About Dyslexia

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia as defined by the International Dyslexia Association:

“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”

Dyslexia is a lifelong learning difference—not something a student simply “outgrows.” What truly impacts a student’s success is the quality and type of instruction they receive. Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALTs) are specialists trained in delivering evidence-based strategies tailored to the needs of students with dyslexia. Using a structured literacy approach rooted in the Orton-Gillingham methodology, CALTs provide multisensory, direct instruction that helps students form new neural pathways. This enables them to decode written language more effectively and with greater confidence.

What are some common myths about dyslexia?

MYTH: Reading and writing letters backwards means that my child has dyslexia.
A common misconception about dyslexia is that individuals “see letters or words backwards.” In reality, dyslexia is a language-based learning difference that affects decoding and sound processing. While young children may occasionally reverse letters as they learn to write, this is not dyslexia. Students with dyslexia may struggle to remember the shape, orientation, or sequence of letters. If letter reversals persist beyond first grade, further evaluation may be needed.
MYTH: Dyslexia is a vision problem.
Dyslexia is not a vision problem—it is a language-based learning disability. While children with vision issues should absolutely receive appropriate care and support, dyslexia stems from differences in how the brain processes language, not from how it sees. The difficulty lies in recognizing and manipulating the sounds in spoken words and connecting them to written language, not in visual perception.
MYTH: You can’t be smart and have dyslexia.
Many individuals with dyslexia are highly intelligent and fully capable of learning. They often possess strong creative abilities and make meaningful contributions to the world. In fact, numerous well-known and successful people have faced challenges with dyslexia and still achieved remarkable careers. It's important to understand that dyslexia is a specific learning difference that affects language processing, particularly in reading and writing. However, it is not related to a person's intelligence.
MYTH: Dyslexia is not common.
Dyslexia affects an estimated 5% to 20% of the population and occurs across all languages and cultures worldwide. n a typical classroom, it’s likely that several students may have dyslexia. Recognizing this learning difference is essential to providing early intervention and helping all students thrive.
MYTH: Students with dyslexia just need to try harder.
Unfortunately, students with dyslexia are often misunderstood and unfairly labeled as “lazy” or told to simply try harder. In reality, dyslexia is not the fault of the child or their parents—it is a neurological difference that makes reading and writing more challenging. These students often work incredibly hard just to keep up with their peers. What they need are the right tools, strategies, and support to help them overcome barriers to learning. With understanding and appropriate intervention, there is always hope—and every opportunity—for students with dyslexia to succeed.
MYTH: If I have dyslexia, my child will have dyslexia.
Research has shown that dyslexia is hereditary. Children with a parent who has dyslexia have a 40–60% increased risk of also having the condition. However, this does not guarantee that a child will inherit dyslexia. Still, understanding family history can be an important step in early identification and support.

How do I know if my child has dyslexia? What are the signs?

Preschool

Characteristics
  • Trouble learning common nursery rhymes, such as “Jack and Jill”
  • Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet
  • Seems unable to recognize letters in his/her own name
  • Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
  • Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat
  • A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties (dyslexia often runs in families)

Kindergarten & 1st Grade

Characteristics
  • Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on an illustrated page with a picture of a dog
  • Does not understand that words come apart
  • Complains about how hard reading is; “disappears” when it is time to read
  • Cannot sound out even simple words like cat, map, nap
  • Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound
  • Curiosity
  • Great imagination
  • Ability to figure things out; gets the gist of thing
  • A larger vocabulary than typical for age group
  • Talent for building models
  • Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him

2nd Grade through High School

Characteristics
  • Very slow in acquiring reading skills. Reading is slow and awkward
  • Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild guesses because he cannot sound out the word
  • Doesn’t seem to have a strategy for reading new words
  • Avoids reading out loud
  • Confuses words that sound alike, such substituting “lotion” for “ocean”
  • Mispronunciation of long, unfamiliar or complicated words
  • Struggles to finish tests on time
  • Extreme difficulty learning a foreign language
  • Poor spelling
  • Messy handwriting
  • Low self-esteem that may not be immediately visible
  • Excellent thinking skills: conceptualization, reasoning, imagination, abstraction
  • A high level of understanding of what is read to him
  • Improvement as an area of interest becomes more specialized and focused—and a miniature vocabulary is developed that allows for reading in that subject area
  • A surprisingly sophisticated listening vocabulary
  • Excels in areas not dependent on reading, such as math, computers and visual arts, or in more conceptual (versus fact-driven) subjects, including philosophy, biology, social studies, neuroscience and creative writing

Source: The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

What if I am an adult and think I might have dyslexia? What are the signs?

Young Adults & Adults

Characteristics
  • A childhood history of reading and spelling difficulties
  • While reading skills have developed over time, reading still requires great effort and is done at a slow pace
  • Rarely reads for pleasure
  • Slow reading of most materials—books, manuals, subtitles in films
  • Avoids reading aloud
  • Earlier oral language difficulties persist, including a lack of fluency and glibness; frequent use of “um’s” and imprecise language; and general anxiety when speaking
  • Often pronounces the names of people and places incorrectly; trips over parts of words
  • Difficulty remembering names of people and places; confuses names that sound alike
  • Struggles to retrieve words; frequently has “It was on the tip of my tongue” moments
  • Spoken vocabulary is smaller than listening vocabulary
  • Avoids saying words that might be mispronounced
  • Has a high capacity to learn
  • Shows noticeable improvement when given additional time on multiple-choice examinations
  • Demonstrates excellence when focused on a highly specialized area, such as medicine, law, public policy, finance, architecture or basic science
  • Excellent writing skills if the focus is on content, not spelling
  • Highly articulate when expressing ideas and feelings
  • Exceptional empathy and warmth
  • Successful in areas not dependent on rote memory
  • A talent for high-level conceptualization and the ability to come up with original insights
  • Inclination to think outside of the box and see the big picture
  • Noticeably resilient and able to adapt

Source: The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

How can I find out more about dyslexia?

Click on any of the following resources to learn more.

logo_lockup_navy
81QwUBZgthL._UF894,1000_QL80_
Scroll to Top