“Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling.”
– Delphi definition (February 2025)
Understanding Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects literacy skills. It is characterised by challenges with reading, spelling and written language that are not in line with a person’s age, educational opportunities, or other areas of learning and attainment.
Key features include:
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• Dyslexia exists on a spectrum, meaning individuals can experience difficulties that range from mild to severe.
• The way dyslexia presents and develops is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.
• Dyslexia can affect the development of other skills, including mathematics, reading comprehension, and learning additional languages.
• The most common underlying difficulty relates to phonological processing, including phonological awareness, phonological memory, and the speed of processing speech sounds. However, phonological difficulties do not explain all aspects of dyslexia.
• Other factors, such as working memory, processing speed, and knowledge of spelling patterns (orthographic skills), may also contribute to dyslexic difficulties.
• Dyslexia often occurs alongside other developmental differences, including Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Dyscalculia, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).
