A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Dyslexia
Does your child…
Have difficulty reading books on grade level?
Rely on pictures to understand the story?
Perform inconsistently when reading common sight words?
Struggle with remembering and applying spelling rules?
Refuse or get frustrated when required to read for homework?
Guess at words when reading?
Have difficulty recognizing a word even when it was provided within the same sentence?
Read extremely slowly?
Struggle to connect letters to their appropriate sounds?
Show improved comprehension when stories are read to them?
If you said yes to any of these, your child may be one of the 5-10% of the population that have a learning disability known as dyslexia. Let’s learn more about dyslexia, identify the characteristics you may notice in your child, debunk common myths, discuss approaches to help your child succeed academically, and explore the benefits of having a dyslexic mind.
What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a term commonly used to describe a pattern of learning difficulties with reading. However, the official diagnosis that you would find on a psychoeducational evaluation is a Specific Learning Disorder with Impairments in Reading (learn more about that in my previous blog).
At its core, dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Children diagnosed with dyslexia have an unexpected difficulty in reading despite having the intelligence and desire necessary to learn how to read. The brain of a dyslexic child is wired differently, making it challenging for the connections necessary for reading to be established. As dyslexia stems from the hardwiring of the brain, it is a condition that a child will face throughout their life. However, this does not mean that a child will be unable to learn to read or that they are doomed to live a mediocre life. There are many highly successful people in a variety of careers that have been diagnosed with dyslexia. Read more about them here (http://dyslexia.yale.edu/success-stories/)
This dyslexic wiring of the brain impacts a child’s ability to process the phonological components of language. A phoneme is the foundational component of a language, a single unit of sound that is recognized as part of a language. When we are learning to read, we are taught to break down a word into each phoneme, often a letter (e.g., p) or 2-letter blend (e.g., ph). Then we blend them together to form the word. These phonemes are then put together to create morphemes, the smallest units of a language that have meaning (i.e., -ing), so that we can more quickly and easily understand the words we see on a page.
Children with dyslexia struggle to determine the phonemes of each individual word, particularly where one phoneme ends and another begins. This results in difficulty breaking the word down into parts as well as combining those parts to form words. Then comes the added complexity of all of the exceptions to the rules. The brains of non-dyslexic students are creating mental shortcuts to read frequently seen words in their entirety rather than having to sound them out one phoneme at a time. In contrast, the brain of a dyslexic student has great difficulty creating shortcuts and therefore, continues to take the long route. This is often why, even following intensive interventions, students with dyslexia improve in reading accuracy but continue to read slower than their peers. This difficulty with phonological processing is also the culprit behind a dyslexic student’s struggles with learning a foreign language in school.
As dyslexia is language-based, students with dyslexia often have difficulty with other aspects of language, including spelling and recalling specific words. Although these children may perform well on spelling tests, this is often related to their ability to memorize words and the opportunity to place all of their mental energy towards the spelling of words. However, when required to spell words within a sentence, the mental energy must be split up into a variety of areas: what to say, grammar, punctuation, how to form letters, and how to spell the words. Additionally, as your child progresses through school, you may find that they choose simple vocabulary words that are easier to spell rather than the more sophisticated vocabulary they may use in conversation.
Spelling errors often result from an attempt to spell a word phonetically (i.e., as it sounds) with the most common spelling rules. These students fail to remember and incorporate the exceptions to the rules (e.g., silent letters in words like “knife”). Additionally, as their brains are not wired for shortcuts, dyslexic students cannot look at a word and recognize that it does not match their mental image for that word. They are unable to see the incorrect spelling and think “that doesn’t look right.” This is where technological accommodations, such as the use of a computer for spell check or using a speech-to-text service, can be a game changer in producing work that matches the student’s potential.
Another language area that is often impacted by dyslexia is recalling words. You might have experienced an instance where you found yourself describing an object to another individual because you simply could not grasp the word you were looking for to name the object. While this phenomenon happens to everyone, it is more frequent and prominent in children diagnosed with dyslexia. This difficulty with expressive language can be quite frustrating for students who are very aware that they know the right word and recognize if they provide an incorrect, but often phonetically close, word (e.g., volcano instead of tornado), as their brains are attempting to connect to the correct word. When we reverse things and look at a child’s receptive vocabulary skills (i.e., a child’s ability to understand the meaning of a presented word, usually through a visual media rather than verbalizing it), a dyslexic child often showcases their vast knowledge of vocabulary.
While the exact cause of dyslexia is unknown, there is a genetic component to this specific wiring of a brain. Dyslexia tends to run in families. Frequently, when a child is being evaluated for reading difficulties, one or both of the parents will recognize a similar pattern of struggles in their own childhood. This is often beneficial for the child as the dyslexic parent becomes a great advocate for working through the academic system, while also supporting the development of the many strengths a dyslexic child has outside of the classroom.
