All diagnoses

Learning

Dyslexia

A difference in how the brain processes the sounds inside words — not a measure of how smart your child is.

If you're here because you're scared, that's okay. You're not alone, and noticing is the first act of advocacy.

Read as much or as little of this page as you have room for today. It will still be here tomorrow.

What this is

Understanding Dyslexia

Dyslexia is the most common learning difference, affecting roughly one in five people. It is language-based: the difficulty sits in connecting the sounds of spoken language to the letters that represent them. It is not caused by poor teaching, low intelligence, laziness, or anything you did.

Kids with dyslexia are very often bright, verbal, funny, and full of ideas — which is exactly why it can go unnoticed for years. They compensate. They memorize. They guess from pictures. And then around third grade, when the words get longer and the books stop having pictures, the wheels come off and everyone is surprised.

Dyslexia is lifelong, and it is also one of the most responsive-to-teaching differences there is. With structured literacy instruction — explicit, systematic, multisensory phonics — most children make real, measurable gains. The earlier it starts, the less ground there is to make up. That is the whole reason this page exists.

Could this be it?

Early signs, by age

None of these are a diagnosis, and no child shows all of them. This is a list to help you notice patterns and describe them clearly to someone who can evaluate.

Toddler & preschool (ages 2–5)

  • Talking later than other kids, or a slow build in vocabulary
  • Trouble with rhyming — nursery rhymes don't seem to click
  • Mixing up sounds in longer words ("pasghetti," "aminal") past the age it's cute
  • Hard time learning letter names, or the letters in their own name
  • Can't reliably tell you what sound a letter makes, even after lots of practice
  • Family history of reading struggles — dyslexia runs strongly in families

Early elementary (K–2nd grade)

  • Struggles to break a word into its sounds, or blend sounds back into a word
  • Reads a word correctly on one page and can't read it on the next
  • Guesses at words from the first letter or the picture instead of decoding
  • Spelling that doesn't match what's been taught — the same word spelled three ways in one paragraph
  • Reading is slow, effortful, word-by-word; listening comprehension is much stronger than reading comprehension
  • Avoids reading out loud. Stomachaches on reading days. Tears at homework.

Older kids & teens (3rd grade and up)

  • Reads accurately but painfully slowly, and is exhausted afterward
  • Skips small words, loses the line, rereads the same sentence
  • Trouble with multisyllable words and unfamiliar names
  • Written work is far below what they can tell you out loud
  • Avoids reading for pleasure entirely; strong preference for audiobooks and video
  • Grades slipping as reading load increases, especially in content classes like science and history
  • Anxiety, class-clown behavior, or "I'm just stupid" — self-esteem damage is often the loudest symptom

What to do next

In this order, when you're ready

  1. 1

    Rule out hearing and vision first

    Get a full hearing and vision screening. Dyslexia is not a vision problem — colored overlays and eye exercises are not evidence-based treatments — but uncorrected hearing or vision issues can look similar and are worth clearing off the table.

  2. 2

    Request a full evaluation in writing, and name what you want assessed

    Ask specifically for assessment of phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), decoding of real and nonsense words, oral reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension — plus cognitive ability and oral language. "Nonsense word decoding" is the item schools most often leave out, and it's the one that exposes memorized reading.

  3. 3

    Ask what reading program the school actually uses

    Ask by name, and ask whether it is a structured literacy program aligned with the science of reading (Orton-Gillingham based approaches, Wilson, Barton, Lindamood-Bell, and similar). Ask how many minutes per day, in what group size, and delivered by whom. "We do small group reading" is not an answer.

  4. 4

    Don't accept "wait and see" or "let's give it another year"

    RTI and MTSS are useful, but a school cannot use them to delay or deny an evaluation you've requested in writing. If you're told to wait, reply in writing: "I am requesting a full initial evaluation under IDEA. Please send me prior written notice if the district declines."

  5. 5

    Get audiobooks and text-to-speech into your child's hands now

    While the process grinds on, keep your child's mind fed. Listening to books above their reading level protects vocabulary, background knowledge, and — most importantly — their belief that they are a person who loves stories.

  6. 6

    Write down what you're seeing

    Dates, examples, the exact words your child used, how long homework took. You don't need a diagnosis to keep a record — you just need a notebook. This becomes the backbone of every conversation that follows.

  7. 7

    If your child is under 3, call early intervention today

    IDEA Part C gives every state a free early intervention program for babies and toddlers from birth to age 3. You do not need a doctor's referral and you do not need a diagnosis — a parent can refer their own child. Search "[your state] early intervention Part C" or ask your pediatrician for the number. For ages 3 and up, the same law (IDEA Part B) makes your local public school district responsible, even if your child doesn't attend school there yet.

  8. 8

    Put your request for an evaluation in writing

    Email or hand-deliver a dated letter to the school principal and the special education director asking for a full initial evaluation, and say what you're worried about. Writing it down starts the legal clock. Ask for a copy of your Procedural Safeguards at the same time.

  9. 9

    Talk with your pediatrician

    A medical visit can rule things in or out — hearing, vision, sleep, iron levels, anxiety — and can open the door to outside evaluations and therapies that run alongside anything school provides.

  10. 10

    Say it out loud to your child, gently

    Kids usually already know something is harder for them. Naming it kindly — "your brain works in a particular way and we're figuring out what helps" — turns shame into a plan.

Try this at home

Small things you can do this week

These are everyday activities, not therapy or instruction. Ten warm minutes beats an hour that ends in tears — stop before either of you is done being pleasant.

