Dyslexia Articles

Dyslexia Articles: I have struggled with dyslexia for my entire life. School—because it involved reading and writing—was a nightmare for me. But I survived and even learned to thrive. Now I try to share helpful information as a dyslexia advocate so that parents and educators can help their dyslexic children and students to understand the condition and work with it with patience, optimism, and perseverance. I’ve written many blog articles and magazine articles about dyslexia. I hope that some of the following archives will be helpful to you and your family.

Audio is available for many of these blogs in case you prefer to listen to them.

Genetics and Early Diagnosis of Dyslexia

Genetics of Dyslexia: Part 1

Genetics of Dyslexia: Part 1 While there is no one “dyslexia gene,” genetics do play a role when a child develops dyslexia. It’s important to note that genetics is just one part of dyslexia; a…

Early Detection of Dyslexia: Genetics of Dyslexia Part 2

Early Detection of Dyslexia: Genetics of Dyslexia Part 2 Frequently, children are suspected to be dyslexic learners after they are already enrolled in school and have been consistently demonstrating difficulties with reading and spelling. Once…

The Multiple Deficit Model of Dyslexia

A few years ago, my wife and I drove her parents to Houston in their new van. It was a top-of-the-line Honda, spacious and comfortable, but my wife’s stepdad didn’t feel able to manage Houston…

Dyslexia and the Reading Brain

When I was a boy, I loved taking mechanical things apart. All the moving parts that created a functioning clock, watch, radio, and so on just fascinated me. I was always amazed that something so…

Dyslexia and the Visual Brain

Dyslexia and the Visual Brain If you ask me, life is too full of acronyms as it is. And today we’re discussing yet another one. But this one refers to an important area of the…

Articles About Adult Dyslexia

Dyslexia and Relationships

It’s a fact: many folks struggle with their relationships, especially in marriage. All too often, couples split up or divorce. As a child from a broken home, I was determined never to let that happen…

Adult Dyslexia and Reading

In both the fields of research and education there is a tremendous focus on diagnosing dyslexia in children and developing reading remediation programs to help them learn to read. This is very important. By helping…

Dyslexia Anxiety in the Workplace

The 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can is the story of Frank Abagnale, a man with a troubled childhood who ran away from home as a teen and began to support himself as a…

5 Hallmarks of Adults Living with Dyslexia

I never wanted to be a writer. If someone had told my young self that I would become a writer one day, I would have laughed—or thrown up—or run away. The idea of becoming a…

Living with an Adult with Dyslexia

In my last blog, I talked about 5 hallmarks of being an adult with undiagnosed or misunderstood dyslexia. In my youth and well into adulthood, I knew I was dyslexic, but it was just a…

Adult Dyslexia: When It’s as Good as It Gets

I was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. It never goes away, so now as an adult, I have adult dyslexia. Being an adult with dyslexia is exhausting. We are always working incredibly hard to…

Articles about Children and Dyslexia

Getting the Right Diagnosis with ADHD and Dyslexia

Getting the Right Diagnosis with ADHD and Dyslexia Recognizing a child’s learning challenges is the first step toward getting them help. Sometimes, getting an accurate diagnosis for a kid with learning issues can be particularly…

Audiobooks, Dyslexia, and the Brain

Audiobooks, Dyslexia, and the Brain Some people wonder if audiobooks are a “legit” way for dyslexic students to read? A recent conversation with a frustrated parent led me to look for a way to help.…

Dyslexia Is Like Black-and-White Photography

Dyslexia Is Like Black-and-White Photography Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the ways a person can live with a limitation. Sometimes limitations are imposed upon us by others—a curfew for a teen, HOA…

How Reading Shapes the Brain

How Reading Shapes the Brain The other day I came across a quote that stopped me in my tracks. It read, “Reading is everything, and saying so is more than an inspirational slogan. It’s now…

Early Signs of Reading Difficulties

Early Signs of Reading Difficulties: Interview with reading specialist Faith Borkowsky One of the most dynamic, energetic people I know is fellow author Faith Borkowsky. Faith has decades of training and experience as a specialist…

Reading Teacher Challenge: Dyslexia

Reading Teacher Challenge: Dyslexia 2022 ALTA Summit Part 2 Welcome back to the continued discussion as reading specialists responded to my question, “What are your greatest challenges when working with children with dyslexia?” Reading Teacher…

Look Beneath the Surface of a Child’s Behavior

Look Beneath the Surface of a Child’s Behavior A recent conversation with a concerned parent reminded me how important it is to look beneath the surface of a child’s behavior. This parent shared that their…

Learning to Read Is Not Enough for Dyslexics

I was talking with a friend the other day who is passionate about children learning to read. It was a great conversation since I am passionate about that topic as well. But as we said…

Help a Dyslexic Child Develop a Positive Mindset

We all know how difficult it can be to develop new beneficial habits (or to ditch bad ones). Fortunately, a behavioral scientist from Stanford University can teach us a mind-blowing amount about how to do…

