued education and awareness, we can replace misinformation with evidence-based understanding—and help every learner receive the support they deserve.


✅ Trusted Resources to Learn the Truth About DyslexiaThese four sites offer clear, research-supported explanations about what dyslexia is—and what it is not. They’re excellent tools for both families and professionals:
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​​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.

Organizations with Valuable Information

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 241,000 members, certificate holders, and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology assistants; and students.
Read more
The International Dyslexia Association is located in the Baltimore suburb of Pikesville, Maryland. We are approximately 30 minutes from Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport. The office is open Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. The office is closed during federal holidays and for one week during the annual conference.
​The Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA) sets a national standard of excellence for professionals trained in evidence-based, multisensory structured language education. ALTA certifies individuals who complete rigorous coursework and practicum, uphold a professional code of ethics, and pursue ongoing education in the field of dyslexia and related disorders.