What is dyslexia?

There are many reasons why someone might find reading or spelling difficult, and dyslexia is just one possibility. That's why a good literacy assessment looks at the wider picture rather than simply asking "Is this dyslexia?"

What are the signs of dyslexia?

Dyslexia can look different from person to person. Someone might find accurate or fluent reading, spelling or written work particularly difficult, despite having strengths in many other areas. They may need more time to read, frequently misread words, find spelling unpredictable or have difficulty remembering and working with the sounds within words.

These difficulties do not necessarily mean that someone has dyslexia, which is why a full diagnostic assessment considers the wider picture. This can look at the specific cognitive processing skills associated with dyslexia and how they impact literacy skills:

• phonological awareness: recognising and manipulating the sounds within words, such as blending sounds or changing one sound to make a different word

• phonological memory: holding and working with sounds in short-term memory

• phonological processing speed: how quickly familiar verbal information can be retrieved from long-term memory, such as rapidly naming a series of familiar pictures.