Ages 4–85 min

Sound-tapping on your fingers

Say a short word — "ship" — and tap one finger per sound as you stretch it out: /sh/ /i/ /p/. Then let your child tap it back. You're practicing the exact skill reading is built on, with no paper involved.

Ages 4–910 min

Write it in something messy

Shaving cream on the counter, sand in a tray, a finger on their own arm. Say a sound, they write the letter while saying it. Multisensory practice makes the letter-sound link stick where a worksheet slides off.

Ages 6–1215 min

You read, they follow

Read a book two grades above their reading level out loud while they listen. Their comprehension and vocabulary are usually far ahead of their decoding — feed those, so reading never becomes the enemy.

Ages 6–1110 min

Reread the same page three times

Same short passage, three nights running, timing it if they like numbers. Fluency comes from repetition of the familiar, and watching their own time drop is the best confidence builder there is.

These ideas are general parenting suggestions for families reading about Dyslexia. They aren't therapy, instruction, or medical advice — follow the plan your child's team has set.

Looking ahead

When your child reaches their teens

Starting somewhere between 14 and 16, the IEP has to begin planning for life after school: postsecondary goals, independent living skills, vocational training, and connecting with adult services before school ends. Decision-making changes at 18, too.

Read the transition planning guide

Where to read more

Organizations we trust

These are national nonprofits, university centers, and government resources. Firm Footing isn't affiliated with any of them — we just think they're worth your time.

Your IEP meeting

Before, during, and after

An IEP meeting is a working meeting, not a verdict. You are a full member of the team, and you can ask for another meeting any time.

Evaluations to ask for

Name these specifically in your written request — a general request gets a general answer.

  • Psychoeducational evaluation including cognitive ability and academic achievement
  • Phonological and phonemic awareness measures
  • Rapid automatized naming (RAN)
  • Real-word and nonsense-word decoding
  • Oral reading fluency (rate and accuracy)
  • Spelling and written expression
  • Listening comprehension compared against reading comprehension
  • Speech-language evaluation if oral language is also a concern
  • Assistive technology evaluation

Before the meeting

  • Ask for the raw scores from the reading assessments, not just the summary paragraph, and for the name of the reading program and the provider's training.
  • Bring writing samples from home and a short video of your child reading aloud, if you have one. Nothing lands like evidence.
  • Ask for a copy of the draft IEP, the evaluation report, and any progress data at least a few days ahead. You are allowed to read before you decide.
  • Send a short list of your concerns and questions in writing before the meeting so they must be addressed on the record.
  • Write your own one-page "parent input statement" — who your child is, what's working, what isn't, what you want by the end of the year. Ask that it be attached to the IEP.
  • Bring someone: a partner, a friend, a note-taker, or an advocate. You are allowed to bring anyone with knowledge or special expertise about your child.
  • Check your state's rules on recording, and give written notice if you plan to record.

During the meeting

  • Ask: "Is this program structured literacy, and who is trained in it?" Ask what happens if that person leaves mid-year.
  • Ask for reading fluency progress monitoring at least every two weeks, with the graph shared with you.
  • Push back on goals like "will improve reading." A dyslexia goal names words-correct-per-minute, accuracy percentage, the passage level, and the date.
  • Ask each person to say what data they used. "What is that based on?" is a complete, polite question.
  • Slow the meeting down when a term goes by that you don't know. "Can you say that in plain language?" is your right, not an interruption.
  • Test every goal out loud: What exact skill? How will it be measured? What's the target number? Under what conditions? By when?
  • Check that the services page matches the needs page — every need described in the PLAAFP should have a goal, a service, or an accommodation attached to it.
  • If you disagree, don't refuse to sign in silence. Ask for your disagreement to be written into the meeting notes, and ask what the school proposes instead.

Services to ask about

  • Specialized reading instruction using a structured literacy / Orton-Gillingham-based program, delivered by a trained provider
  • Daily intervention minutes written into the IEP as a number, not a range
  • Small group size specified (1:1 or no more than 1:3 for intensive intervention)
  • Speech-language services if phonological or language needs are present
  • Assistive technology services and training for the student, not just a device handed over

Accommodations to ask about

  • Text-to-speech and audiobooks (Learning Ally, Bookshare) for all content-area reading
  • Speech-to-text for written assignments
  • Extended time on reading-heavy tasks and tests
  • Not being asked to read aloud cold in front of peers
  • Grading content separately from spelling and mechanics
  • Copies of notes or teacher slides instead of copying from the board
  • Reduced volume of reading and writing where the point is the concept, not the reading
  • Word banks, spell-check, and a reader for tests that aren't measuring decoding

After the meeting

  • Ask for the fluency graph at each progress report. If the trend line is flat for 6–8 weeks, request a meeting to change the intervention — not to wait longer.
  • Send a same-day follow-up email summarizing what was agreed and what's still open. A friendly written summary becomes the record.
  • Read the final IEP against your notes when it arrives. If something is missing or different, say so in writing within days, not months.
  • Calendar the progress reporting dates and ask for the actual data, not just "making progress."
  • If services aren't being delivered, ask for the service log in writing. Missed minutes can mean compensatory services.
  • If you disagree with the school's evaluation, you can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense — ask in writing.

Still not sure

Bring the document, or bring the question

If you already have an IEP or evaluation in hand, Decode My IEP will read it with you and flag the vague goals. If you just want to ask something out loud, Sprout answers in plain language.

Decode my IEPAsk Sprout a question

Related guides

Firm Footing is an independent resource. Nothing on this page is medical, psychological, or legal advice, and none of the organizations linked here are affiliated with us. Special education rules vary by state and district — your state's Parent Training and Information Center can help you with local specifics for free.