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Published: 25 November 2013

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Dr Kerry Hempenstall, Senior Industry Fellow, School of Education, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

First published Nov 15, 2013. Updated 28/10/2017

My blogs can be viewed on-line or downloaded as a Word file or PDF at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/olxpifutwcgvg8j/AABU8YNr4ZxiXPXzvHrrirR8a?dl=0

New addition - March 2025 

The intention of addressing the highlights in developing reading ability among young students continues to be a significant topic.

The original book addressed both sides of the question - whether “visual deficits are causal or consequential to reading disability” (Olulade, Napoliello, & Eden, 2013)

What side are recent researchers supporting?

Overview (2022)

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.

Dyslexia is not due to problems with intelligence, hearing or vision. Most children with dyslexia can succeed in school with tutoring or a specialized education program. Emotional support also plays an important role.

Though there's no cure for dyslexia, early assessment and intervention result in the best outcome. Sometimes dyslexia goes undiagnosed for years and isn't recognized until adulthood, but it's never too late to seek help.

Mayo Clinic Dyslexia

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/symptoms-causes/syc-20353552#:~:text=Overview,the%20brain%20that%20process%20language

Learn more

While dyslexia, a common reading difficulty, is often misconstrued as a visual problem, it's actually a language-based learning disability that affects how the brain processes language, particularly reading. However, visual processing difficulties can sometimes exacerbate reading challenges. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Dyslexia is a language-based problem:

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading, and is not primarily a vision problem. 

• Visual processing difficulties can contribute:

While not the root cause of dyslexia, visual processing issues, such as difficulties with visual tracking or processing visual information, can make reading more challenging. 

• Undiagnosed vision problems can be misdiagnosed as dyslexia:

It's important to rule out any underlying vision problems through a comprehensive eye evaluation, as undiagnosed vision issues can sometimes be mistaken for dyslexia. 

• Vision therapy can help:

If a child with dyslexia also has a vision problem, vision therapy can help enhance deficient vision skills and improve reading abilities. 

• Visual processing disorders can cause difficulties with reading:

Visual processing disorders can interrupt an individual's ability to understand and navigate written symbols, which may cause problems with math and learning to read at school. 

According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is a "language-based learning disability [and] refers to a cluster of symptoms that result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading." While dyslexia is not a vision problem, a substantial number of individuals with dyslexia have other visual problems. Depending on its severity, a learning-related vision problem can sometimes be misidentified as dyslexia because there are similarities. However, it is more common that children with dyslexia also have a visual component that is contributing to their difficulties.

Children and adults with dyslexia usually have normal healthy eyes. However, a substantial number of individuals with dyslexia have other visual problems. These problems may include inadequate development of function in the visual system, associated pathways, and brain. Margaret Livingstone and her colleagues from the Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School and the Dyslexia Research Laboratory, Beth Israel Hospital in Boston have defined dyslexia as follows: “Developmental dyslexia is the selective impairment of reading skills despite normal intelligence, sensory acuity, and instruction.

Several perceptual studies have suggested that dyslexic subjects process visual information more slowly than normal subjects. Such visual abnormalities were reported to be found in more than 75% of the reading-disabled children tested.”

Although dyslexia is a reading disorder, it is not limited to language. Recent research has demonstrated the significance of visual information processing in dyslexia. The visual factors associated with dyslexia include spatial perception, timing, and rhythm.

These problems may also be manifested when catching a ball, maintaining orientation for balance, tying shoelaces, and in tendencies to be accident prone, distractible or absent minded. The teams of researchers at Harvard University and Beth Israel Hospital also reported that information in the two major processing pathways (transient and sustained systems) arrive at the visual brain centers out of sequence. As a result, for most dyslexics, words on a printed page seem to move chaotically and appear as reversals. In essence, this is a visual problem of timing and coordination. Research has shown that transient visual system deficits impact upon reading skills.

The College of Optometrists in Vision Development recommends a comprehensive evaluation which includes a thorough “eye” examination of structure and health, and a thorough “vision” examination of functions which are necessary to process visual information meaningfully. This comprehensive evaluation of vision leads to recommended management strategies including vision therapy, the application of lenses and prisms, and/or appropriate referral to other professionals.

