Developmental dyslexia / dysorthography: what is it?

by Céline de Brito, MOA
Speech Therapist

The word dyslexia comes from the Greek terms dys (difficulties) and lexis (lexicon, words). Thus, dyslexia is a written language disorder whereby, in the presence of normal intelligence and no other major problem, a person has difficulty learning to read. Likewise, the word dysorthography comes from the term dys (difficulties) and the word spelling and therefore represents a written language disorder affecting spelling. Dyslexia usually comes with dysorthography.

However, care must be taken, because a finding of dyslexia does not depend on reading symptoms (eg visual errors, hearing confusion, academic delay), but rather on progress. Thus, a person may have difficulty learning to read due to other factors (visual, emotional, family difficulty, etc.) and the symptoms noted may resemble dyslexia. If the person has the symptoms and when followed up it progresses quickly, it is simply a delay. Dyslexia is a disorder (not a delay). Progress is therefore slow and the difficulties persist.

You should also know that dyslexia is a neurological dysfunction and that we therefore frequently notice oral signs (poor working memory, lexical access disorder, sound difficulties (pronunciation), etc.). An evaluation of dyslexia requires that the child be evaluated by several professionals (orthopedagogue, speech therapist, psychologist, optometrist, audiologist) and the follow-up carried out will make it possible to confirm or deny the presence of dyslexia.

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