Learning Profile: Dyslexia

UNDERSTANDING

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a neurological learning disorder that affects reading skills, including decoding, spelling, reading fluency, and accurate word recognition—even when a person’s intelligence and verbal abilities are strong. This condition is related to how the brain processes language, sounds (phonological processing), and connects them to written symbols.

At Learning for All, we understand that dyslexia is not about effort or intelligence—it’s about how the brain processes written and spoken language. Through personalized, evidence-based strategies and supportive instruction, we help students build strong reading skills, improve confidence, and unlock their potential, to ensure that they not only learn the skills, but transfer them outside of session.

We are dyslexia specialists!

Dyslexia Services

IDENTIFYING

Signs of Dyslexia

Dyslexia can manifest differently depending on the individual’s age and developmental stage. Common warning signs include:

Preschool:

delayed speech
trouble memorizing their address, phone number, or the alphabet
can’t create words that rhyme

Elementary School:

slow, choppy, inaccurate reading
guesses based on shape or context
difficulty telling time on a clock with hands
directionality

High School: (All of the symptoms above, plus)

limited vocabulary
extremely poor written expression
large discrepancy between verbal skills and written composition

Difficulty organizing thoughts or writing complete sentences
Fatigue or frustration when writing for extended periods

Recognizing these signs early allows families and educators to provide the right support. With targeted, evidence-based reading strategies, students with dyslexia can strengthen decoding and fluency skills while building the confidence they need to become successful, independent readers.

DAILY IMPACT BY ENVIRONMENT

What Does It Look Like?

At Home

Children with dyslexia may avoid reading aloud or become frustrated with homework that involves reading, spelling, or written assignments. Parents might notice difficulty sounding out words, slow or labored reading, frequent guessing at unfamiliar words, or inconsistent spelling that doesn’t match what the child can explain verbally. Reading tasks may take much longer than expected, even when the child is bright and capable in conversation.

Strategies for Home

Multi-Sensory Learning Approaches:
- Engaging multiple senses (visual, auditory, and tactile) to reinforce learning.
- Example: Tracing letters in sand while saying the sound aloud.
Use Audiobooks: This meets students at their intellectual and interest level, and encourages curiosity.
Read aloud to them to model fluent reading. Consistent practice without pressure helps build skills and confidence over time.

At School

Students with dyslexia often struggle to keep up with assignments that require a lot of reading, complete timed tests, or read grade-level materials fluently. They may have strong comprehension and insightful ideas when content is presented verbally, but lose points due to decoding errors, or difficulty spelling. Teachers might notice a gap between what a student can explain in discussion and how independently they can read and process written text.

Strategies for School

Formal accommodations through an IEP or 504 plan
General classroom accommodations by talking to the teacher - ability to take a picture of notes on the board, providing a copy of notes, frequent checks for understanding, and allow for verbal responses or clarification of answers verbally.
Assistive Technology - tools like audiobooks, text-to-speech apps, and dictation software to support learning.
Practice typing skills - it is beneficial to learn typing fluency to access word processing tools
Testing accommodations- extra time, testing in a quiet setting, questions or directions read aloud when not assessing reading skills.

At Work

Adults with dyslexia may find tasks that require a lot of reading, such as reviewing reports, reading detailed emails, or interpreting written instructions, slow and mentally draining. They might prefer clear, concise communication, benefit from visual supports like charts or bullet points, or ask follow-up questions to confirm understanding. Many develop strong problem-solving, big-picture thinking, and verbal communication skills to navigate workplace demands effectively.

Strategies for Work

Build Structured Workflows - Create consistent systems for managing reading and writing tasks. Using checklists, templates, and step-by-step routines can reduce cognitive load and make complex projects feel more manageable.
Preview and Summarize Information - Before diving into long documents, skim headings and key points to get the big picture. After reading, briefly summarize the main ideas in your own words to strengthen comprehension and retention.
Leverage Verbal Processing -Talk through ideas before writing them down. Many adults with dyslexia think best out loud, and verbal rehearsal can help organize thoughts more clearly before drafting emails, reports, or presentations.

In Social Setting

Situations that involve quickly interpreting written information, lengthy verbal directions, or responding to text messages on the spot can feel stressful for individuals with dyslexia. They may hesitate to participate or withdraw from these interactions, which can be misunderstood as shyness or disinterest rather than recognized as difficulty with reading fluency, word retrieval, or processing verbal & written language in real time.

Strategies for Social Settings

Strengthen Verbal Processing and Communication Skills - “pause and process” strategies to support language organization and response time. Practicing common social scenarios in a low-pressure setting allows individuals to rehearse word retrieval, clarify misunderstandings, and build confidence in both expressive and receptive communication.
Assistive Technology - allow use of voice to text when messaging with friends, drafting an email, using headphones to listen to voice notes

SOLUTIONS

How we Support Learners with Dyslexia

At Learning for All, we take a strengths-based approach to helping students with dyslexia. Our educational therapists work one-on-one to identify each learner’s unique challenges and build effective, personalized strategies for success.

Strengthening phonological awareness and decoding skills through explicit, systematic reading instruction
Building reading fluency and accuracy to improve confidence and comprehension
Developing spelling skills through structured, multisensory approaches
Teaching strategies for understanding and organizing written information
Reducing frustration and increasing self-esteem around reading and written language

Through targeted, evidence-based reading instruction, we help students become more accurate, fluent readers and confident learners—at school, at home, and beyond.

Dyslexia Services

Ready to Get to the Root of the Language Processing Challenge?

Let’s work together to make reading feel less overwhelming and more achievable, so learners can build skills, confidence, and a lifelong belief in their ability to succeed.

Whether for a child, teen, or adult, dyslexia can make reading and spelling feel frustrating and discouraging. At Learning for All, we help learners of all ages strengthen their reading skills, build confidence, and discover tools that make written communication easier and more effective.

Free Consult

Assessments

Additional Resources

For more information on reading and spelling difficulties and dyslexia, please visit the following sites:

Bright Solutions for Dyslexia

The International Dyslexia Association

Chasing Your Potential

Yale Center for Dyslexia Creativity

Understood.org

Whether students are struggling with reading or are proficient readers, a tool to consider is the use of audiobooks. It is a great way to expose students to language & ideas that are above their reading level but at their intellectual level, and that address their areas of interest. This creates a lot of engagement around reading and also models good reading and prosody.

Learning Ally

Bookshare

Audible