Understanding Dyslexia: Symptoms, Tests, and Resources
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing, and spelling. Unlike a learning disability, intelligence isn't affected. It's estimated that up to 1 in every 10 people in the U.S. has some degree of dyslexia. Understanding what dyslexia is marks the first step towards finding support and resources for those who experience it.
Simple Definition of Dyslexia
Dyslexia is when a child or person struggles to read because they can’t easily recognize the sound-symbol relationship of the letters in front of them. For example, they might have difficulty quickly recalling if a letter is a "b" or "d" or have trouble recognizing if an "f" or "r" comes first in a word.
These difficulties come from two main areas:
Phonological Processing:
Phonology relates to sounds, and processing relates to understanding information.
People with dyslexia have a hard time understanding the sounds in words. This includes putting sounds in order, blending them together, breaking them apart, and mixing them around, all of which are crucial for reading.
Rapid Automatic Naming:
This is the ability to quickly recall from long-term memory what letters look like and then apply the sounds to them.
It can also apply to strings of letters known as spelling patterns. Children with dyslexia may read words that look similar but sound different or guess the word based on the beginning letters because their verbal ability (their ability to make sense of information on a language level) is faster than their ability to quickly apply the look and sound of letters.
📢Dyslexia is Not the Only Learning Disability in Reading
Dyslexia is not the only learning disability related to reading; it's just one of three! This distinction is important because if your child can read the words "okay" but struggles to read quickly or understand what they read, they may not have dyslexia. However, they could still have a learning disability in reading. (Another Blog Post on the way 👇)
COMING SOON!
3 Types of Learning Disabilities in Reading.
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📖Dyslexia Symptoms
Dyslexia symptoms vary from person to person, each experiencing them in varying degrees. The most common sign is trouble reading. Maria, a mother of two, shares her story: "My son, Alex, always loved stories, but I noticed he struggled to recognize words he had seen many times before. It was heart-wrenching to see him so frustrated." Like Alex, many children with dyslexia might also have difficulties with:
Spelling words correctly.
Sequencing and recognizing letters and sounds.
Understanding information read to them.
Writing down thoughts clearly.
What Dyslexia "Looks Like" and "Sounds Like"
Understanding dyslexia from a parent's perspective means being aware of both visual and auditory indicators that suggest a child might be facing challenges with dyslexia.
Visual Signs:
Your child may avoid reading activities or show frustration with homework involving reading and writing.
They could confuse letters that appear similar, such as "b" and "d".
You might observe them mixing up words within sentences.
Their writing could seem disorganized, showing inconsistent spacing between words and letters.
Auditory Signs:
Your child may struggle with applying the right sounds to letters (phonemic awareness) when reading aloud.
They could have difficulty pronouncing words correctly or might guess words based on the first letter.
It's common for them to lose their place in the text frequently.
Their reading may lack fluency, characterized by frequent pauses and hesitations.
Recognizing these signs is crucial for early identification of potential challenges. Understanding what dyslexia looks and sounds like in daily life empowers parents to seek the appropriate support and resources for their child. With the right interventions, strategies, and support from services like Clever Cogs, children with dyslexia can develop the necessary skills to thrive academically.
Do I Need To Get My Child Tested?
Many parents, particularly those who homeschool, may wonder, “Do I need to get my child tested? How will a label even help?” No matter the schooling environment, Dyslexia is a condition that will not go away on its own. It’s a lifelong condition that requires specific support to help make processes involved in reading faster, more efficient, and less frustrating. Having a diagnosis — yes, a label — can help. Not only does it simplify the needs your child has when you are Googling and researching curriculum or tutors, but it also gives you and your family a common language to discuss your child’s needs around reading. If that’s not enough, here are a few Compelling Statistics of why a Dyslexia diagnosis can help:
Early Intervention Effectiveness: Research shows that identifying and addressing learning disabilities before adolescence can enhance academic achievement by up to 40%.
Critical Window for Intervention: 90% of children with reading difficulties can reach grade level if they receive specialized help by the first grade.
Impact on High School Graduation: Students with addressed learning differences have a 78% higher likelihood of graduating high school on time.
Positive Change in Attitude: 85% of parents notice a positive change in their child’s attitude towards learning after early detection and intervention.
Long-Term Benefits: Students who receive specific interventions for dyslexia by age 8 can show improvements in reading and writing that align with or surpass their peers by middle school
📝Diagnosing Dyslexia
Early diagnosis of dyslexia is key to managing it effectively. Dyslexia tests often involve a series of reading, spelling, vision, and intelligence tasks administered by professionals. These tests aim to identify specific learning difficulties and rule out other conditions. Not all diagnostic tests for Dyslexia are created equal. If you are considering getting testing, YOU NEED THIS FREE GUIDE 👇. It includes a “Smart Shopper” checklist for picking an evaluator.
10 KEY Facts Every Parent NEEDS to Know Before Getting Their Child Evaluated
Beyond what you can Google, this guide gives you checklists, definitions, how-to, timelines, and even a “Shoppers Guide” to find an evaluator.
