What does Dyslexia look like?

The Specific Learning Disorder (with impairment in reading) is often referred to as dyslexia. Some common attributes of the disorder include:

• Reading and/or spelling accuracy being substantially lower than their same-aged peers.
• Significant difficulty with word reading in accuracy, reading rate, and/or fluency (appear to struggle to get their words out).
• Experience considerable difficulties in understanding what they have read and answering questions (reading comprehension).
• Struggle to spell words accurately and may tend to spell words as they sound rather than understanding fundamental spelling rules, for example spelling “right” as “rite”.
• May have difficulty with using decoding skills such as understanding how to reproduce familiar and unfamiliar words.

What are some recommendations for Dyslexia?

There are numerous ways we can assist a child with a Specific Learning Disorder (with impairment in reading) depending on their age and reading ability.

For example:

• If your child has difficulties with reading fluency (which interferes with their ability to understand what they are reading) a useful recommendation can be to encourage your child to re-read the book, paragraph, or text, which allows the child to firstly work out the actual words, and then secondly understand the story.
• If your child has reading accuracy difficulties, the teacher can save your child the ordeal of having to “read aloud in class”, and instead reserve reading for a quiet time with the class teacher.
• In both situations listed above, recommendations can also involve your child acquiring more time to read questions and provide answers when completing assignments or tests.

Dyslexia testing through an educational assessment can assist in understanding your child’s reading ability and provide recommendations catered to your child’s needs to assist them in fulfilling their reading and learning potential.

How do you know when your child’s learning difficulties are not due to Dyslexia?

There are many reasons that your child may have reading difficulties unrelated to having a Specific Learning Disorder. For example:

• Eyesight, hearing issues, or developmental delays may affect someone’s ability to read.
• Reading difficulties which can occur through a lack of opportunity to learn (for example chronic health conditions which impact upon school attendance).
• Lack of reading motivation, which negatively affects your child’s ability to read, particularly if the text seems too challenging, impacting their attempts to improve reading ability. In this situation, careful consideration is required to determine your child’s areas of interest and what will assist their motivation to read.

There are also alternative learning/psychological disorders that can also negatively impact upon a child’s ability to read, most commonly including Language Disorder, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability (read more about these under “Learn About Learning Disorders”). This highlights the importance for an educational assessment to rule out alternative diagnoses and be aware of the reasons for your child’s reading difficulties so appropriate support can be recommended and provided.