The Reasons for Dyslexia
and their Solutions

Introduction Does your child really struggle to decode words? Is your child very resistant to reading? Do you see your child guessing wildly when trying to read? Well, I know that is worrying. But the chances are that your child will be able to read fine with the right guidance.

Nice people end up in bad places due to untreated dyslexia

I first got into literacy through my work in The Shannon Trust (www.shannontrust.org.uk). We developed a system to get literate prison inmates helping their non-reading peers to learn. 67% of prisoners cannot read. But we found that they were learning in just a few months and we have our system running in most prisons now.

So, there was no underlying reason why most of them had not learnt in the first place. We find they can learn to read in 4-5 months with the right help. That is faster than you or me.

There are several possible reasons for reading difficulty. But what we have found is that a child can approach reading in the wrong way, using little shortcuts to make it seem easier. What you will see is a lot of sight-memorisation and guessing. It seems to work in the early stages of reading, but as the text gets more complex it begins to fail as a strategy. You often get a collapse of confidence at around 7 or 8 years old.

Dyslexia: Know the Cause... to Find the Solution

Dyslexia is sometimes referred to as a condition like asthma. You hear people say "my child is dyslexic".

In reality, what dyslexia means is "cannot read but normally intelligent", or rather "I don't know why this child cannot read"!

There is no one condition, just a range of possible reasons why a child might struggle with reading. It is, after all, a very complex brain process.

I have to confess to getting quite worried when the term is used, because it often leads to no further effort being made to finding out WHY the child cannot read. People accept dyslexia as some sort of incurable disease. It just isn't nine times out of ten (in our experience).

If you know why a child cannot read then you are usually very close to solving the problem. And surely fixing the problem is the aim. To spend your life as a non-reader is not an easy option.

So, here is a look at the main causes of reading difficulty and at least one solution to each of them that is at least worth trying:

Auditory Deficit in the Visual Learner (**NB. This accounts for 80% of dyslexia**)

ADHD

Dyspraxia

Optical Issues + Irlen Syndrome

Poor Short Term Memory Capacity

Word Meaning Blindness

Easyread is a reading system designed for visual learners. It uses a short daily lesson online to teach a child to read over 2-6 months. It has proved highly effective with the most common form of dyslexia (auditory deficit syndrome). It is based on synthetic phonics.

We can also give advice on other foms of dyslexia such as Irlen Syndrome and Dyspraxia.

Getting children to read is our passion. Don't hesitate to call us with any question. But before you do, take the time to have a look around the site. There is a lot of information on literacy, dyslexia, the causes of dyslexia and ways to help with each type of dyslexia.

You can also check our blog to hear the latest literacy news.

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