The College of Optometrists in Vision Development

https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.covd.org/resource/resmgr/white_papers/7-_vision_and_dyslexia.pdf

“Difficulties with visual discrimination will impact reading and math skills significantly, making it difficult to discriminate between different words, letters and numbers. Poor visual discrimination skills can also cause a child to have difficulty with directionality and laterality.14 June 2021”

South Shore Therapies

Comprehensive Learning Center for Therapy in Hingham, MA

Occupational Therapy Blogs /by Amanda Caouette

“Our vision is one of the most important senses we use every day. It helps us move around safely, read, write, and complete daily tasks. For children, vision is crucial for learning and interacting with the world around them. Ocular motor skills involve the ability to move and coordinate the eye muscles, while visual perceptual skills help us understand and make sense of what we see. Both of these skills are essential for children to process visual information effectively. 

What Are Ocular Motor Skills? 

For children to see and interact with the world around them, their eyes need to work together and move efficiently. This is important for tasks like catching a ball, watching a bird fly by, or reading from left to right. Children with ocular motor difficulties may struggle with these eye movements or their visual acuity.

Visual Closure: The ability to recognize a familiar item, word, or picture when only part of it is shown.

For children with visual perception difficulties, these skills may need practice to support skills like navigating spaces, organization, and school-based tasks.”

My Resource Place (2050)

Occupational Therapy Blogs /by Amanda Caouette

“Vision deficits in children can have a significant impact on their ability to learn, play, and interact with their environment. You may see your child struggling with academic performance, social skills, and overall confidence. For example, your child may find it harder to read which can lead to delays in learning to read and write. They may have difficulty organizing their belongings or finding things they need on a day-to-day basis. If you feel your child may have vision difficulties, talk to your occupational therapist; they can determine if a referral for a functional vision assessment is recommended. 

Activities to Enhance Vision 

To work on and enhance your child’s vision skills, here are some activities to target each specific skill.  

Saccades 

• Reading 
• Spot It!
• Eye Jump: Hold up two preferred objects and have your child look between each object. This can be done vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.  

Pursuits 

The Impact of Poor Ocular Motor and Visual Perceptual Skills. My Resource Place (2025)

https://myresourceplace.com/blogs/vision-visual-system-ocular-motor-visual-perceptual/#:~:text=The%20Impact%20of%20Poor%20Ocular%20Motor%20and%20Visual%20Perceptual%20Skills&text=You%20may%20see%20your%20child,learning%20to%20read%20and%20write.

AI Overview

“It is estimated that 1 in 10 children have a vision problem severe enough to affect their learning in school, but school vision screenings can miss these problems. While learning occurs through a number of complex and interrelated processes, vision plays a key role. Children should be referred for a comprehensive eye exam whenever visual symptoms are noticed or if they are not achieving their potential.”

Reading problems that can indicate an issue with the eyes are;

• Double vision
• Blurry vision
• Headaches
• Eye strain
• Letters appearing to move around the page

“Developing strong reading skills in students is one of the key goals of every early education program. It is through reading that students expand their vocabulary and learn about the world. Reading is also the key to success in spelling and writing.

And while 6 and 7-year-olds are fluent speakers, they require instruction in how to navigate print. If a student is having problems with literacy skills, it can affect their performance across the school curriculum and have a negative impact on motivation to learn and self-esteem.

Sometimes there may be an undiagnosed learning difficulty to blame – as is the case for students who struggle with dyslexia or slow processing. In these situations parents and educators are tasked with understanding the root of the problem and providing children with appropriate coping strategies, to ensure they continue to progress and achieve reading milestones.

How Reading Works

Not every student acquires reading skills at the same rate. Reading begins with mastering pre-literacy skills, including learning the alphabet and enhancing phonemic awareness. This is followed closely by phonics instruction that teaches children how to map sounds to letters and sound out words.

As more terms become familiar to a beginner reader, the process speeds up via whole word recognition or sight-reading. This can be encouraged through direct instruction in high-frequency vocabulary.

When students move into middle school, they will be asked to achieve greater feats of comprehension, which include understanding complex texts and processing more information in shorter amounts of time.

Being a fast and efficient reader is important for classroom-based lessons, but also for satisfying homework requirements and performing well on standardized exams. Learn more about teaching children to read.