Applying the Science of Reading

There is a national crisis. Several may come to mind as you read that statement, but I’m referring to the national reading crisis. Those of you familiar with my work and this blog know I…

Dying to Read and Write

Students with undiagnosed learning difficulties such as dyslexia are at a higher risk for depression and suicidal tendencies. Why is this fact often overlooked? Read the following article by educator Faith Borkoswky, author of Failing…

Interview with Dr. Dan Peters: Parent Footprint

A common thread that runs through the lives of many dyslexics is their incredible struggle to read and to discover their path to success in life. This is especially true for those who were never…

Helping Your Child Understand Dyslexia

There are times in every parent’s life when they need to help their child understand a difficult concept. It could be something like the reason for someone’s emotional outburst, the illness or loss of a…

Dyslexia: Before and After

It’s nothing short of arresting to consider the fact that even though dyslexia was identified about 150 years ago, there’s still a lot of misunderstanding and outright prejudice about it, even among some highly trained…

Adolescent and Adult Dyslexia Diagnosis Survival Tips

Normally around here I tend to focus my energies and strategies by writing about helping children at as young an age as possible to understand and manage their learning differences. But countless thousands of individuals…

Dyslexia and Grit: What You Need to Know Now

Those of us with dyslexia know (as do parents and teachers of dyslexics) that one of the frequent hallmarks of dyslexia is that accomplishing anything requires sustained levels of intensive effort with slower-than-usual-appearing results. As…

When Reading is Hard

Author Kate Di Camillo said, “Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift.” I couldn’t agree more. But the sad truth…

Dyslexia, Reading, and Mixed Motor Messages

I recently interviewed elementary school teacher Judy Therrien on my Cardboard Box Adventures Radio Show. Judy has worked in public school education for over 50 years and for the past 40 years, she has focused…

Dyslexia and Kinesthetic Learning

I can’t tell you how often as a child I heard the words, don’t touch! However, we are born with a need to explore our world with more than just one or two of our…

Understanding Your Dyslexic Friend/Child/Spouse/Student

Understanding your dyslexic friend, child, spouse, or student On February 28th I attended a screening of an outstanding documentary called The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia. (poster at right) The Rawson Saunders School in Austin hosted the…

Parenting With Dyslexia: Reading With Your Kids

Parenting can be difficult. And parenting with dyslexia can add its own unique challenges, especially when it comes to reading aloud to kids. Back in 2009, a British television show called Bookaboo polled 2000 parents…

Are There Advantages to Being Dyslexic?

What are the advantages to being dyslexic? I’ve often written in this blog about the challenges dyslexics face, especially when learning to read and write, but today I thought I would talk about the positive…

It Only Takes One Teacher to Make a Difference

May is Teacher Appreciation month, and I wanted to offer my gratitude to two special teachers I had as a child. In general, I did not enjoy school because I almost always felt inadequate compared…

Everyone Fails at First

As a child who struggled mightily to learn how to learn, and then struggled especially hard when it came to learning how to read and write, I well know what failure feels like. It was…

The Precious Gift of Reading

I had the privilege of giving a speech in Georgia earlier this month at this year’s Decatur Book Festival (September 3, 2016). I spoke about the challenge that learning to read presents to children with…

Helping ALL Kids Learn to Read

Reading, in the not-so-distant past, was a right and privilege limited to royalty, the wealthy, or religious clerics. Books were rare and expensive. But fast-forward a couple of thousand years and, thankfully, the printed word…

Helping Teachers Help ALL Kids Learn to Read

In my last blog, I talked about how hundreds of thousands of children either cannot read well or cannot read with meaningful comprehension due to reading challenges, such as dyslexia. Tragically, a staggering 66% of…

Comics as a Coping Skill: Part 1

Now that the 2020-2021 school year has begun, things are crazier than ever, and you might wonder what relevance comics as a coping skill might provide. If your school district has opened its doors, you…

Understanding Dyspraxia

Understanding Dyspraxia. When I was a kid, my mom called me a bull in a china closet. For those unfamiliar with this term, it means that the person is really clumsy and accident prone and…

Effects of Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a sibling condition to dyslexia that can affect a person’s ability to do math, work with numbers, and perform tasks that require doing things in sequential steps. A common misconception is that dyscalculia…

Dyslexia and Heroes of Self-Reference

Reading can be a daunting task for anyone, but when dyslexia is added to the mix, it can feel like an insurmountable challenge. One tool that can encourage struggling readers is to find books with…

Shame Can Affect Your Health

Research has shown that certain populations experience higher rates of shame than others. This is especially true for those with dyslexia and its sibling conditions. But shame can have significant effects on our physical and…

The Power of Expectation

The power of expectation on the part of parents and educators can have a strong influence on young learners, especially those who struggle with reading. How so? We will start with the story of a…

Understanding Dysgraphia

Understanding dysgraphia. Dysgraphia is a sibling condition to dyslexia that affects a person’s ability to hold a pencil properly, perform the movements necessary to write legibly, and get their thoughts down on paper. When someone…

Published Articles about Children and Dyslexia

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