Who Diagnoses Dyslexia?
Educational Psychologists:
They conduct comprehensive assessments to diagnose dyslexia by evaluating cognitive and academic skills.
Neuropsychologists:
They perform detailed evaluations that include cognitive and brain function assessments to identify dyslexia.
Clinical Psychologists:
They use various psychological tests to diagnose learning disabilities, including dyslexia.
Educational Diagnosticians (and short CLEVER COGS Testing Plug 😉):
These specialists assess and diagnose learning disabilities such as dyslexia through educational testing.
Kelli Heinemeier — That’s ME! — is an educational diagnostician with over 18 years of educational experience as a special education teacher, case manager, private school teacher, and educational therapist ( through NILD).
I bring a unique perspective on how cognitive abilities and academic skills overlap to form a comprehensive profile within the school environment. As an educational therapist, I leverage my understanding to mediate and support these specific profiles, guiding families beyond a label to achieve true understanding. Learn more here.
Also, I offer remote (online) and face-to-face testing options for clients of all ages. Testing results are often received within a month of the initial FREE consultation and cost less than $1,500.
Learn More about Clever Cogs and my testing Services HERE
🤔Understanding Dyslexia Through Its Meaning and Definition
Dyslexia, meaning difficulty with words, is more than just a challenge with reading and writing. It's a neurological condition that affects information processing. Dyslexia can vary greatly in severity, but with the right support, individuals can achieve great success.
Experts define dyslexia as a specific learning difficulty that causes problems with certain language skills, despite traditional instruction, adequate intelligence, and socio-cultural opportunity.
🔢Dyslexia and Numbers
While dyslexia is primarily associated with literacy, it can also affect numeracy skills. This is often referred to as 'Dyscalculia'. However, terms like "Dyslexia for Numbers", "Dyslexia of Numbers", and "Dyslexia Numbers" are used by some to describe these challenges.
Children with this aspect of dyslexia might struggle with basic arithmetic, understanding math symbols, or sequencing numbers. Sharing strategies that work can be incredibly helpful. After reading this post, at the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to other relevant blog posts, including CAN DYSLEXIA AFFECT MATH (or Read it Here)
🔎Special Focus: Surface and Developmental Dyslexia
Understanding Developmental Dyslexia (a.k.a Textbook Dyslexia): Key Symptoms and Indicators
Developmental dyslexia, often identified in children during their early years of learning to read and write, is characterized by difficulties with phonological processing. This affects the ability to decode words based on their sounds, making it challenging to read, spell, and sometimes understand spoken language. Recognizing the symptoms and indicators of developmental dyslexia is essential for early intervention and support.
Key Symptoms of Developmental Dyslexia:
Phonological Awareness Difficulties: Struggles with recognizing and manipulating sounds in words, such as blending sounds to form words or segmenting words into individual sounds.
Decoding Challenges: Difficulty decoding words, leading to slow and effortful reading. This includes trouble breaking down words into their phonetic components and blending them together.
Poor Spelling Accuracy: Frequent spelling errors that reflect difficulties with phonological processing, such as omitting letters or substituting incorrect letters that have similar sounds.
Reading Fluency Issues: Reading is slow, choppy, and lacks fluency. Children may read without natural rhythm or intonation, often pausing to decode individual words.
Oral Language Difficulties: Some individuals may have trouble rapidly naming familiar objects, colors, or letters (rapid automatized naming deficits).
Difficulty Learning New Words: Challenges with learning and remembering new vocabulary words, especially those that are phonetically complex or irregular.
Poor Reading Comprehension: Even if individual words can be decoded, there might be difficulties in understanding text due to the focus required for decoding. Comprehension may suffer as a result.
Behavioral Indicators:
Reluctance to Read Aloud: Avoid reading aloud in front of peers or adults due to embarrassment over reading difficulties.
Frustration with Academic Tasks: Visible frustration or distress with reading and writing tasks, which may affect overall academic motivation and self-esteem.
Preference for Auditory Learning: May show a preference for learning through listening rather than reading, often excelling in oral discussions and presentations.
Performance Indicators:
Inconsistent Academic Performance: Performance in subjects that require reading and writing may lag behind oral language skills or intellectual capabilities.
Difficulty with Word Problems: Struggles with solving word problems in math, not due to mathematical reasoning difficulties but because of reading and understanding the text.
Challenges with Note-taking: Difficulties with writing down information from lectures or books, affecting study skills and information retention.
Recognizing these symptoms of developmental dyslexia allows parents, teachers, and specialists to intervene early, providing the structured support and resources needed to address phonological processing challenges. Tailored educational strategies, including phonics-based instruction, multisensory learning, and accommodations, can significantly improve literacy skills and boost confidence for children with developmental dyslexia.