Common Difficulties

Issues with Decoding

Also known as sounding out words, decoding is when children are able to put sounds to letters in order to sound out written language. It’s common for beginner readers to struggle when they meet new or unfamiliar terms, but typically decoding becomes easier with phonics instruction and repeated practice with reading out loud. If a child continues to struggle, there may be a specific learning difficulty present or a physical impairment that is preventing them from physically seeing the letters or hearing the sounds in spoken language. Learn more in our posts on dyslexia and visual impairment in the classroom.

Poor comprehension

There’s a lot going on in reading, from letter and word recognition to understanding meaning at the phrase, sentence, and paragraph level. When a beginner reader encounters vocabulary they do not know or do not recognize due to inaccurate decoding, they are likely to skip ahead. The more blanks in a line of text, the harder it is to make meaning and the more cognitively challenging and frustrating the reading task becomes. That’s why poor comprehension can result when a student struggles with decoding, has a limited vocabulary or attempts to read a text that is at too high of a level

However, reading also requires being able to pay attention to the narrative. Students need to identify gist, main ideas, and specific details and even make inferences about what they are reading. If a student has problems staying focused as a result of ADD or ADHD, it can impact on comprehension.

Speed

The more students read, the more they encounter unfamiliar terms. Quite often the context in which these new words are found gives children all of the clues they need to guess at the meaning. As students expand their vocabulary, they recognize more words by sight and reading speeds up. Students who continue to decode may benefit from overlearning sight words such as those on the Dolch List.

If speed is still an issue, there may be an underlying problem, such as slow processing. Reading is a cognitively demanding task and holding so much information in the mind while continuing to process text can exhaust children with slow processing. Strategy instruction may help but it’s important that these students be allowed extra time to complete tasks that require extensive reading.

It is often overlooked that reading is a complex visual task requiring the coordination of many visual skills to function accurately, quickly, and without conscience, attention to enable comprehension to emerge. Focusing, eye teaming, tracking across the page, and stamina are all crucial. Not being confused by the size and spacing of print and the volume of information on the page is critical.”

Reading Problems . Vivid Vision. (2023)

https://www.seevividly.com/info/Binocular_Vision/Signs_and_Symptoms/Reading_Problems

“This coherent body of evidence establishes the neural basis of reading, and strongly suggests, contrary to much current belief, that visual and auditory timing deficits are the main causes of the phonological deficit in people with dyslexia and their reading failure.”

Stein, J. (2022). The visual basis of reading and reading difficulties.. Sec. Neurodevelopment, Volume 16. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.1004027/full

 https://decoda.ca/how-visual-processing-disorder-affects-reading/

Visual processing disorder (VPD) is a condition that affects a person’s ability to process and interpret visual information. Someone with VPD does not have a physical problem with their eyes. Rather, the brain has trouble making sense of visual input. It can make it difficult to recognize letters and words or to distinguish between similar-looking words. With the right supports and strategies, we can help literacy learners achieve their goals.

How VPD Affects Reading

Parents and educators normally recognise VPD as a child is learning. Often, children are misdiagnosed with dyslexia. Therefore, it is important to consult with a behavioral or neuro-optometrist who specializes in visual processing.

Reading requires multiple visual processing skills. These skills include visual discrimination (the ability to distinguish between similar-looking letters and words), visual sequencing (the ability to read and understand the order of letters and words in a sentence), and visual memory (the ability to remember and recall visual information). Learners with VPD may struggle with one or more of these skills, which can make reading challenging.

Visual processing disorder can have a significant impact on literacy. However, with the right support and accommodations, individuals with VPD can develop the skills they need to become confident and successful readers. If you suspect that a learner has VPD, it’s important to seek professional guidance to ensure that they receive the appropriate support.”

Dyslexia Help

https://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/answers/ask-dr-pierson/dyslexia-or-visual-problem

“I have been working with my son since he was 4 on his reading and writing skills, which have always been a struggle for him. He now tests in the average range for reading fluency, and above average in comprehension on the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT). He has a high score for phonological processing on the comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP). He seems to have visual processing difficulties though (his visual acuity tested at 20/20 and it seems his eyes are tracking together) where he loses his place, adds/omits words, and scrambles phrases as he reads. It gets worse after he reads more than a paragraph. He complains that his eyes are tired, and often outright refuses to read aloud or to himself. He loves audio books and will read along books where the words are highlighted. His writing looks like a first grader’s with poor spacing and words “falling off the lines”. So, I’m wondering about the possibility of Irlen Syndrome. Do you have any suggestions about diagnostic questions we should be asking and/or professionals we should consult. If you know of a good research article about this, that would also be welcome.

