About Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a neurological difference that can impact an individual's ability to access education, and manage the workplace and day to day life. Dyslexia affects everyone differently. It can range from mild to severe and can occur with other learning difficulties. It can often run in families and is a life-long condition.
There are also many positives of the dyslexic brain. Many dyslexic people have strengths in their verbal communication skills, reasoning and creativity. For more information, see the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) website by clicking below.
What is dyslexia?
A new definition from the findings of a Delphi study has now been published. You can access the papers here.
The findings of the Delphi study describes dyslexia in the following way:
Nature
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The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depends on multiple genetic and environmental influences.
Manifestation
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Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling. The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e. in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed. Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia.
Impact
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In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments. Across languages and age groups, difficulties in reading fluency and spelling are a key marker of dyslexia.
Variance and co-occurrence
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Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity. Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language. Dyslexia frequently co-occurs with one or more other developmental difficulties, including developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD, and developmental coordination disorder.