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Frequently Asked Questions About Dyslexia


What is dyslexia?

What is a “phonological weakness”

I thought kids with dyslexia just saw letters backwards.

Who can test my child for dyslexia?

Can my child be helped?


What is dyslexia?

According to the International Dyslexia Association (2002), 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.”

In short, dyslexia is a reading difficulty that occurs despite having a normal IQ and adequate education. Most often, this reading difficulty results from an underlying phonological weakness caused by a “glitch” in the way the brain works.

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What is a “phonological weakness”?

Language encompasses several interrelated systems. Phonology is the sound system of language. This sound system is made up of phonemes, which are the speech sounds we use for communication. The word “dog”, for example, is made up of 3 speech sounds, or phonemes—“d”, “ah” and “g”. Most children begin to understand this concept --that words are made up of smaller units of sound that occur in a very specific order—between ages 4-6. This skill is referred to as phonemic awareness and it is critical to the process of learning to read.

In addition to understanding the way phonemes work in oral language, children must also process the written form of these phonemes quickly and accurately. They must be able to hold the sounds in their working memory, create accurate “word maps” (the neural representation of a word) in their long-term memory and be able to rapidly retrieve these word maps, all based, primarily, on phonological information.

In 10-20% of the population, the phonological system is adequate for speaking, but is not “fine-tuned” enough for the complexities of reading.

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I thought kids with dyslexia just saw letters backwards.

This is a pervasive misconception that, unfortunately, causes many children with dyslexia to go undiagnosed. It is well established and accepted in the scientific community that dyslexia is a language-based deficit, stemming from an underlying phonological weakness, not a visual weakness.

Although many children with dyslexia do write letters backwards, many children without dyslexia do also. And many children with dyslexia never write letters backwards. Writing or reading a letter or word backwards may be reflective of a visual-motor deficit, a phonological deficit, or both. What is common in all children and adults with dyslexia, and what sets them apart from successful readers, is a weakness in phonological processing.

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Who can test my child for dyslexia?

In the state of Florida, dyslexia is considered a clinical, not an educational, diagnosis and, therefore, cannot be diagnosed in the public schools. A school-based educational psychologist may identify a child with dyslexia as having a Learning Disability (LD). However, many children with dyslexia will not meet state eligibility criteria for LD, even though they clearly struggle with reading. This is because Florida uses a discrepancy formula to determine eligibility for LD. That is, a child must demonstrate a wide discrepancy between his or her level of academic achievement and cognitive ability. In short, children must be several years behind in reading before they are determined eligible for special services under Exceptional Student Education in the public schools.

In the private sector, many educational psychologists and speech-language pathologists now specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia. Because no specific profession “owns” dyslexia, it is important to find a clinician who is experienced and specially trained to identify the phonological processing deficits central to dyslexia. A speech-language pathologist, in particular, can also assess other language areas (morphology, syntax and semantics) that may affect reading comprehension and written expression.

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Can my child be helped?

Absolutely! Research in the area of dyslexia has exploded over the past decade and we now have more effective and scientifically sound treatments than ever before. The most critical element of successful treatment is to find a therapist or educator who is experienced and specifically trained to treat the underlying phonological deficits and who knows how to help the student transfer this knowledge to reading real words and text accurately and fluently.

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