Dr. Pierson's Response: 

First and foremost, as I think you know, dyslexia is not a visual problem, but results from weaknesses in phonological processing.

It is true that our students with dyslexia are exerting so much effort to read and spell and write, that they become quickly fatigued. …

As a diagnostician, I’d want to know whether attention may be playing a role in your son’s reading challenges. I would also take him to a reputable ophthalmologist, in Ann Arbor we have Kellogg Eye Center. They understand the role of vision in reading and will not recommend vision therapy with the false promise of helping his reading. There are those who will not follow the protocol, claiming that vision therapy will 'cure' the reading problem. This thinking is detrimental to the child with dyslexia. Structured literacy is the intervention for the student with dyslexia.”

Pierson, J.M. (2025). Dyslexia or a visual problem? Dyslexia Help.

https://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/answers/ask-dr-pierson/dyslexia-or-visual-problem

“The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between the severity of reading disorder and visual functions among children with dyslexia.  … This study was intended to explore the relationship between the severity of reading disorders and visual acuity findings in dyslexic children. Despite a large number of studies regarding dyslexia, few studies have investigated the severity of reading disorders in these patients. Previously, it has been indicated that children with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, are more likely to experience disorders of visual function, and reading difficulties are usually associated with these disorders, namely binocular vision abnormalities.[²⁸²⁹] A descriptive study reviewing 114 articles published between 2000 and 2012 showed that eye movement anomalies, pseudo neglect, and visual contrast deficits constituted the most important ophthalmic properties ascribed to dyslexia. … The mechanism of dyslexia is still controversial. Dyslexic people show average intelligence, so their disability cannot be explained by lower intelligence.[⁷] In a common theory, phonological deficits constitute the main cause of dyslexia.[⁸⁹¹⁰] However, further studies have revealed that sensory and visual perceptual dysfunctions might play a role.[¹¹] Fluent reading requires rapid processing of visual information, including spatial and temporal data.[¹²¹³] It has been proposed that dyslexic children might have a deficit in rapid processing of visual and auditory modalities.[¹⁴] Principally, this hypothesis implies that deficits in phonological decoding found among dyslexics (such as pseudoword reading) can arise from damage to sensory processing of visual and auditory stimuli.[^1516171819] Furthermore, anatomical and psychophysical studies indicate that some dyslexic patients might experience decreased sensitivity to contrast, flicker, and/or motion.[²⁰] Many previous studies have evaluated the role of vision in dyslexic patients. For example, Wahlberg-Ramsay et al.,[⁴] suggested that in dyslexic children reading problems are the result of phonological deficit among these patients and not an underlying cause of dyslexia. Binocular vision abnormalities in dyslexic children might be related to phonological deficits but not to visual problems.

Darvishi, Azam¹; Rad, Davood Sobhani^1,3; Atigh, Somayyeh Boomi Quchan¹; Hamidi, Aghdas¹; Shandiz, Javad Heravian^1,2,*; Baghini, Ahmad Shojaei. The relation between the severity of reading disorder and visual functions among children with dyslexia. ^.Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology 12(2):p 178-183, Apr–Jun 2022. | DOI: 10.4103/tjo.tjo_33_21

https://journals.lww.com/tjop/fulltext/2022/12020/the_relation_between_the_severity_of_reading.9.aspx

“Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.”

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/symptoms-causes/syc-20353552

Overview (2022)

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.

Dyslexia is not due to problems with intelligence, hearing or vision. Most children with dyslexia can succeed in school with tutoring or a specialized education program. Emotional support also plays an important role.

Though there's no cure for dyslexia, early assessment and intervention result in the best outcome. Sometimes dyslexia goes undiagnosed for years and isn't recognized until adulthood, but it's never too late to seek help.

Symptoms

Signs of dyslexia can be difficult to recognize before your child enters school, but some early clues may indicate a problem. Once your child reaches school age, your child's teacher may be the first to notice a problem. Severity varies, but the condition often becomes apparent as a child starts learning to read.

