Exactly WHAT is Dyslexia?

Are you uncertain what is dyslexia and what isn’t dyslexia? You are NOT alone!

Confusion happens when people use the definition and diagnosis of dyslexia interchangeably. Dyslexia as a definition and diagnosis are two different things. So, we need to talk about the difference between these two things for the sake of your child.

Why is Understanding what IS dyslexia critical?

Parents and teachers need to be able to give kids the right kind help! For example:

1. Some kids have scotopic sensitivity and they require light spectrum solutions. Scotopic sensitivity is NOT “dyslexia”.
2. Some kids have ocular motor deficiencies, so they require vision therapy. Ocular motor deficiencies are NOT “dyslexia” either.
3. Some kids have visual perception problems or inability to maintain a focal point. Neither of those are “dyslexia,” and they each require a special kind of focal point training.
4. Some kids have neurological deficits in their working memory and they lack phonemic awareness. These deficits ARE “dyslexia,” and they require special reading programs.

The first three conditions are NOT DIAGNOSABLE as dyslexia. We treat them completely differently than the learning disability that IS dyslexia.

The first three conditions fit into the definition of the word “dyslexia.”

The definition of dyslexia is: “difficulty with words.” ANY difficulty with reading could be called dyslexia by the definition of the word. However, the definition doesn’t tell us anything about the specific kind of help a child needs.

The condition that is diagnosable as dyslexia, is a learning disability. It is a brain-based learning disability. Neurologically speaking, a lack of phonemic awareness must be present for a child to be diagnosable with the specific learning disability ~ dyslexia.

We can eliminnate the confusion about what is dyslexia if people understand what is and isn’t true dyslexia.  What is dyslexia and what it is not, is very clear. Researchers have known this for for decades.

Why the difference between what is and isn’t dyslexia SO important?

Why am I so adamant about the difference between dyslexia, scotopic sensitivity, ocular motor deficiencies, and other disabilities? The ALL cause difficulty with reading, so what’s the big deal?

Because professionals are preventing students from getting the RIGHT type of assistance for the child’s specific issue. By continually calling every kind of reading difficulty “dyslexia,” parents and teachers alike wallow in confusion. They have no idea how to help a child, so they begin trying anything and everything. When solutions don’t work, frustration sets in, and they start seeking other random solutions.

The sooner professionals start referring to other types of reading problems by their proper names, the sooner teachers and parents can provide each child with the right educational solution(s).

Simply put, we can all communicate about a child’s specific reading disability easier and more clearly, if we know what are the specific reading problems.

“Dyslexia” is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin.

“Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with accurate and 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” (International Dyslexia Association).

If your child has diagnosable dyslexia, he lacks phonemic awareness. He probably has memory difficulties and processing difficulties too. If your child lacks phonemic awareness, we know eactly how to teach your child this skill!  We also know the types of instruction kids need to help with memory and processing.

The proven methodology for teaching kids with true dyslexia is called the Orton-Gillingham method.  This method is what worked for my child and works for countless other kids with TRUE dyslexia. AFTER our public school had spent five years failing to teach my son to read, I had no difficulty teaching my son to read once we started using the right kind of program. In fact, teaching him to read was astoundingly easy with an Orton-Gillingham reading program.

Just in case your child does NOT have “Dyslexia”, know this:

Scotopic sensitivity is a light spectrum sensitivity. It is treated by having low-glare boards, pastel papers or colored overlays, or specialized glasses and is described in “Reading by the Colors”. If a child has true dyslexia, providing special papers or print surfaces will not cure the child’s dyslexia. That is because colored surfaces does not address a child’s lack of phonemic awareness.

Vision therapy is used to treat ocular motor deficiencies. Vision therapy helps a child develop the muscle strength to smoothly sweep his eyes back and forth for reading. You can learn the latest in regard to vision therapy in “Eye Power: An Updated Report on Vision Therapy“. Providing vision therapy will not cure true dyslexia. Again, this is because vision therapy does not address a child’s lack of phonemic awareness.

Focal point or perception issues, as addressed in “The Gift of Dyslexia”, are an entirely different than the issues above. The basis for perception problems is in attention, visual perception, and concentration for the purpose of maintaining a focal point. Teaching your child how to find and maintain a focal point, as taught in “The Gift of Dyslexia,” won’t cure true dyslexia. Focal point training doesn’t address a child’s lack of phonemic awareness.

We’ve known for DECADES how to teach children with clinical dyslexia to read.

Schools routinely tell parents they don’t recognize or treat dyslexia! The huge question for me is why NOT? The proven method for remediating true dyslexia is the Orton-Gillingham methodology, and it’s been around since the 1930s!  There is NO mystery here with how to teach a child with dyslexia to read.

True Dyslexia requires direct, explicit, comprehensive, multi-sensory instruction. Instruction is given until a child masters each of the 72 phonemes in the English language, as well as explicit instruction in syllabication, and blending and segmenting sounds for reading and spelling. The required method and appropriate programs for addressing a child’s true dyslexia are based upon Orton-Gillingham methods, and are discussed at length in “Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level“.

So, let’s all be clear when we talk about a child having a reading issue:

If you are a professional, please be sure you are referring to a neurological learning disability when you say a child has “dyslexia.”

When a child has a sensitivity to glare and light spectrum-based reading difficulties, it is scotopic sensitivity.

When a child complains of words jumping around on a page and often loses his place while reading, he probably has ocular motor developmental vision issues. The solution is often vision therapy or special spectrum glasses.

If a child has grave difficulty distinguishing between b, d, p, and q, between n and u, m and w, or has many reversals when writing, then the child may have perception issues. It’s likely the child will require focal point training.

With all of the information available on various forms of reading difficulties, I cringe whenever I hear a teacher or administrator say we don’t know enough about dyslexia to effectively overcome it. Or when they say dyslexia is too difficult to pinpoint and refer to a reading disability in a generic sense.

There are plenty of professional, career educators who sincerely do not think we can diagnose and treat dyslexia with any degree of accuracy or proficiency. They need to become educated about dyslexia (feel free to refer your teachers to this page for their own understanding).

With all we know today, diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia is readily available. We have a lot of great programs we can choose for overcoming dyslexia.

There are methods for determining the exact cause of any child’s reading difficulty. You can help your child learn to read using proven programs and methods, whether the root problem is dyslexia or some other condition.

Professionals need to be precise about our wording, so we can help others understand the difference between dyslexia and other reading difficulties. We need to practice precision in pinpointing individual reading difficulties. Being precise will help parents, teachers, tutors, and other providers find the right reading solutions to specific problems of any student.

If each professional can take it upon himself or herself to make a difference in the lives YOU touch. Together we can help parents and students understand the different types of reading difficulties. Even better, we can help individual kids overcome reading problems by providing the proper solutions to each reading problem.

There is no muddy water when it comes to what is dyslexia. None.

There is no mystery about what is dyslexia. Neither is there any mystery about how to teach a child with true dyslexia to read! Neuropsychological evaluations accurately determine if a child has true dyslexia or some other disability causing difficulty with reading.

We have known solutions for each kind of difficulty with reading. We can identify the actual cause of each child’s reading difficulty if we ask the right questions. There is no mystery. And there is no excuse for failing to teach children to read with all we know about reading today.

Be a mover and a shaker! Make a difference in YOUR school and the lives of your students by KNOWING what is dyslexia and what isn’t!

When you touch the lives of your students, you make your community more successful! Don’t be an antiquated educator who says “we can’t diagnose dyslexia” or “we don’t know what is dyslexia.”

We know all we need to know about what is dyslexia to enable every child to be successful! Become fully up to date, be informed, and make a difference!