Dyslexic difficulties

Receptive language is the ability to understand words when they are encountered in spoken or written form. It is the passive knowledge of words, meaning an individual can recognise and comprehend them but may not necessarily be able to use them in their own speech or writing.  

Expressive language concerns the words an individual knows and can use as part of their own vocabulary.

Difficulties with receptive language may mean a child struggles to follow instructions, especially if they are lengthy or given verbally. They might find it hard to understand questions, grasp new vocabulary, or keep up with classroom discussions, which can impact comprehension across all subjects—not just reading.

Weaknesses in expressive language can make it challenging to put thoughts into words. This may show up as difficulty explaining ideas, forming sentences, recalling the right words, or organising spoken and written responses. As a result, a learner may know the answer but find it hard to express it clearly, both in conversation and in written work.

Together, these difficulties can affect confidence, participation, and overall progress, as language underpins most areas of learning.

Reasoning is the ability to think logically and draw conclusions based on available information. It involves analysing information, identifying patterns, and making judgements or solving problems by applying logic and evidence.

Weak reasoning skills can affect how a person understands, processes, and applies information across many areas of learning.

A learner may find it difficult to recognise patterns, make connections between ideas, or draw logical conclusions. This can impact subjects like maths (e.g. problem-solving and understanding concepts), reading comprehension (e.g. “reading between the lines” or making inferences), and even everyday tasks that require planning or decision-making.

They might also struggle with understanding cause and effect, following complex arguments, or transferring skills from one context to another. Tasks that require flexible thinking—such as adapting to new situations or solving unfamiliar problems—can feel particularly challenging.

As a result, learning may feel slower or more effortful, especially when tasks go beyond memorising facts and require deeper thinking or interpretation.

Phonological awareness is the ability to distinguish, understand, replicate and manipulate sounds within a language.

Blending (the ability to push together speech sounds) is an essential skill for acquiring phonics, and segmenting (breaking apart speech sounds) is an essential skill for spelling.

For older students, difficulties with phonemic manipulation tasks, such as substituting sounds in words and deleting sounds from words, are indicative of continued difficulties with speech sounds. Phonological processing is one of the key cognitive processes which underlies literacy development, as the ability to manipulate individual speech sounds is a prerequisite to becoming a skilled reader, therefore a weakness in this area is a key indicator of dyslexia. 

Single word reading is the ability to decode or sound out words and to recognise words automatically (sight vocabulary). Dyslexia is characterised by difficulties in accurate and fluent word reading. Single word reading tests, where the words are presented independent of context clues, help differentiate between those difficulties and other reading challenges.  

Pseudowords (sometimes called nonsense words or nonwords) are combinations of letters that conform to English spelling patterns and rules. Pseudowords are hard to pronounce for individuals with dyslexia, who often have difficulties learning the mappings between the speech sounds and the printed letters. Because pseudowords are not real words, they can be pronounced only through the application of English phonic rules, and difficulty in reading these words is an important indicator of dyslexia.

An inability to read single words or pseudowords can significantly impact the development of fluent and accurate reading. It often indicates difficulty with decoding—linking letters to sounds—which is a key foundation for reading unfamiliar words.

A learner may struggle to read new or longer words, rely heavily on guessing, or read very slowly and with effort. Because so much attention is taken up with decoding, it can also affect reading comprehension, as there is less capacity left to focus on meaning.

This difficulty can extend into spelling, as both skills rely on strong knowledge of sound–letter patterns. It may also affect confidence and willingness to engage with reading tasks, particularly when faced with unfamiliar vocabulary.

Speeded decoding is the ability to quickly and accurately translate written words into their corresponding sounds. It is a crucial aspect of reading fluency, allowing readers to process text efficiently and focus on comprehension.

When decoding is slow, it can hinder reading comprehension as cognitive resources are used up on the mechanics of reading rather than understanding the text. This can impact learning across subjects where reading is required to access information.

Slow decoding may also lead to fatigue, reduced reading stamina, and a reluctance to engage with reading tasks. Over time, it can affect confidence and limit opportunities to build vocabulary and general knowledge through independent reading.

Prose is the written text that follows the natural patterns of speech and uses grammatical structures such as sentences and paragraphs. Dyslexia can significantly impact prose reading due to difficulties with word recognition, decoding, and comprehension.