Before school

Signs that a young child may be at risk of dyslexia include:

• Late talking
• Learning new words slowly
• Problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike
• Problems remembering or naming letters, numbers and colors
• Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or playing rhyming games

School age

Once your child is in school, dyslexia symptoms may become more apparent, including:

• Reading well below the expected level for age
• Problems processing and understanding what is heard
• Difficulty finding the right word or forming answers to questions
• Problems remembering the sequence of things
• Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words
• Inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word
• Difficulty spelling
• Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing
• Avoiding activities that involve reading

Teens and adults

Dyslexia signs in teens and adults are a lot like those in children. Some common dyslexia symptoms in teens and adults include:

• Difficulty reading, including reading aloud
• Slow and labor-intensive reading and writing
• Problems spelling
• Avoiding activities that involve reading
• Mispronouncing names or words, or problems retrieving words
• Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing
• Difficulty summarizing a story
• Trouble learning a foreign language
• Difficulty doing math word problems

When to see a doctor

Though most children are ready to learn reading by kindergarten or first grade, children with dyslexia often have trouble learning to read by that time. Talk with your health care provider if your child's reading level is below what's expected for your child's age or if you notice other signs of dyslexia.

When dyslexia goes undiagnosed and untreated, childhood reading difficulties continue into adulthood.

Causes

Dyslexia results from individual differences in the parts of the brain that enable reading. It tends to run in families. Dyslexia appears to be linked to certain genes that affect how the brain processes reading and language.

Risk factors

A family history of dyslexia or other reading or learning disabilities increases the risk of having dyslexia.

Complications

Dyslexia can lead to several problems, including:

• Trouble learning. Because reading is a skill basic to most other school subjects, a child with dyslexia is at a disadvantage in most classes and may have trouble keeping up with peers.
• Social problems. Left untreated, dyslexia may lead to low self-esteem, behavior problems, anxiety, aggression, and withdrawal from friends, parents and teachers.
• Problems as adults. The inability to read and comprehend can prevent children from reaching their potential as they grow up. This can have negative long-term educational, social and economic impacts.

Children who have dyslexia are at increased risk of having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and vice versa. ADHD can cause difficulty keeping attention. It can also cause hyperactivity and impulsive behavior, which can make dyslexia harder to treat.

Overview (2022)

By Mayo Clinic Staff

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/symptoms-causes/syc-20353552

“Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.”

Dyslexia - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

https://www.mayoclinic.org › ... › Diseases & Conditions

“Learning to read with impairments in phonological processing, fluency or speed, and reading comprehension can be difficult. Struggling readers can get frustrated with their inability to keep up with their peers, which can lead to low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. …

Children who suffer from reading disabilities need all the support they can get. That’s why in this article we will go over the common types of reading disabilities, and some ideas for treating them. With the right kind of support, these children will be able to cope and sometimes even overcome these learning obstacles.”

“The most common reading disability is dyslexia, with an estimated 5-10% of the world population affected by it. This learning disability is characterized by difficulty with phonemes and a phonological deficit. This means they will have trouble matching the letters on a page with the sounds they make. Being unable to find the right sound causes the child or adult to spell words incorrectly, have difficulty learning a second language, and have difficulty with reading fluency.

It must be said that being dyslexic has nothing to do with intelligence. Even though people who suffer from dyslexia may read slowly, they typically are creative, motivated, and have a strong ability to reason. Many successful people are said to be dyslexic, including Albert Einstein, Steven Spielberg, and Jim Carrey.

Symptoms

There are some early warning signs to look for if you suspect your young child has dyslexia:

• They start talking at a later stage than other kids their age
• Difficulty remembering or naming numbers, letters, and colors
• Reversing sounds in words
• Confusing words that sound similar
• Low phonological awareness; trouble learning nursery rhymes or rhyming in general
• Difficulty spelling
• Difficulty matching words with their meanings
• Problems remembering sequences

There are several types of dyslexia:

• Dyseidetic/visual dyslexia: This type of dyslexia is characterized by trouble decoding and/or spelling words. This difficulty is caused by an inability to remember or revisualize the word, especially sight words (be, but, do, have, etc.) He or she will often reverse words or letters when reading. This represents a problem with visual processing and word sequencing.
• Dysphonetic/auditory dyslexia: When the learner has difficulty with decoding and/or spelling words because he or she is unable to associate the right sound with the right symbol, this is auditory dyslexia. This means the child has a deficit in auditory processing and linking the sound to the visual cue.
• Dysphoneidetic/mixed dyslexia: This type occurs when the learner has trouble with both visual and auditory processing.

