Types of Dyslexia

Video Transcript

"I'm often asked if there are different types of dyslexia. And the answer is there are at least four different types of dyslexia. The most common is referred to as a phonological dyslexia. That means that children have difficulty separating out the component parts of the language. They have difficulty isolating sentence, words within sentences, syllables within words, and individual sounds within words. Another very common type is referred to as orthographic dyslexia. That means that the individuals have difficulty recognizing and working with the spelling patterns that code particular sounds. For example, a final e changes the vowel from a short vowel in bat, to a long vowel in bate. Another type of dyslexia has to do with mathematics. That is referred to as dyscalculia. Children who have dyscalculia often are fairly good readers, but have great difficulty with the symbols of mathematics, and the concepts of mathematics. And finally there is something called dysgraphia. Dysgraphia has to do with the ability to produce forms in a clear and legible way. So these people have very messy handwriting. They have great difficulty forming letters, they're very slow, they're very inaccurate. And interestingly that these kinds of dyslexia may combine, so a person may have a phonological deficit or difficulty. And they may also have dysgraphia. They may have an orthographic dyslexia, and they may also have dyscalculia. So there is no guarantee that these different types will occur in only one of these types will occur in a person. Often they do co-occur."