Quick Facts on Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a common learning disability that interferes with the acquisition of reading skills. It causes children to struggle with decoding, word recognition, and spelling. While many people still use the term dyslexia, it is now technically part of the diagnosis “specific learning disorder,” which groups together reading, writing, and math disorders under the same umbrella.

• Difficulty rhyming, associating sounds with symbols, sequencing and ordering sounds, and trouble identifying and comprehending signs or logos
• Late talking and persistent trouble with word retrieval
• Difficulty following simple or complex directions
• Difficulty with little words: Omits or reads twice little words like the, and, but, in
• Difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words, and confusion with patterns

Dyslexia is diagnosed through an evaluation that determines a deficit in reading ability and rules out other possible causes, like social, environmental, or cognitive factors.

Treatment will first address the symptoms of the disorder, teaching your child how to read–not intuitively, as most do, but as a rule-based system. Then, your child and her therapist will develop compensatory skills for learning in general.

Individualized attention and instruction are critical, and schools often allow extra time on tests and other accommodations for students diagnosed with dyslexia.