A learner may read slowly and with effort, often needing to pause to decode unfamiliar words. This can disrupt the flow of reading, making it harder to follow the meaning of sentences and maintain a clear understanding of the text as a whole. As a result, comprehension—especially of longer or more complex passages—may be reduced.

There may also be difficulties with accuracy, such as misreading words, skipping lines, or losing place on the page. These challenges can make it harder to track characters, events, or key ideas in a text.

In addition, reduced reading fluency can limit exposure to vocabulary and different sentence structures, which in turn can impact understanding and enjoyment of reading. Prose reading may feel tiring and less engaging, affecting confidence and willingness to read independently.

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand the meaning of written text. It involves not just recognising words, but also processing the information, integrating it with prior knowledge, and making inferences to grasp the overall message. Individuals who read with automaticity (reading accurately and effortlessly) generally have good comprehension skills as their attention is freed up to focus on meaning. 

Weak reading comprehension can affect a learner’s ability to understand, interpret, and use written information across all areas of learning.

They may be able to read the words on a page but struggle to grasp the overall meaning, identify key ideas, or follow the sequence of events in a text. Tasks such as answering questions, summarising information, or making inferences (“reading between the lines”) can be particularly challenging.

This can impact progress in many subjects, as reading is often the main way information is presented. Learners may find it difficult to learn from textbooks, understand written instructions, or complete assignments independently.

Over time, weak comprehension can also limit vocabulary development and general knowledge, and may affect confidence and engagement with reading tasks, especially as texts become more complex.

Difficulty spelling words is an indicator of dyslexia.

Regular word spelling concerns words that conform to typical English spelling patterns, whereas irregular words have one or more parts that do not conform to typical spelling patterns or rules.

When learning to spell regular words, students typically first learn to segment the speech sounds and then attach these sounds (phonemes) to corresponding letters (graphemes). Some individuals with dyslexia can spell regular words with accuracy but have difficulty spelling irregular words.

Underlying challenges with phonological processing (linking sounds to letters) and remembering written word patterns may result in spelling the same word differently on different occasions, finding it hard to break words down into sounds, or struggling to represent those sounds accurately in writing. Spelling can appear highly phonetic (e.g. “sed” for “said”) or include omissions, additions, or reversals of letters.

Irregular words are often particularly difficult, as they cannot be easily sounded out and require memorisation of specific letter patterns. Learners may also have difficulty recalling spelling rules, prefixes and suffixes, or recognising familiar word forms.

These challenges can make writing slow and effortful, and may affect confidence, as the individual may have strong ideas but find it difficult to record them accurately on paper.

Transcription skills (the process of getting ideas down in writing through spelling and handwriting/typing) are often difficult for individuals with dyslexia because they rely on several underlying skills that may be less secure.

Spelling is a key factor. Difficulties with linking sounds to letters and recalling accurate word patterns mean that writing each word can require a lot of conscious effort. This slows the overall writing process and can interrupt the flow of ideas.

Many learners with dyslexia also experience challenges with working memory and processing speed. Holding a sentence in mind while simultaneously thinking about spelling, letter formation, and punctuation can be demanding, leading to shorter or less detailed written responses.

In addition, handwriting (or typing fluency) may be less automatic. If forming letters or coordinating movements is effortful, it adds another layer of difficulty to transcription.

Because so much attention is focused on the mechanics of writing, it can be harder to concentrate on higher-level skills such as organising ideas, structuring sentences, and expressing thoughts clearly.

Some individuals with dyslexia experience difficulties with handwriting, often linked to reduced automaticity and, in some cases, underlying motor coordination challenges.

Handwriting may be slow and effortful, with difficulty forming letters consistently or maintaining a steady size, spacing, and alignment on the page. Writing may appear untidy or uneven, and the person may need to concentrate hard on letter formation, which can make the process tiring.

Because handwriting is not fully automatic, it can take up a lot of mental effort. This can reduce the capacity available for thinking about what to write, leading to shorter responses or less well-developed ideas.

There may also be difficulties with writing fluency—getting ideas down quickly enough—which can impact tasks such as note-taking or timed writing. As a result, written work may not fully reflect the individual’s understanding or ability.