Characteristics of Dyslexia
Although there are certain hallmarks of dyslexia, it typically presents itself differently depending on the grade level of the student. Additionally, the academic impact depends on whether the dyslexia is mild, moderate, or severe. Below are common characteristics you might notice in your child.
Kindergarten – 2nd grade
Has difficulty connecting letters to sounds and sounds to letters
Makes spelling errors based on how words sound rather than any spelling rules (e.g. “walked” may be spelled “walkt”, “with” may be spelled “wiv”)
Makes letter reversals when writing
Is inconsistent in ability to read sight words
May not recognize a word that was provided to them earlier (e.g., Spot is a dog. Spot likes to run.)
Guesses at words using the pictures in the story (e.g., may say “kitty” instead of “cat”)
Has difficulty rhyming words
Struggles to recall a word, though can describe the object in great detail
3rd-5th grade
Is reading at a lower grade level than expected
Makes spelling errors, particularly when writing in complete sentences
Avoids activities involving reading or becomes frustrated when required to complete them
Consistently chooses books with pictures (a way to compensate struggles with reading)
When writing stories, uses simple words they are certain to spell correctly
Struggles with reading comprehension as the stories become more abstract
Avoids reading out loud, particularly in front of peers
Struggles with comprehending math word problems, despite performing well on other math tasks and when the problem is read to them
Middle School
Often performs better on multiple choice problems related to reading passages than open ended questions
Reads slowly
Has difficulty keeping up with the pace of the academic work in classes that require a large amount of reading
Has difficulty completing tests within the allotted time
Makes spelling errors when not using a computer (no spell check!)
Appears to lack a strategy for sounding out unfamiliar words
Struggles when required to learn a foreign language
May give up quickly on reading tasks
May experience anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem as they perceive themselves as incapable in comparison to peers
High School
May read accurately, but slowly
Often has to re-read passages several times to gain comprehension
Makes spelling errors when not using a computer (no spell check!)
May struggle with making inferences about passages read (i.e., how does the main character feel? What do you think may happen next?)
May have difficulty understanding metaphors and underlying messages within passages
Uses limited vocabulary in written work
Struggles when required to learn a foreign language
May struggle to apply phonetic rules to new words
Has difficulty completing tests within the allotted time
Spends an excessive amount of time completing homework assignments in comparison to peers
May experience anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem as they perceive themselves as incapable in comparison to peers
Managing Dyslexia
When we look at managing the characteristics of dyslexia within the academic setting, it varies largely as to the severity of the dyslexia (mild, moderate, or severe) as well as the grade-level of the individual. There may be additional variables that influence the remediation plan for an individual, including a diagnosis of ADHD or another learning disorder, emotional difficulties, extracurricular activities, and time/financial concerns. The following information is a generalized plan for students struggling solely with dyslexia.
Let’s look first at those students diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school.
Mild
Elementary school students with a mild form of dyslexia can often be successful in their current academic setting with support from their teacher along with additional tutoring from an individual trained in a multisensory, structured language teaching method (i.e., Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, Lindamood-Bell). Best results occur when tutoring is done 2-3 times/week for an extended period of time. There may be local summer programs in your area that are designed to provide intensive daily instruction while your child is not constrained by the requirements of school. Additionally, accommodations recommended to ease the burden of school on the student are beneficial.
Moderate to Severe
Often, students that are identified early in elementary school have a moderate to severe form of dyslexia and are showing signs of great difficulty with reading. These students are best served by being immersed daily in a multisensory, structured language teaching method (i.e., Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, Lindamood-Bell). As language and reading are the foundation of all other learning, it is important that this be the main focus of the student’s academic world. Students often get this through a specialized school designed for children with dyslexia and other learning disorders. Many of these schools are designed to remediate the reading difficulties of the child within 2-3 years and then the child returns to a mainstream academic setting with the support and accommodations necessary for success. In areas where this type of school is not available, intensive tutoring for several years is recommended. Again, these students are quite capable of learning how to read accurately, but need rigorous, specific training to ensure they do not fall behind their peers.
For those students diagnosed in middle school or high school, the impact of their dyslexia is often mild. These students have managed to find ways to compensate for their reading challenges until the demands of higher-level schooling are too great.
Mild
These students may need some tutoring to solidify reading rules and to help improve their ability to sound out unfamiliar words. Tutors trained in a multisensory, structured language teaching method (i.e., Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, Lindamood-Bell) can assist in bolstering their reading abilities and mitigating any areas of weakness. This tutoring may also help improve the child’s reading speed to some degree. Most often, these students are benefited from support and accommodations in school to allow them the opportunity to show their knowledge to their teachers. Rather than being penalized for having a brain that is wired differently, these students can succeed with minor adjustments in their schooling, the use of technology, and simple accommodations that allow them to provide work that matches their potential.
