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Consumer Information on Dyslexia

About Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability caused by the brain’s inability to recognize words, letters, symbols, and/or sounds. These difficulties can cause repeated spelling errors, reading problems, and trouble sounding out words. Common characteristics include:

It is important to remember that many people without dyslexia may have 1 or 2 of the characteristics. People with dyslexia usually exhibit multiple characteristics that may or may not be listed above.


Dyslexia and Your Child

If you think your child is dyslexic, educate yourself about dyslexia, testing, and instructional methodologies.

You may want to talk to your child’s teacher or local school’s reading specialist. Discuss your concerns and describe your child’s behavior in detail. Give specific examples.

You may have to write a formal request to your child’s school asking for a dyslexia or specific learning disability test. You may also want to explore local dyslexia resources.

For more information, contact the Academic Language Therapy Association, the International Dyslexia Association, the Learning Disabilities Association of America, and the Learning Disabilities Association of Texas.


Treatment Options

Every person is unique and their treatment may require a specific technique. Multisensory (hear, see, say, touch, and movement) techniques are often used to actively engage the student in the learning process by using multiple senses at the same time.

You may want to review the Texas Education Agency’s Dyslexia Handbook for more information.