Causes

Dyslexia is caused by genes. So if someone in the family has it, it will mean the child is predisposed to be dyslexic. And if you have it, your child has a 50% chance of having it.

Specifically, dyslexia is caused by the brain processing written words differently than non-dyslexic brains do.

For reading, dyslexic brains rely on Broca’s area in the frontal lobe, while strong readers rely on the area between the Occipital and Temporal lobes. This area at the back left of the brain allows the reader to recognize words quickly, while the area in the front of the cerebrum isn’t as effective. This explains the difficulty dyslexic readers have quickly processing words.

Treatment options

Early intervention can be key when it comes to preventing dyslexia. Some children have a mild form of the disability which they can overcome with the right instruction. But, every child experiences dyslexia differently. Some will struggle with it throughout their life.

However, this doesn’t mean those with severe dyslexia can’t go to college or find success in their life. With the right tools, your child can learn how to cope with a dyslexic impairment. Let’s take a look at some forms of treatment that can help your child cope with dyslexia, and hopefully overcome it.

Reading Programs

Oftentimes a tutoring program or special education program can help a child overcome the difficulties of dyslexia. Finding an experienced reading specialist can give your child the extra help they need to learn phonics and sight words, word recognition, increase their phonological processing speed, reading comprehension, more effective writing, and improve their overall reading skills.

Your specialist or tutor may use the Orton-Gillingham technique or multisensory instruction to help your child learn to read. The Orton-Gillingham technique helps poor readers match letters and sounds, as well as learn the sounds of letters within words. And using multisensory tools can also give your child another dimension to help them improve both their writing and reading abilities.

Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)

Schools are required by law to set up IEPs for children with learning difficulties. These are learning plans specialized for each child’s specific learning disabilities. It will take into account your child’s needs and how the school plans to meet those needs. The plan will be updated yearly to factor in any progress or difficulties encountered during that year.

The IEP may include special education provided by the school’s learning or reading specialist to help with reading instruction. These may be one-on-one sessions or group sessions with other special needs students. Your child may also be provided with special accommodations in their classes, including audiobooks, more time to complete tests, and the opportunity to use text-to-speech in their classes.

Emotional Support

Dealing with dyslexia can leave a child feeling anxious, angry, and depressed. They may have trouble expressing the way their issue makes them feel, and it is up to the parent to help them learn to talk about their feelings.

As a parent, be sure to avoid making grades a priority or using words like “lazy” and “hopeless”. Avoid perfectionistic thinking and instead celebrate small successes after setting realistic goals. It can also be helpful to join a support group to normalize dyslexia and help your child feel less alone.

Alexia

Alexia, also known as acquired dyslexia, is a reading disorder that leaves the person unable to understand written material. These individuals are typically able to write, spell, and understand speech, but can have trouble reading. This can even include the inability to read something they just wrote.

Symptoms

There are two categories of alexia: Peripheral alexia and central alexia. Those with peripheral alexia have a visual blockage and include the types hemianopia, neglect, and attentional alexia. Central alexia is a general language disorder, and the person is unable to read well, and may also have problems with speech and writing.

The types of central alexia include:

• Phonological alexia: The most common form of alexia, this disorder leaves the person unable to read words they are unfamiliar with. They also have trouble sounding out written words.
• Deep alexia: This is a more severe version of phonological alexia. Additionally, those with deep alexia can confuse the meanings of words for those with related meanings. As an example, the word “cat” can be confused with the word “dog”.
• Pure alexia/alexia without agraphia/letter-by-letter reading: Those with pure alexia can name individual letters, but have trouble reading the words themselves and word sequences.
• Surface alexia/orthographic alexia: Those with surface alexia have no issue with regular words like “cat”, especially single syllables, but will struggle with word recognition of irregular words, such as “patient”.

Causes

Alexia, though rare, is caused by injuries, damage, or trauma to the brain. It is most often associated with stroke victims and other neurological issues.

Specifically, the alexic person acquires brain lesions that disconnect the parts of the brain that makes visual associations with the ones that interpret language.

Treatment options

Those with alexia will get treatment options recommended by their speech-language pathologist and/or ophthalmologist. What type of treatment they get will depend on what case of alexia the person has, and how severe it is.

