No question is asked more often than, "what is dyslexia?" Many people think it is when people reverse letters such as b and d. Yes, many dyslexics do reverse some of their letters, but there is SO much more to dyslexia than that. In fact in the official definition of dyslexia letter reversal isn’t even mentioned.

“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological 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.” (Adopted by the International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors. This Definition is also used by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.)

Now for the definition, sentence by sentence, in my own words: 1. Dyslexia is neurological. (That’s pretty self explanatory.) 2. People with dyslexia have a difficult time learning how to read, and spell. 3. It is a phonological problem. Dyslexics have trouble mastering the relationship between letters and their sounds. Very often they may move sounds around in words. For example they may read left as felt or silver as sliver or elephant as ephelant. They have more trouble with learning to read than is expected for someone of their intelligence or their educational background. 4. As a result of struggling with reading, they very often have a poor vocabulary or confuse similar sounding words such as sympathy and symphony.

Dyslexia used to be known as “word blindness.” I am very fond of this definition as dyslexics have trouble decoding individual words. They often do much better reading words in context. I once had a very dyslexic student tell me, “There is no way to tell the difference between the words hop and hope if they are by themselves. You know which one is which based on the rest of the sentence.” This example illustrates that dyslexia is a decoding problem, not a comprehension problem. Dyslexics will often do significantly better on an oral comprehension test, than on a reading comprehension test.

Another very common question people ask is, “Will my child outgrow dyslexia?” I think this is a very interesting question. If a child showed athletic talent would people ask, “When will my daughter outgrow her exceptional hand eye coordination?”

As I think back to my own struggles with education, I remember my difficulty with drawing any type of diagram. In high school geometry we were asked to draw a floor plan of our home. Mine looked like it was drawn by a blindfolded first grader. If you asked me to draw a map to my home today, I still couldn’t do it. I haven’t “outgrown” my poor art skills. Could I have taken lessons to improve my visual spatial skills? Sure an extremely patient art teacher could have spent days teaching me how to draw a cube Luckily for me very dedicated geometry teacher did his best to make sure I passed his class.

Fortunately for dyslexics there are many trained individuals who know exactly how to provide remediation for a struggling reader. When looking for a reading therapist it is important to find one who has been specifically trained to help dyslexics. It is also important to be ready to commit to the tutoring. The remediation process takes time and a commitment to practice. There is no “overnight cure.” However with the right remediation great progress can be made. I have seen many dyslexic children go on to be good readers

Back to the question, “Do people outgrow dyslexia?” The answer is no. But most of us choose careers that play to our strengths. School is the only place where people are asked to be good at everything. I’m not an architect or a clothing designer. Similarly people with dyslexia will choose careers that use their strengths which could be in a variety of skills including art, music, sports, math, or interpersonal skills. If you don’t think interpersonal skills are important, look at Oprah. One of the most successful women in world isn’t an artist, or chemist, or athlete. She is successful for many reasons, but one of her greatest strengths is her ability to relate to people.

For more on dyslexia check out the international dyslexia association web site at HERE



My following favorite book on dyslexia can be ordered off of amazon.com


For a complete review of Overcoming Dyslexia please see Book Review of Overcoming Dyslexia