What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a reading disorder that makes it hard to understand how sounds and letters work together to form words. This can lead to trouble with recognizing words accurately, sounding out new words, reading smoothly, and spelling. Even with proper teaching, people with dyslexia often struggle significantly with reading, writing, and spelling. These difficulties are surprising because they don’t match the person’s overall abilities. It’s important to know that dyslexia is not about reversing letters or numbers, writing or reading backward, or words moving on the page.
Note: Dyslexia does not reflect a lack of intelligence or effort. Each person learns differently!
Primary Characteristics of Dyslexia in Children
- Difficulty accurately decoding unfamiliar words
- Difficulty with oral reading (slow, inaccurate, or labored)
- Difficulty spelling
- Difficulty reading words in isolation
- Math skills in the average range
- Difficulty with written composition
- Family history of similar problems
- Difficulty learning the names of the letters and their associated sounds
Tip: Early identification can greatly improve outcomes and support strategies.
How We Test for Dyslexia
To determine if a child has dyslexia, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation that includes the following:
- Child’s history through parent input, teacher input, and self-report (age permitting)
- An assessment of how the child learns and processes information
- An assessment of their academic skills, including their phonemic awareness (ability to identify and manipulate sounds)
- Ruling out any processing issues, medical conditions, vision problems, or other disabilities that may impact reading skills
🔍 Why We Look at the Whole Picture
At eDiagnostic Learning, we do not assess for a single learning disability in isolation. A comprehensive evaluation is essential to understanding how an individual learns and processes information. By assessing multiple areas—such as reading, writing, math, attention, memory, and processing—we can rule out overlapping challenges and ensure the most accurate diagnosis and support plan.