Multisensory Reading Clinic

Misunderstandings and confusions about the aspects of dyslexia

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The term “dyslexia” comes from Greek roots: dys means “difficulty,” and lex means “words.” The suffix -ia indicates an abnormal condition. Thus, dyslexia refers to difficulty with words. It is not a visual problem involving seeing things backward or reversing letters or words.

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Dyslexia results from atypical development or differences in the language-processing regions on the left side of the brain, which often occur during fetal development. It is primarily genetic, meaning a child can inherit it even if the mother had a normal pregnancy—as long as one or both parents have blood relatives with dyslexia or related language difficulties. It is characterized by challenges with accurate and fluent word recognition, as well as poor spelling.

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To provide accurate information to the public, the International Dyslexia Association established a formal definition in 2002. It describes dyslexia as a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin.

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To determine whether a child has a visual problem (rather than dyslexia), simply ask them to write the lowercase “b.” If they can write it correctly, the issue is not visual but rather a confusion in letter recognition.

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Does a multisensory approach offer strategies to help students with this confusion? Definitely yes!

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What about reversals of words like “from” and “form”? Of course there are strategies for that too!

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The English language is built on elemental sounds. If a child mixes up the order of letters in a word, it is because they have not yet learned to connect the word’s sound patterns correctly. Multisensory strategies exist for these difficulties as well.

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to be continued...