Studies show that between 5-17% of children and adults have dyslexia. According to the Dyslexia Center of Utah, one in five students have a language based learning disability (dyslexia included). While dyslexia can make reading much more difficult, it does not mean it is impossible.
Reading with dyslexia can be slow and laborious. Readers with dyslexia process language differently: this includes reading, spelling, and sometimes speaking as well. Most commonly, manipulating sounds at the phonological level is what gets in the way of reading. Slow, effortful decoding then caps fluency, and when fluency suffers, comprehension usually follows: a child spending all their attention on getting words off the page has little left for meaning.
Students who struggle with phonics often require specifically designed instruction to meet their needs. The instruction that is most helpful is intense and focused on sound to symbol imagery. Within this instruction, readers are able to use multiple senses to begin to recognize sounds and the symbols they represent.
A recent study investigated how intensive, focused instruction, even for those with dyslexia, can lead to growth in reading skills. Doctors involved in the study concluded that "targeted, intensive reading programs… change the underlying wiring of the brain’s reading circuitry” (Nature Communications,2018).
Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. It is genetically inherited and cannot be taken away. But, with structured literacy techniques, those with dyslexia can learn to process sounds, symbols, words, and reading more productively.
Wondering whether what you are seeing at home fits this pattern? Our free dyslexia screener takes a few minutes. For what instruction looks like, read: What is Structured Literacy Instruction?