Defining Dyslexia & Recognizing its Signs and Challenges

Dyslexia is a learning disability marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and match sounds with written letters and words. A neurological disorder, dyslexia is characterized by an unexpected difficulty in reading in children and adults who otherwise possess the intelligence, motivation, and oral language proficiency considered necessary for developing accurate and fluent reading. Individuals with dyslexia often have trouble with reading, writing, spelling and/or math even though they have the ability, and have had opportunities, to learn.

With specialized instruction, most individuals with dyslexia can learn to read. Despite their challenges, individuals with dyslexia are often talented and creative and have significant strengths in other areas. (The official definition of dyslexia adopted by the International Dyslexia Association and Everyone Reading Illinois can be found here.)

A person with dyslexia will have several of the following characteristics:

Oral Language

• Late learning to talk

• Difficulty pronouncing words

• Difficulty acquiring vocabulary or using age appropriate grammar

• Difficulty following directions

• Confusion with before/after, right/left, and so on

• Difficulty learning the alphabet, nursery rhymes, or songs

• Difficulty understanding concepts and relationships

• Difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems