What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a Specific Learning Difficulty (Spld) which affects the acquisition of fluent reading and spelling.
The first case of dyslexia in England, was identified by a doctor, in 1896, not long after the introduction of compulsory education. He was surprised to meet Percy, aged 14 years, recording observations that remain relevant more than 100 years later…
‘He has always been a bright and intelligent boy, quick at games, and in no way inferior to others of his age. His great difficulty has been – and is now – his inability to learn to read.’
The lack of obvious reasons for Percy’s difficulties and of those like him, has been a source of fascination to doctors, teachers and academics ever since.
Today we know that dyslexia is a natural neurodiversity which has positive and challenging impacts on all those who live with it.
It is a language-based learning difficulty which arises from slow information processing – both phonological and visual, as well as poor working memory and slow word-retrieval skills. Because of these cognitive differences, people with dyslexia learn differently. They often struggle to keep up in the classroom and find it hard to achieve their potential without specialist multi-sensory teaching.
Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels; it bears no relation to intelligence. Whilst it often makes school life tough, many of those with dyslexia are gifted with strengths in unique areas of thinking and creativity.
Some of the most interesting and successful people in recent times have benefitted from their dyslexia – Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Roald Dahl, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) – the world would be a much poorer place without them…
Signs and Symptoms
Severity varies, but signs of dyslexia often become apparent as a child starts learning to read.
The pattern of learning differences evolves throughout childhood and teenage years, but the underlying cognitive challenges remain the same. Because children with dyslexia process and access information more slowly than their peers, they often get left behind in the classroom – they can’t read the material quickly enough and they can’t write quickly enough.
Without appropriate intervention at an early age, the discrepancy between their level of skill and that of those around them increases and they fall increasingly behind in reading and spelling.
Dyslexia is characterised by discrepancies which can lead to anxiety, lack of confidence and poor self-esteem…
Discrepancy between the child’s potential and their performance
Discrepancy between the child’s performance and that of their peers
Early identification and diagnosis can prevent these discrepancies becoming over-whelming.
There are strategies to help – structured, cumulative, multi-sensory phonics teaching – will help them achieve their age level in reading and spelling.
People with dyslexia can and do achieve their potential.
‘I am so impressed! This shows her huge progress in the area of spelling, and how she has gone from having spelling as an area of difficulty, to now being ahead of her peers‘ – (Matilda Senco, Hill Mead School, 2023)
Children with dyslexia often chose to avoid reading activities because they find the process of learning challenging. There are many reasons for this. They might …
• Struggle to remember the alphabet code
• Struggle to segment and blend sounds – finds it hard to sound out new words
• Omit and insert words when reading
• Lose their place or miss lines
• Struggle to make sense of what they read
• Lack enjoyment
• Continue to read below the expected level for their age despite good classroom teaching and well-founded intervention
Spelling can be even more of a challenge
• Bizarre spelling – poor sound/symbol correspondence
• Over-reliance on visual memory
• Letter reversals b/d, p/q, p/g/q etc.
• Struggle to sequence sounds in the right order
These difficulties have a significant impact on written work where there are a vast number of demands on a child’s phonic knowledge, working memory, word retrieval and sequencing skills.
Children with dyslexia struggle to put their ideas down on paper in an age appropriate, coherent, format.
There is a discrepancy between their oral ability and what they can express on paper. This is hugely frustrating and demoralising…
‘Dyslexic feels like your stuck in a room but just try to kick the door down and out cause dyslexic is just a word really just keep trying your best in class and you will be successful in the future.‘ – (Alfie, 12 years)
Writing
• Writing can be a slow and arduous process
• Difficulties sequencing ideas
• Difficulties composing sentences
• Poor punctuation and grammar
• Messy presentation – lots of alterations and crossings out
• Spelling mistakes
Other signs of dyslexia extend beyond literacy. These can include;
• Appears disorganised – poor time keeping, memory difficulties
• Difficulty remembering sequences such as days, months, multiplication tables
• Difficulty learning to tell the time
• Left/right confusion
• Forgets words
• Poor concentration
• Easily distracted
• Difficulty processing and understanding what is heard
• Confuses instructions
• Behaves poorly in class – is unable to engage with class work
• Often tired – due to extra effort involved in coping with daily academic demands
• Anxiety/depression
• School refusal
Diagnosis
How is Dyslexia diagnosed?
Dyslexia can only be formally diagnosed by a certified assessor using standardised assessment tools. All our assessors are fully qualified and experienced. An assessment takes approximately 2-3 hours and is followed up by a written report, which includes a diagnosis and teaching recommendations.
Why is diagnosis helpful ?
A diagnostic assessment provides the key to understanding the reasons for a person’s difficulties and the best ways to help them learn.
Purpose:
• To identify cognitive strengths and weaknesses, to establish their level of achievement in reading, writing and spelling, to make a diagnosis where appropriate, to identify any other factors which might be affecting performance
• To provide a bespoke teaching programme to make learning easier – for use in school, at home and with a one to one teacher
• To identify whether a person will be entitled to reasonable adjustments to fully access the curriculum in school, in exams and in the work place
• To support an application for DSA
‘I am so appreciative of what you have done for my son, I have no words. Lucy was amazing and Nehemiah was very responsive with her, which was great. We now have the report and it just makes sense all these years the struggle that Nehemiah has faced and the loss of confidence that just kept growing.’ – (Sabina, 2023)