Examples of common accommodations:
Extended time
Audiobooks
The use of a computer for writing assignments
Flexibility in foreign language requirements
One-on-one instruction
Using voice recognition software to assist with writing
Not being required to read out loud in front of the class
Permission to have test questions read to them
Permission to dictate responses
Repetition of material
Testing in a distraction-reduced setting
Enlarging text
Benefits of Dyslexia
We have spent much of this time talking about the downside and pitfalls of having a dyslexic brain. However, there is actually much about the way a dyslexic brain is wired that makes it a very good thing! While it may prove to generate some difficulties, particularly within the confines of the academic world, being dyslexic can actually be an advantage.
Dyslexic individuals often think more laterally and creatively. While the education system prefers a linear thinking style, this fluid, lateral style of thinking allows dyslexic children to find ways around problems. Rather than looking at things in only one way, dyslexic students view a problem from a multitude of angles and allow their brain to jump freely from one thought to another as they create possible solutions.
Due to their academic struggles, dyslexic children develop incredible resilience and are able adapt to the ever-changing world around them. Additionally, because academics has not come easy to them, they have learned how to put forth great effort and persevere on challenging tasks. A dyslexic child’s struggles also lead to an ability to be warm and empathic towards others, particularly when others are experiencing difficulties. As they have worked to compensate for their reading difficulties, dyslexic children frequently develop strong skills in working with peers and comprehending auditory information.
Aside from the skills developed as a reaction to being forced within the academic box, dyslexic children are often curious, capable of seeing the “big picture” rather than getting bogged down in details, imaginative, mentally flexible, able to think outside the box, and have strong reasoning skills. As you can imagine, these skills are highly sought after in the world outside of academics. Furthermore, many children with dyslexia excel in areas not dependent on reading, that allow for hands-on learning, or are conceptual rather than fact-based. These include: drama, music, sports, math, computers, visual arts, philosophy, and biology.
Common Myths
Myth #1: Dyslexia is when a child reverses the letters “b” and “d.”
Busted! Although some children may occasionally make errors that involve replacing a “b” with a “d,” this is not a hallmark of dyslexia. It is an oversimplification of the actual difficulty that a child with dyslexia faces. The dyslexic child struggles with the foundational building blocks of reading. They have great difficulty seeing the word as a whole or breaking down a word into its parts. As such, it is challenging to smoothly sound out words. Children may incorrectly break apart words, resulting in sequencing errors (e.g., “stop” being read as “tops” or “pots”).
Myth #2: Dyslexic children will never learn how to read.
Busted! Depending on the severity of the dyslexia, various interventions will be necessary to help your child learn to read. Those with more severe dyslexia may require very intensive remediation in order to improve their reading accuracy. Many dyslexic children enjoy reading once they receive the proper instructional methods that coordinate with how their brains are wired. The one area that dyslexic students may continue to struggle is in reading speed. Although their reading accuracy is greatly improved, they frequently continue to read at a slower pace than their peers and will often need extended time on tests and other reading tasks.
Myth #3: Students with dyslexia are stupid and won’t succeed academically.
Busted! Many students who are diagnosed with dyslexia are quite intelligent. They simply have difficulty learning to read in the way that their peers are taught. However, these children have unique strengths that allow them to think laterally and creatively. As such, they are great problem-solvers, often finding unique solutions to challenging problems. This is often how dyslexic children compensate and hide their reading difficulties from parents and teachers. Though they may require support and accommodations to keep up with the fast pace and increased demands of higher education, dyslexic children can not only “get through,” but excel in the academic world. You might even be surprised to learn the names of very successful dyslexic people. Check them out here! (http://dyslexia.yale.edu/success-stories/)!
Myth #4: Dyslexia mostly impacts boys.
Busted! Dyslexia is not related to any specific gender and is seen in both boys and girls. However, boys are more frequently diagnosed, particularly at a younger age. This is believed to be related to societal gender norms, as boys are more likely to act out when frustrated by their academic challenges. It is this reaction that is frequently noticed by teachers and parents and alerts them to a potential problem. In contrast, girls are often quieter when experiencing their difficulties and may find more ways to “get by” on reading tasks. Therefore, parents and teachers may perceive the academic difficulties as not being as great or as the result of a lack of confidence.
Myth #5: Dyslexic students are just lazy and need to put forth more effort.
Busted! Dyslexic children often work extremely hard to produce the level of work that teachers and parents see. Students are not refusing to read because they are lazy, it is because it is overwhelming and frustrating. Their brains are wired differently and require a different method of teaching. A perfect visual for this is pushing hard on a door that is designed to be pulled open. No matter how hard you push on the door, it simply will not open. Therefore, the solution to opening the door isn’t to push even harder, it is to approach the problem in a different way and pull the door open. This is the same thing that occurs for dyslexic students. Rather than continuing with a teaching method that hasn’t worked, a change in approach is necessary for the dyslexic child to succeed academically.