Understanding Dyslexia

Types of Dyslexia

  1. Phonological Dyslexia: It is the most widespread form in which people face challenges in recognizing and manipulating sounds in speech. People face difficulties in breaking down words into separate sounds. It is difficult for them to read unfamiliar words. The challenges with sound-letter correspondence hinder their ability to sound out words correctly while reading. Therefore, reading, writing, and speaking can be challenging even if they have above-average intelligence

  2. Surface Dyslexia: People with surface dyslexia often hImage representing Surface Dyslexiaave difficulty recognizing words by sight. People usually have challenges with those words that do not sound as they are spelled. “Acquired surface dyslexia was first described by Marshall and Newcombe (1973) based on the case studies of patients JC and ST. It is characterized by relatively preserved reading of non-words (and regular words) with severe difficulties in reading irregular words, with which patients typically produce regularization errors" (Micaela, Garcia, Valeria, & Aldo, 2021). They encounter problems with words like “though,” “rough” and “have.”

  3. Deep Dyslexia: Deep dyslexia is a more complex form of dyslexia in which people feel reading is incredibly challenging but also deeply frustrating. They face difficulties in recognizing and understanding words. They are unable to decode words and connect them to their meanings. One of the most common mistakes they make while reading is semantic errors. They mispronounce words and reflect the deeper difficulty in accessing the correct word representation in the brain. This issue can be rooted in a disconnect between phonological processing and visual word form. It is commonly seen in people with cognitive impairments such as brain injury or stroke.

  4. Visual Dyslexia: It is often referred to as a visual processing disorder andImage representing visual dyslexia can make reading feel like a constant struggle. People with visual processing disorders face challenges with recognizing and distinguishing similar-looking letters like “b” and “d” or “p,” and “q.” Their brain misinterprets these letters which makes it difficult for them to read. They often feel confused when similar words such as “saw” or “was.” People with this condition often feel confused or they feel like words are constantly moving, blurring