Dyslexia Information & Support

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and is not the result of overall cognitive delays or lack of quality instruction. It is characterized by deficits in phonological awareness and language processing that impact a student’s ability to spell, decode and read fluently. As a result of these difficulties in reading, students may also demonstrate weaknesses with reading comprehension, vocabulary, and background knowledge. Students may also have lessened experience with reading/text, which may be due to the emotional or motivational impacts of dyslexia related to student awareness of their reading challenges as compared to their peers.

The exact causes of dyslexia are still not completely clear, but studies show differences in the way the brain of a person with dyslexia develops and functions. Most people with dyslexia have been found to have difficulty with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds, a key factor in their reading difficulties. Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn; with appropriate teaching methods, individuals with dyslexia can learn successfully.

• Difficulty reading single words

• Difficulty decoding nonsense or unfamiliar words

• Relative strengths in reading comprehension as compared to decoding abilities

• Inaccurate and disfluent oral reading

• Slow, labored reading

• Difficulty reading small “function” words (that, is, an, etc.)

• Poor spelling (inserting extra letters, deleting letters, or switching the order of letters when spelling)

• Difficulty with rhyming, pronouncing words that have multiple syllables, and/or recognizing words that begin with the same sound

• Difficulty making connections between sounds and letters (sound-symbol relationship)

• Difficulty learning to write/spell

• Difficulty in learning letter sounds or distinguishing different sounds in words

• Difficulty manipulating oral language, breaking words into individual sounds, and/or blending individual sounds into words

The effects of dyslexia may be different for each individual depending on the nature and severity of the student’s disorder and interventions/remediation put into place, the time in which the student has been receiving the interventions, the effectiveness of the support/interventions, and so on. The primary difficulty is with reading words and the processing and manipulation of individual sounds. Some students with dyslexia still manage to learn to read by sight (reading words as sight words rather than breaking them down using decoding strategies) or may have learned other techniques to compensate for the difficulty with reading/spelling, though they may begin to struggle later in his/her education when more complex language rules are required to be generalized to other tasks, such as reading long passages/textbooks, writing essays/the writing process, and other complex grammar tasks.

Secondary consequences of dyslexia may also include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

Individuals with dyslexia may have issues with spoken language, even if they have a good language model at home and/or have had good language instruction and models at school. Students with dyslexia may have a hard time expressing themselves clearly or understanding what others mean when they speak, especially if there are subtle nuances that need to be understood along with the actual words spoken. These language difficulties are often hard to recognize and can lead to major problems in school, in developing and maintaining social/personal relationships, as well as later in life in higher education settings or the workplace. Dyslexia can cause far-reaching issues that extend well beyond the school environment.

Knowing that dyslexia is not reflective of intelligence or cognitive ability, individuals with dyslexia may also have significant issues related to self-esteem and confidence, especially where academics are concerned. Individuals with dyslexia are aware of and often know that they are having difficulties with the things in which they struggle, even if they are not able to or willing to articulate their needs. They may end up feeling less intelligent or capable than they are, which can cause difficulty with motivation and behavior as these students may avoid tasks that they know are hard for them. This can be very stressful, frustrating, and emotionally difficult for students.

Individuals with dyslexia are often some of the brightest, hardest working individuals because they have to compensate for their difficulties. They may also have brilliant strengths in math, art, or technology, and can be some of the best problem-solvers. Dyslexia is not reflective of an individual’s intelligence and can be very frustrating for students. Individual differences and strengths should be celebrated, knowing these students may require additional supports or interventions in his/her areas of weakness but also have areas of significant strength.

Students diagnosed as having Dyslexia fall under the category of Specific Learning Disability if they meet the criteria for Special Education services.

No, not all students who are diagnosed as having Dyslexia will meet the criteria for Special Education services. Dyslexia has a range of severity and impact on the student's ability to access the curriculum. At the school-based level, we do not diagnose students with Dyslexia, but it can be part of the conversation since Dyslexia is a learning disability related to language. Students can have Dyslexia but not meet the criteria for Special Education services because their needs can be met through tier 1 or tier 2 instruction in the general education setting. Students may have Dyslexia and go undiagnosed because of the minimal impact that it has on their academic achievement.

Dyslexia is one type of learning disability. Other learning disabilities besides Dyslexia include the following:

• Dyscalculia – a mathematical disability in which a person has unusual difficulty solving arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts.

• Dysgraphia – a condition of impaired letter writing by hand—disabled handwriting. Impaired handwriting can interfere with learning to spell words in writing and speed of writing text. Children with dysgraphia may have only impaired handwriting, only impaired spelling (without reading problems), or both impaired handwriting and impaired spelling.

• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders (ADHD) can and do impact learning but they are not learning disabilities. An individual can have more than one learning or behavioral disability. In various studies as many as 50% of those diagnosed with a learning or reading disability have also been diagnosed with ADHD. Although disabilities may co-occur, one is not the cause of the other.

15-20% of the population has a language-based learning disability. Of the students with specific learning disabilities receiving special education services, 70-80% have deficits in reading. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties. Dyslexia affects males and females nearly equally as well as, people from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds nearly equally.

Yes! If children who have dyslexia receive effective phonological awareness and phonics training in Kindergarten and 1st grade, they will have significantly fewer problems in learning to read at grade level than do children who are not identified or helped until 3rd grade. 74% of the children who are poor readers in 3rd grade remain poor readers in the 9th grade, many because they do not receive appropriate Structured Literacy instruction with the needed intensity or duration. Often they can’t read well as adults either. It is never too late for individuals with dyslexia to learn to read, process, and express information more efficiently. Research shows that programs utilizing Structured Literacy instructional techniques can help children and adults learn to read.

Yes! Students receiving Special Education services with weaknesses in reading, specifically decoding, encoding, phonemic/phonological awareness, can participate in a tier 3 intervention specifically designed to meet their needs. In grades K-5, students have access to the DSDI curriculum (Direct, Systematic Decoding Instruction). In grades 6-8, students may meet the criteria for the DSLP class (Direct, Systematic Literacy Program). Both structured literacy programs are built using an Orton-Gillingham approach, are multisensory in nature, and are intensive interventions to diagnostically meet the needs of students with language-based learning disabilities.

If a student is not receiving Special Education services, they may receive a tier 2 intervention through their school-based reading specialist in order to meet their needs, providing a structured approach to literacy instruction.

• Talk with your child's teacher to see what interventions are available for academic support at the tier 1 (general curriculum) level. The teacher may speak with the building reading specialist to determine if additional supports are needed.

• Your child's school administrator is also a resource and concerns regarding the need for interventions/supports can also be brought to his/her attention.

• Outside evaluations can also be completed at your desire/discretion. Talk with your child's pediatrician regarding your concerns and possible referrals to agencies outside of HCS for diagnosis. Understanding the difference between diagnosis and identification is important. The division does not diagnose students with a disability but can identify them as meeting the criteria under IDEA for one of the 13 possible disability categories. See more information regarding that linked here.

• Review the Hampton City Schools Special Education Process to learn more about the intervention/SpEd process in relation to Special Education services.

• Dyslexia is now part of Chapter 649 in the Code of Virginia as of July 1, 2017.

• 2016. HB 842. New teacher training in dyslexia.

• 2017. SB1516. Dyslexia advisor in every school district.

• Dyslexia Legislation in the USA as of 2018

• 2021 Pending Legislation