Does My Child Have Dyslexia? Understanding Reading Difficulties
Is your child struggling to learn to read despite receiving instruction and putting in effort?
Perhaps they find reading much harder than their classmates, struggle to sound out unfamiliar words, guess words rather than reading them, or find spelling particularly difficult.
You may have started wondering:
“Could my child have dyslexia?”
Dyslexia is a commonly used term for persistent difficulties with reading and spelling. In clinical assessment, these difficulties may be considered as part of Specific Learning Disorder with impairment in reading.
Understanding what is behind your child's reading difficulties can help identify the support they need.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a term commonly used to describe a pattern of persistent difficulties with reading and/or spelling.
A child with dyslexia may have difficulty developing accurate and fluent reading skills despite appropriate learning opportunities.
Importantly, dyslexia is not a sign of low intelligence.
Children with dyslexia can have strong reasoning, creativity, problem-solving and verbal abilities while experiencing significant difficulty with reading.
What are the signs of dyslexia?
Every child is different, but reading difficulties may include:
difficulty learning letter-sound relationships
struggling to sound out unfamiliar words
confusing or reversing letters or sounds
reading slowly or laboriously
guessing unfamiliar words
difficulty reading fluently
difficulty remembering spelling patterns
persistent spelling difficulties
avoiding reading
becoming tired or frustrated by reading tasks
difficulty understanding text because so much effort is being used to decode the words.
Some children become very good at hiding their difficulties. They may memorise familiar words, avoid reading aloud or rely on context and pictures to work out what a word might be.
Is dyslexia caused by low intelligence?
No.
Reading ability and general cognitive ability are not the same thing.
A child can have strong cognitive abilities and still experience a significant reading difficulty.
This is one reason it can be important to look at both cognitive functioning and academic achievement when assessing learning difficulties.
How is dyslexia assessed?
A learning assessment typically considers a child's broader learning profile rather than relying on one reading test.
This may include assessment of:
cognitive functioning
reading
spelling
written expression
mathematics
working memory
processing speed
developmental and educational history.
A WIAT or another standardised academic achievement assessment may be used to understand reading and spelling skills.
A cognitive assessment such as the WISC can provide information about the child's broader cognitive profile.
The results are considered alongside developmental and educational information to determine whether the pattern is consistent with a specific learning disorder.
What if my child also has ADHD?
ADHD and learning difficulties can occur together.
A child may struggle to read because of a specific learning difficulty, have difficulty engaging with reading because of ADHD-related attention difficulties, or experience both.
This is why understanding the broader picture matters.
If you're unsure whether your child's difficulties relate to dyslexia, ADHD, another learning difficulty or a combination, a comprehensive assessment can help clarify what is contributing.
What support can help?
Understanding the nature of a child's reading difficulties can help guide appropriate educational support.
This might include targeted literacy intervention, classroom adjustments and strategies designed around the child's individual learning profile.
The goal isn't simply to give a child a label.
It's to understand how they learn and what they need to succeed.
Worried about your child's reading?
If your child is working hard but continues to struggle with reading or spelling, a learning assessment can help identify their strengths and areas of difficulty.
thegrowspace can help you understand whether dyslexia or another learning difficulty may be contributing to your child's challenges.