Understanding Surface Dyslexia: Key Symptoms and Indicators
Surface dyslexia, a specific form of dyslexia, involves challenges primarily with the visual recognition of words, also known as orthographic processing. Individuals with surface dyslexia may rely heavily on phonetic decoding to read, which can lead to unique symptoms and indicators. Surface Dyslexia often co-occurs or overlaps with Dysgraphia. Read the blog post about Dysgraphia HERE.
Key Symptoms of Surface Dyslexia:
Difficulty Recognizing Common Words by Sight: Struggles with reading common, high-frequency words that most readers recognize instantly.
Reliance on Phonics: Heavy reliance on sounding out words phonetically, even those that are typically recognized by sight by others of the same age.
Errors with Irregular Words: Frequent mistakes when reading words that do not follow standard phonetic rules, such as "enough" or "through".
Slow Reading Rate: Reading is often slow and laborious, as the individual spends significant time decoding each word.
Mispronunciation of Words: Words may be mispronounced based on their spelling rather than their accepted pronunciation.
Literal Interpretation of Homophones: Difficulty distinguishing between homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings), relying solely on phonetic cues.
Challenges with Word Meaning: Struggles to immediately grasp the meaning of words and sentences due to the focus on phonetic decoding, which may impair comprehension.
Behavioral Indicators:
Avoidance of Reading Aloud: May avoid situations that require reading aloud due to embarrassment or frustration with their reading difficulties.
Preference for Simple Texts: Shows a preference for texts with simpler vocabulary that align more closely with phonetic rules.
Frustration with Reading: Displays signs of frustration or distress during reading tasks, especially with materials containing many irregularly spelled words.
Performance Indicators:
Inconsistent Reading Abilities: Displays a wide variance in the ability to read different types of texts, performing better with phonetically consistent materials.
Difficulty with Lexical Access: Has trouble retrieving the correct pronunciation of words from memory, leading to pauses and hesitations.
Poor Spelling of Irregular Words: Spells words as they sound, which can lead to inaccuracies, especially with English's many exceptions to phonetic rules.
Understanding these symptoms of surface dyslexia is crucial for identifying and supporting individuals facing these challenges. With tailored interventions that focus on both phonetic skills and strategies for recognizing irregular words, individuals with surface dyslexia can improve their reading abilities and confidence.
💟How to Help a Child with Dyslexia
If your child has dyslexia, there are many ways to help them:
Educational Therapy: An educational therapist is not a tutor. They are specially trained to mediate learning and address areas of thinking, beyond just “fixing” dyslexia. I recommend an NILD-trained therapist. https://nild.org/find-a-therapist
Assistive Technology: Tools like computers or speech-to-text software can make writing easier.
Special Intervention Programs: Programs that focus on Phonological Awareness, Orthographic processing, and more. For example, Lexercise or other similar programs.
School Accommodations: Things like extra time for writing assignments or being allowed to type instead of writing by hand.
FREE RESOURCES: Email me that you’d like Dyselxia resources, and I’ll send you some!
🎒Common Classroom Accommodations for Dyslexia
Extended Time:
Allowing extra time for tests, assignments, and reading tasks to help students process information at their own pace.
Audiobooks and Text-to-Speech:
Providing access to audiobooks and text-to-speech software to aid in reading comprehension.
Note-Taking Assistance:
Allowing students to use note-taking apps or providing them with copies of notes from classmates or teachers.
Reduced Reading Load:
Reducing the amount of required reading to prevent overwhelm and fatigue.
Alternative Assessments:
Offering oral exams, project-based assessments, or multiple-choice questions instead of written tests.
Use of Technology:
Encouraging the use of laptops, tablets, and other devices for writing and organizing information.
Visual Aids:
Using charts, diagrams, and graphic organizers to help students understand and retain information.
Preferential Seating:
Seating students near the teacher or away from distractions to improve focus and access to support.
Spelling Accommodations:
Allowing the use of spell-checkers or not penalizing for spelling errors in written assignments.
Frequent Breaks:
Providing short, regular breaks during long tasks to help students maintain focus and reduce stress.
Chunking Information:
Breaking down assignments and instructions into smaller, manageable parts.
Explicit Instruction:
Using clear, direct teaching methods with step-by-step instructions and examples.
Reading Guides:
Providing tools like reading rulers or highlighters to help students track text more easily.
Alternative Texts:
Offering reading materials at the student's reading level, including high-interest, low-readability books.
Multi-Sensory Instruction:
Incorporating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning activities to reinforce concepts.
👉Conclusion
Dyslexia presents challenges, but with early diagnosis, targeted support, and a community ready to share experiences, individuals with dyslexia can thrive.
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT the Signs and Symptoms of the 3 MOST Common Learning Disabilities? Grab this FREE GUIDE.
💜I’d love to chat with you. Whether you have already had testing, are just shopping, or don’t even know where to begin. Schedule a FREE Call.
Other Posts That Might Interest You:
“Dyslexia vs. Dysgraphia”
“Dyslexia and Math” Why kids with Dyslexia also have a hard time in math.
“What is an Evaluation” Understanding Tests for Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, and more.