Here are a few options you may encounter:

• LiPS (Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program): LiPS has been used in many studies to help patients identify sound sequences within words. This helps them find the differences between words by learning to sound them out.
• Read Right Therapy: This form of therapy features written text that moves across a screen, from right to left. The patient can control how quickly the words move and the topic of the text. This form of treatment is most helpful for those with hermianopic alexia.
• Tactile-kinesthetic: As previously mentioned, multisensory treatments can help those with reading difficulties. Using tactile-kinesthetic includes the use of touch and movement to determine letters and words.
• Multiple Oral Reading (MOR): With MOR, the patient will re-read a specific text for half an hour daily, for a week straight. This reading intervention technique will help improve reading fluency.

Hyperlexia

A child with hyperlexia can read much earlier and at a much higher level than other kids their age. The hyperlexic child excels at decoding language, which enables them to read very early. They can be very good at spelling long words before the age of two and will be blazing through whole sentences the following year.

However, these children may have trouble understanding speech. They also may struggle with comprehension deficits. Hyperlexics differ from children who are gifted readers because they will have below-average oral language skills.

Symptoms

There are a few signs that may indicate that your child is hyperlexic:

• Is fascinated by things like letters, numbers, fonts, languages, anatomy, and geography
• Difficulty speaking or communicating
• May have some behavioral problems like poor eye contact, trouble giving and receiving affection, withdrawal, and repetitive behaviors
• Low language comprehension skills
• Will teach themselves to read or with little teaching
• Will like books more than toys or games

There are several types of hyperlexia. They are:

• Hyperlexia I: This type, though rare, includes neurotypical children who are reading very early. Oftentimes they are able to read at a 7th-grade level upon starting kindergarten.
• Hyperlexia II: This includes children who are autistic. Kids with hyperlexia II are obsessed with letters and numbers and things like birthdays, license plate numbers, or the solar system. They will show behavioral problems like avoiding eye contact, withdrawal, and easily feeling sensory overload.
• Hyperlexia III: This type of hyperlexia can show some of the autistic behaviors mentioned above, but they will typically go away. Those with hyperlexia III can have amazing memory and comprehension skills but will have difficulty speaking.

Causes

Hyperlexia is often associated with autism. However, as you can see from the types listed above, not all hyperlexics are on the autism spectrum. And not all autistic children have hyperlexia (it is estimated only between 6 to 14% are affected by it).

Therefore, the causes of hyperlexia are still unknown and more research is needed.

Treatment Options

Your child’s hyperlexia treatment plan should be tailored to their exact needs. He or she may need learning assistance over a few years, or it may have to extend into the foreseeable future.

• Speech therapy: To help improve a child’s expressive language, spoken word comprehension, and social interaction, working with a speech therapist can help. He or she will use things like visual timetables/schedules, pictures, visual prompts, association games, cause and effect predictions, and social stories.
• Occupational therapy (OT): OT can help your child improve their fine motor skills, impulse control, motor planning, and more.
• Individualized education programs (IEPs): As we’ve mentioned above, those with learning disabilities are allowed IEPs when entering school. These plans will lay out a designated path for your child’s specialized learning needs. Learners will get extra help in difficult subjects and with the skills they lack.

The Right Support Makes All the Difference

Dyslexics struggle with matching letters and sounds. Alexics struggle with injury-related reading issues. Hyperlexics may struggle with speaking and/or reading comprehension.

Whether your child suffers from reading disabilities like dyslexia, alexia, or hyperlexia, having your support will make all the difference. Whatever obstacle he or she faces, it is important to be patient and understanding while your child encounters reading problems.”

So, the issue remains varied!

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This next segment is the original, broader document and includes earlier periods.

It sounds like a no brainer. You need vision to read. If reading isn’t happening, surely it could be a vision problem? In like vein, you need a hand to write. However, if you can’t write, is it necessarily a hand problem? Well, neither conclusion necessarily follows. Perhaps you’ve simply never been taught to write, or you have some disability, such as a significant intellectual disability. So, a hand is a necessary condition for handwriting, but it is not a sufficient condition. Similarly, vision may be a necessary condition for reading, but it is not a sufficient condition. If there is a problem with reading, it sounds at least plausible that vision may be the source of the problem. Indeed, extreme levels of visual disability can preclude conventional reading. But, what about those struggling with reading whose visual problems are adequately corrected with optometric lenses and those whose corrected vision is considered within the normal range by optometric assessment? Could there be some other vision problem not assessed or detected by conventional optometry?

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