Chapter One
UNDERSTANDING DYSLEXIA

In the first half of this century, the story of dyslexia has been one of decline and fall; in the second half, it has culminated in a spectacular rise. From being a rather dubious term, dyslexia has blossomed into a glamorous topic; and rightly so, for with a prevalence of around 5%, the condition is remarkably common.

—Dr. Uta Frith, 1999, p. 192

A substantial number of well‐intentioned boys and girls—including very bright ones—experience significant difficulty in learning to read, through no fault of their own. This frustrating and persistent problem in learning to read is called dyslexia.

—Dr. Sally Shaywitz & Dr. Jonathan Shaywitz, 2020, p. 3

INTRODUCTION

Steven, a second‐grade student, knows only four letters of the alphabet. His teachers have tried to help him memorize letters and their sounds, but he always seems to forget what he has learned the next day. Lately, he has started to say that he is dumb, and that’s the reason he can’t learn to read and spell.

Maria is in middle school. She is often confused by letters that have similar sounds, such as spelling every as efry. These subtle sound confusions are also apparent in her speech when she pronounces certain multisyllabic words, for example, saying “puh‐si‐fic” when she meant to say “specific.” She sometimes confuses words that have similar sounds. Even though she has a good vocabulary, she may say “that book really memorized me” when she really meant to say “mesmerized.” At times, she avoids saying certain words because she is unsure about their pronunciation.

Jeff is a junior in high school. He recently took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and only finished half of each section. He said he knew how to do the rest of the questions, but he didn’t have enough time to attempt them. He wonders why his peers seem to always have plenty of time when reading takes him so long.

Mr. Brogan has just attended his fifth‐grade son’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting at the local elementary school. His son, Matthew, is having great difficulty learning to read and spell. Even though he has an adapted spelling list, Matthew still forgets how to spell the words when the weekly spelling test is given. He spells words just the way they sound, not the way they look, such as spelling they as thay. When Mr. Brogan hears Matthew’s fifth‐grade teacher, the special education teacher, and the school psychologist describing his son’s severe reading and spelling difficulties, he immediately thinks: “That was just like me.”

What do these individuals who struggle with certain aspects of literacy have in common? They all have dyslexia. Although this seems to be an accurate label to explain difficulty in learning to read and spell, confusion exists regarding what having dyslexia actually means.

WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?

What is dyslexia? This simple question is asked every day by both parents and teachers as they struggle to understand why a child is not learning to read with ease. It is a question asked by Matthew who wonders why reading and spelling are so difficult for him. It is also a question asked by older students like Jeff as they attempt to determine why reading is so effortful and why they read so much more slowly than their peers. Although Mr. Brogan was well aware that he had always struggled with reading, when he hears the description of Matthew’s difficulties and that the school team thinks that Matthew has dyslexia, he realizes that he too has dyslexia that was never diagnosed. He now understands the reasons why he never reads for pleasure and why the stack of books that others have suggested he read sits undisturbed by his bedside.

Over the last century, researchers who are concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia have attempted to answer the following three questions (Tunmer & Greaney, 2010, p. 229):

1. What is it?
2. What causes it?
3. What can be done about it?

The goal of this book is to attempt to answer these three questions in a straightforward way so that dyslexia can be easily understood by educational professionals and parents alike, as well as by individuals who have dyslexia. Although we still do not have conclusive answers to the abovementioned questions, fortunately, over the last century, researchers, medical professionals, and practitioners have learned a lot about dyslexia, as well as how this disorder affects reading and spelling development.

The word dyslexia comes from the Greek words δυσ‐ dys‐ (“impaired”) and lexis (“word”). Although numerous definitions exist, dyslexia can be most simply defined as a neurobiological disorder that causes a marked impairment in the development of reading. More specifically, dyslexia is manifested in weaknesses in word‐level reading skills; it affects decoding (pronouncing printed words), reading rate and fluency, and encoding (spelling) (Pennington et al., 2019; Vellutino & Fletcher, 2007). Thus, dyslexia is a complex cognitive disorder of neurobiological origin that affects the development of literacy (Pennington et al., 2019; Shastry, 2007; Vellutino & Fletcher, 2007).

For teachers and parents just learning about dyslexia, the book, Dyslexia: A Very Short Introduction, provides an accessible overview of research discussing history, the role of both genetic and environmental factors, brain scanning techniques, and effective interventions (Snowling, 2019). In addition, the University of Michigan has a comprehensive website that provides numerous resources for parents, professionals, and individuals with dyslexia, including research, case studies, recommended books, apps, and success stories (http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/).

DON’T FORGET

Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder that affects the development of decoding (pronouncing written words), reading rate and fluency, and encoding (spelling).

Both parents and professionals are often confused regarding the difference between a specific learning disability (SLD) and dyslexia. They often wonder, if a student is diagnosed with an SLD in reading, does this mean that the student has dyslexia? The answer to this question is: Maybe. Essentially, SLD is a broader category that encompasses several different types of disorders, including dyslexia, the most common and carefully studied SLD (Shastry, 2007). In addition, the terms dyslexia, specific developmental dyslexia, specific learning disorder with an impairment in reading (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision, DSM‐5‐TR), specific reading disability, and reading disability are often used interchangeably to describe this neurodevelopmental disorder (DeFries et al., 1978; Pennington et al., 2019). DSM‐5‐TR clarifies that dyslexia is an alternative term that may be used to describe difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition, decoding, and spelling (American Psychiatric Association, 2022).

In some school districts, school psychologists and special and general educators do not use the word dyslexia when describing students with severe reading disabilities. In fact, the term dyslexia has fallen in and out of popularity since the early 1930s (Rooney, 1995). Many states have comprehensive laws that must be adhered to regarding both assessment and service delivery to school children with dyslexia. In fact, as of 2022, all 50 states of the United States of America have some type of dyslexia law. Rapid Reference 1.1 lists several websites that describe the dyslexia laws for each state.

Rapid Reference 1.1 Resources for Dyslexia Laws

National Center on Improving Literacy

• State of Dyslexia: Explore dyslexia legislation and related initiatives in the United States of America.
• improvingliteracy.org/state‐of‐dyslexia

Dyslegia: A Legislative Information Site

• Dyslegia.com tracks the progress of legislation specifically related to dyslexia throughout the United States.
• dyslegia.com

Dyslexic Advantage

• Reviews dyslexia laws in the US.
• dyslexicadvantage.org/dyslexia‐laws‐2018/

In addition to increased awareness of dyslexia, in the coming years, we are likely to see the term “dyslexia” being used more often. One reason that the term is becoming more commonplace is the memo that was issued by the United States Office of Special Education Programs in May of 2015, encouraging schools to use the terms, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. The memo states:

“In implementing the IDEA requirements discussed above, OSERS encourages SEAs and LEAs to consider situations where it would be appropriate to use the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia to describe and address the child’s unique, identified needs through evaluation, eligibility, and IEP documents. OSERS further encourages states to review their policies, procedures, and practices to ensure that they do not prohibit the use of the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in evaluations, eligibility, and IEP documents.”

Note: IDEA = Individuals with...