Dyslexia
Dyslexia is about accurate, fluent word reading and spelling — not reversed letters or a visual learning style. This guide separates what is known from what is myth, and sets out the teaching and adjustments that actually help.
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that mainly affects accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. The 2009 Rose report, which shaped practice in England, describes it as a continuum rather than a category with a clean cut-off, with difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and processing speed commonly associated. Phonological awareness — hearing and working with the sounds inside spoken words — is what makes phonics usable, and for many children it is where the difficulty starts. It has nothing to do with intelligence, and it is not about seeing letters backwards. Reading difficulty can also come from missed teaching, hearing problems, language difficulties or attention difficulties, and all of those deserve the same first response: check the ordinary explanations, and teach well.
Everyday things you may see
These are observations, not labels. One on its own means very little; a pattern over time is worth talking about.
- Reading that is slow, effortful or inaccurate despite plenty of practice.
- Guessing at words from the first letter or the picture.
- Spelling the same word several different ways on one page.
- Letter sounds learned, then lost again.
- Written work far below what they can tell you out loud.
- Comprehension that is strong when text is read to them and weak when they read it.
- Avoidance at reading time, or saying they are stupid.
Supporting your child at home
Small, achievable things that make a real difference — no special resources needed.
- Keep reading aloud to them
Books above their reading level, for pleasure, with no questions afterwards. It keeps vocabulary and enjoyment growing.
- Short and daily beats long and occasional
Ten focused minutes most days does more than an hour at the weekend.
- Re-read the same book
Repeated reading is one of the better-supported ways to build fluency, and it feels successful.
- Play with sounds, not just letters
Rhyming, clapping syllables, changing one sound in a word. It works the underlying skill and can be done in the car.
- Stop before it becomes a fight
The long-term risk is not slow progress; it is a child deciding reading is not for them.
Five evidence-informed ideas
Practical, realistic and usable in a mainstream classroom tomorrow.
- Keep systematic phonics going
For pupils who still cannot decode reliably, continued explicit phonics for reading and spelling — taught in an age-respectful way, not stopped because of year group.
- Target fluency directly
Repeated and paired reading, echo reading, timed re-reads. Fluency is a separate goal and does not arrive on its own.
- Read it to them and re-ask
If comprehension jumps when you read the text aloud, the barrier is at word level, and that changes what you teach.
- Mark for what you are assessing
Do not cover a science answer in spelling corrections, and never require unprepared reading aloud to the class.
- Adjust and teach, not one or the other
Text-to-speech, printed notes, scribing and extra time let a child learn the curriculum today; structured literacy teaching builds the skill for tomorrow.
What is often assumed — and what the evidence says
Reversing letters is common in young children generally and is not the defining feature. The difficulty is with accurate, fluent word reading and spelling.
Learning-styles theory has been tested repeatedly and not upheld. What helps is explicit, structured teaching of the missing skills.
The evidence for both is weak and mixed. Neither is established as a treatment, and neither should stand in for structured teaching.
Assistive technology removes barriers to showing what a child knows. It sits alongside continued teaching, not instead of it.
Bring component information — decoding, fluency, spelling, listening comprehension — rather than a reading age alone, plus what intervention has been delivered and how often.
Where progress has stalled despite well-implemented, correctly targeted teaching, or the profile is puzzling, specialist assessment may add something. Check hearing and vision first.
Formal identification is usually by an educational psychologist or a specialist assessor with an appropriate practising certificate. Schools do not diagnose, and provision should not depend on the outcome.
Be cautious about commercial dyslexia products. Structured, explicit literacy teaching has the strongest evidence, and it is usually already available at school.
Go deeper when you want to
The complete professional guide to dyslexia — research, classroom practice and implementation.
OpenSearch the strategy library for immediate, practical classroom ideas.
OpenPlain-English guides, scripts and printable tools for families.
OpenThe mental notepad that lets a child hold information in mind long enough to use it — and the small changes that make the biggest difference.
Planning, flexibility and impulse control — the mental machinery that lets a developing brain get things done.
What we mean by attention, why it wanders, and the classroom conditions that help it hold.