Dyslexia: More than just reversing ps and qs

Dyslexia is the most common learning disability of children in this country. Surprised? If so, it may be because the old stereotype of a dyslexic is still pervasive – a struggling child, usually a boy, who can’t read because he mixes up similar letters like ds and bs.

One of the biggest problems with that stereotype is that many dyslexic students go unidentified and untreated. Reading problems can quickly turn into learning struggles, behavior concerns, and confidence issues.

Dyslexia simply means “poor with words” or “trouble with reading” and up to 20 percent of our population struggles with it. Just a few years ago, statistics suggested that boys are much more likely than girls to have dyslexia. Today, we know that dyslexia affects males and females equally, but boys still tend to be diagnosed with it more often – mostly because boys who struggle in school tend to act out more in frustration while girls are more likely to withdraw and slip through the cracks.

The exact causes of dyslexia remain unknown, but studies show differences in the way the brain of a dyslexic person develops and functions. People with dyslexia are more likely to have a family member with reading problems and an average or above average IQ. And all people with reading struggles generally have a weakness in one or more cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are the underlying mental tools we all use to reason think, read, remember, learn and pay attention. 

In the largest study of its kind, the National Institutes of Health determined that 88 percent of all learning-to-read problems were caused by a weakness in one specific cognitive skill: phonemic awareness, which is the ability hear, blend, unglue and manipulate sounds in a word.


Cognitive skills testing generally confirms that most people with dyslexia also have weaknesses in working memory, executive function, and attention. So, it’s not surprising that common symptoms of dyslexia are also signs of weak cognitive skills, including but not limited to:

·       Inability to sound out new or unfamiliar words

·       Difficulty understanding isolated words when not in context

·       Poor at distinguishing similarities and difference in words (no, on)

·       Weak at letter sound discrimination (pin, pen)

·       Poor comprehension

·       Little enjoyment of leisure reading

·       Poor spelling

·       Early problems with rhyming

·       Trouble following multi-step instructions

·       Floundering while trying to retrieve words and relying instead on “stuff” or “things”

·       Trouble learning a foreign language

·       Guessing while reading or substituting similar words like food for fork or puppy for dog

·       Avoiding reading aloud

·       Difficulty summarizing or retelling a story

·       Troubles discerning left and right

·       Poor grasp of if/then analogies

As with most learning disabilities, the earlier the problem is detected, the better the prognosis. A National Institutes of Health study states that 90 to 95 percent of poor readers can be brought up to grade level if they receive effective help early. Unfortunately, only about 10 percent of students with dyslexia are likely to have a severe enough disorder to qualify for special education.

But even without early intervention, dyslexia doesn’t have to be a permanent diagnosis. Studies continue to show the brain can change and improve at any age. A Carnegie Mellon University brain imaging study found that the brains of dyslexic students and other poor readers were permanently rewired to overcome reading deficits after 100 hours of intensive remedial instruction.  When cognitive skills are strengthened, reading and learning becomes fast, easy and fun. The struggles ease, and often the dyslexia label no longer fits.

While today there is no stereotypical dyslexic – just people with varying struggles with words and reading – the diagnosis is often not obvious and some people suffer for years before they’re diagnosed and get specialized help. If someone in your family has symptoms of dyslexia, talk to your school about evaluation and testing and schedule a cognitive skills assessment to determine if a cognitive weakness is to blame. As with other learning disabilities, eradicating the symptoms starts with determining the cause.