Rapid automatised naming is the ability to quickly and accurately name aloud a series of familiar items like letters, numbers or pictures. It essentially measures the efficiency with which an individual can retrieve and articulate these items from memory. Rapid automatised naming is related to reading fluency, as a delay in retrieving information from long-term memory, in this case word recognition, will impact the speed at which something is read. 

As a result, reading may remain slow and effortful, even when accuracy improves. This can also affect comprehension, because too much cognitive effort is spent on word recognition rather than understanding meaning.

Weak rapid automatised naming skills can additionally impact spelling, mental arithmetic, and note-taking, where quick retrieval of learned information is important. Over time, this may contribute to fatigue during literacy tasks and reduced confidence in reading-related activities.

Orthographic processing is the ability to recall the specific letter and spelling patterns that words comprise.

A learner may struggle to recognise words automatically, even ones they have seen many times before. As a result, reading may rely more on sounding out words rather than instant recognition, which slows reading fluency and can make reading more effortful.

In spelling, difficulties are often more pronounced. The learner may find it hard to remember the correct letter sequences within words, leading to inconsistent spelling or frequent errors, especially with irregular or less familiar words.

This can also affect learning new vocabulary, as retaining the visual form of words is more challenging. Overall, weak orthographic processing can slow reading development and make written language tasks less efficient and more cognitively demanding.

Visual–motor speed refers to how quickly and accurately a person can take in visual information and translate it into a physical response, such as writing, copying, or manipulating symbols. It combines visual processing (seeing and interpreting information) with motor output (hand or eye–hand coordination).

When visual–motor speed is weak, individuals may find tasks that involve copying text, writing by hand, or completing written work under time pressure particularly challenging. They may write slowly, struggle to keep up with classroom tasks like note-taking, or find it difficult to copy accurately from a board or screen.

In the context of dyslexia, slower visual–motor speed can add to existing difficulties with reading and spelling, making written tasks more effortful overall. It can reduce fluency in handwriting and contribute to fatigue, meaning the person may not be able to fully demonstrate their understanding within timed or writing-heavy activities.

Some people experience visual difficulties, such as the text blurring or moving on the page. Although both involve aspects of how information is taken in and processed, dyslexia and visual stress are not the same condition: dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty affecting language processing, while visual stress relates to visual perception difficulties that can cause discomfort or distortion when reading. It is for this reason that eyesight should always be checked prior to an assessment for dyslexia.

Verbal working memory is the ability to take in verbal information, manipulate it and then send it out again.

Weak verbal working memory can have a significant impact on learning because it affects the ability to hold and manipulate spoken information in the mind for short periods of time.

A learner may struggle to follow multi-step verbal instructions, especially if they are not written down or repeated. They might forget parts of a sentence before they have finished processing it, or lose track of what they are saying mid-sentence.

In reading, weak verbal working memory can make it harder to understand longer or more complex sentences, as earlier parts of the text may not be retained while new information is being processed. In writing, it can affect the ability to plan and structure ideas, as well as hold sentences in mind while spelling or composing them.

This can also impact learning new vocabulary and mental arithmetic, where information needs to be temporarily stored and manipulated. Overall, it can make many everyday learning tasks feel more effortful and mentally demanding.

A deficit in working memory is one of the main markers of dyslexia.

Phonological short-term memory is the ability to temporarily hold and repeat sound-based information, such as words or sequences of sounds, for a few seconds. It is a component of working memory that allows for the temporary storage and manipulation of spoken information, holding it long enough to be processed or transferred to longer-term memory.

Weak phonological short-term memory can have a noticeable impact on language and literacy development.

A learner may struggle to remember spoken information long enough to work with it, such as repeating unfamiliar words, remembering lists, or holding a sequence of instructions in the correct order. They may also find it difficult to learn new vocabulary, particularly when words are long or unfamiliar, because the sound structure is harder to retain.

In reading and spelling, weak phonological short-term memory can make it harder to keep track of letter sounds while decoding or encoding words. This can lead to slower, more effortful reading and increased spelling errors, especially for longer or less familiar words.

It can also affect listening tasks in the classroom, where information needs to be held in mind while processing meaning, contributing to difficulties following explanations or multi-step verbal instructions.