Dyslexia Defined: Understanding Dyslexia in 4 Points

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Learning your child has a dyslexia diagnosis can be a scary moment for parents.  Does this mean that he sees letters backwards? Is there a problem with her vision?  Will your child outgrow this?  Is there a cure?  These are some of the most common questions I get asked by parents…and they are all valid.

Dyslexia is a topic where there is a plethora of information available but there are a lot of inaccuracies floating around. It feels as though the scientific, evidence-based information is contained to the people who take the time to dig for it and more specifically, know where to dig.  If not, a quick Google search could leave you susceptible to absorbing inaccurate, generalized views of dyslexia.

In the paragraphs below we will get an understanding of what dyslexia is and how it manifests in children. If you would like a guide on how to monitor your child for dyslexia, please follow the link for reading signs of dyslexia, and the link for speech signs of dyslexia. 

Is There a Baseline Definition of What Dyslexia Is?

Unfortunately, there are differences that exist in the mere definition of dyslexia. 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, dyslexia is defined as “a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence.” 

The definition of dyslexia according to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is as follows: “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.”

The definition provided by IDA supports updated research that dyslexia is a specific learning disability and also includes science-backed details that encompass dyslexia. While this definition is accurate, it is also quite jargon heavy. In hopes of making dyslexia easier to comprehend, we are going to dissect this definition into the 4 points below:

  1. Neurobiological in origin
  2. Characterized by difficulty with accurate and/or fluent word recognition
  3. Results from a deficit in phonological component of language
  4. Unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities

1. Dyslexia is Neurobiological in Origin

That is to say, dyslexia originates in the brain. 

Typical readers activate the back left hemisphere of the brain that is essential for language and reading. This area of the brain consists of two very important pathways that contribute to reading.  One system is the parieto-temporal system (PT) that is used in the early stages of reading to make letter-sound associations and breaks words into smaller parts.  The second system is the occipito-temporal system (OT) that processes how a word looks, sounds and what it means. This region is activated by experienced readers because it facilitates recognizing words automatically. 

People with dyslexia do not activate these pathways like neurotypical readers do.  Instead of relying on the reading systems in the back left hemisphere of the brain, fMRI’s show that dyslexics rely on their front left hemisphere and even their right hemisphere when reading.

2. Characterized by Difficulties with Accurate and/or Fluent Word Recognition

As stated in the IDA definition, dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects a person’s ability to fluently read words. This symptom can be explained by going back to the neural differences between typical readers and people with dyslexia.  

To reiterate, typical readers activate the back left hemisphere of the brain where the PT and OT pathways are located.  The OT region is where automatic word recognition is kept.  People with dyslexia do not take these effective neural routes when reading, making automatic and fluent reading difficult.

3. Results from a Deficit in the Phonological Component of Language

The word phonology can be defined in simpler terms as speech sounds in a language.  At its core, dyslexia is a problem getting to the individual speech sounds (phonemes) of language which affects speaking, reading and writing. This is because dyslexics have a weakness in their part of the language system that processes speech sounds, the phonological compartment. 

This impairment in the phonological compartment causes sounds to be less developed in the mind of dyslexics, and impairs their ability to hear individual sounds in words. Sally Shaywitz describes this perfectly via a block analogy in the second edition of her book, Overcoming Dyslexia.  She asks the reader to think of phonemes (speech sounds) as a child’s carved letter block that is so worn out, you can no longer see the letters painted on the blocks.

When we speak, we create phonemes (speech sounds) effortlessly. When we read, we turn letters on the page into speech sounds. These same phonemes that dyslexics have trouble processing and keeping in their long term memory, are the same phonemes that they also have to tie to letters. 

Think about that. Children are already struggling with sounds before letters are even brought into their scope. Asking them to tie these fuzzy sounds onto letters only compounds their struggle. Children are not able to assign a letter to a sound if they are struggling to process the individual sound to begin with. This inability to process individual sounds in words has a severely negative effect on the child’s literacy skills.

You can find a more in-depth analysis of the link between speech sounds and reading here.

4. Unexpected

The term “unexpected” is used because people with dyslexia can have a high IQ and still struggle to read.

It is important to understand that a dyslexia diagnosis does not affect intelligence.  Dr. Sally Shaywitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia, describes dyslexics as “having a reading impairment and not a thinking impairment.”

How Does All This Manifest?

A neurotypical child will first gain the understanding that words are composed of multiple sounds and are not simply one long sound. Then they move on to understand that letters are associated with these individual sounds and the letters together make up words.  Lastly, they make the connections that printed words represent spoken language.

For children with dyslexia, these benchmarks are delayed starting with their ability to break a word up into individual sounds. Once they understand this concept, they start learning to map these sounds to letters. Dyslexic children need much more exposure to reading and phonics instruction in order to make those neural pathways of letter-sound correlations established.

For example, a child will be exposed to learning the letter and sound of (b) and be exposed to this new learning 100 times in school.  The class will then move on to learning a new letter and sound, however, your child has dyslexia and could need 500 exposures to the letter “b” in order for it to be established in her brain.  Keep in mind that dyslexia exists on a spectrum so the amount of exposure needed to a new learning is specific to them.  There is no magic number.

This cycle will continue through the alphabet with your child never making full linkages between the letters and sounds. Because those letter-sound correlations were never fully established, they have a difficult time selecting the appropriate phoneme and will choose one that looks and sounds similar.  For instance, your child could read or spell the word “dog” as “bog”. This is where the misconception that children with dyslexia see letters backwards stems from.

Every time a child reviews a letter/sound correlation, that neural pathway gets more and more reinforced. As these pathways become established, it becomes easier for your child to identify these sounds in words as well as read and spell more accurately.  With more exposure to reading, the same cycle will be repeated with word recognition. Similar to the way letters and sounds become easier to recognize with practice, over time this will happen with words as well.

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How Can You Help Your Child?

Knowledge is power.  Reading and speaking milestones are clearly defined and can help you get ahead of any reading struggles. Use the links to monitor your child’s literacy milestones and progress. Dyslexia also comes with a strong profile of strengths. Make sure to highlight the positive impact of dyslexia with your child to help detour any self-esteem bruising.

Another important and actionable step is to practice phonemic awareness activities with your child at home. Please follow the link if you would like to learn more about what phonemic awareness is, why it’s important, and learn specific activities you can practice with your child. Phonemic awareness deals only with sounds so you can practice these activities before they learn to read. The National Reading Panel has identified phonemic awareness as the first of five necessary components needed for reading. It is the foundation of literacy skills. 

If you find that your child is struggling to meet their reading benchmarks, seek out reading intervention as soon as possible. Research shows that reading gaps are already present by first grade and continue to grow further from the reading norm if there is no intervention. The earlier the intervention the better! 

It is also important to do your research and make sure that the intervention you choose is based on research and is scientifically proven to help children improve their reading skills. We provide dyslexia therapy through the Take Flight intervention. Take Flight is a multi-sensory, structured approach to teaching written by the education staff of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Scottish Rite for Children hospital. Parents can visit our services page to check availability for dyslexia therapy.

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