What is Dyslexia? What is structured literacy? What is the Orton-Gillingham approach?
Contact us to schedule a dyslexia screening or to begin intervention instruction.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading—affecting accuracy, speed, or both—and/or spelling, that can vary depending on the written language system. These difficulties reflect performance at the low end of a continuum of literacy skill and occur despite evidence-aligned instruction that is effective for the individual’s peers.
The cause and development of dyslexia involve the interplay of multiple biological and environmental influences. Phonological and/or morphological difficulties are common but not always present. Among the secondary consequences are limitations in language development and academic progress as well as challenges to psychological well-being and vocational opportunities.
Although identification and targeted instruction are important at any age, language and literacy support before and during the early years of education can be particularly effective.
(The International Dyslexia Association, 2025)
Origin: Dyslexia is understood as a neurobiological, often genetic, condition, not a result of low intelligence or poor teaching.
Common Deficit: Core difficulties can stem from deficits in the phonological and/or morphological component of language, affecting accurate or fluent word recognition and poor spelling.
Impact: Dyslexia can impact secondary consequences like language development, academic progress, psychological well-being, and vocational success.
Lifelong Condition: Dyslexia is a lifelong condition that can be managed with appropriate interventions, like structured literacy instruction and assistive technology, rather than something outgrown.
Early Intervention: Identifying risk factors and providing early structured literacy support can dramatically improve literacy achievement.
Characteristics of Dyslexia
Below are a few symptoms of dyslexia in children, teenagers, and adults.
Characteristics of Dyslexia in preschool-aged children
-Trouble rhyming words
-Possible delay in speech and/or language
-Difficulty learning letters and sounds
-May have difficulty pronouncing some words
-Family history of reading difficulties
Characteristics of Dyslexia in Children (K to 5th Grade)
-Oral language and reasoning are often more advanced than reading
-Trouble blending and segmenting sounds in words
-Difficulty remembering high frequency words
-Continues to sound out words after multiple exposures
-Spells words the way they sound
-Possible co-occurring disorder (dysgraphia, ADHD, language impairment)
Characteristics of Dyslexia in Teenagers & Adults
-Has a slow reading rate
-Has trouble finishing timed tests without accommodations
-Still struggles with spelling errors
-Does not enjoy reading for fun
-Prefers to listen to audio books
-Possible co-occurring disorder (ADHD, language impairment)
-Struggles learning a foreign language
-May excel in other areas that don’t involve reading
-Possibility of low self-esteem and lack confidence
Literacy Evaluations
Unlock Your Child’s Reading Potential with a Literacy Evaluation from Reading Reach
At Reading Reach Literacy Center, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to become a confident and successful reader. If your child is struggling with reading or spelling—or if you just want to ensure they’re on the right track—a comprehensive literacy evaluation is the best first step.
Our evaluations are more than just a test. They are a deep, individualized analysis of your child’s strengths and challenges across all areas of literacy. With this information, we can create a personalized plan for success.
What Our Literacy Evaluation Covers
Our assessments are designed to provide a full picture of how your child processes language and reads.
Key areas of focus include:
🔹 Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
We assess your child’s ability to recognize, isolate, and manipulate sounds in spoken language. These foundational skills are essential for decoding and spelling.
🔹 Phoneme Manipulation
This advanced phonemic awareness skill reveals how well a student can add, delete, and rearrange sounds in words—an important indicator of reading readiness and dyslexia risk.
🔹 Phonics and High-Frequency Word Knowledge
We evaluate your child’s understanding of letter-sound relationships and their ability to recognize high-frequency words—critical for reading fluency and accuracy.
🔹 Decoding (Reading) and Encoding (Spelling)
We look at how effectively your child sounds out unfamiliar words (decoding) and applies spelling rules (encoding), both of which are vital for literacy development.
🔹 Oral Reading Fluency
Using grade-level texts, we assess your child’s reading rate, accuracy, and expression. This helps determine if fluency is hindering comprehension.
🔹 Vocabulary Knowledge
We examine how well your child understands and uses academic and everyday vocabulary, an essential component of comprehension and communication.
🔹 Reading Comprehension
Through both oral and silent reading tasks, we measure your child’s ability to understand, recall, and analyze text.
Screening for Dyslexia Characteristics
Our literacy evaluation also identifies characteristics commonly associated with dyslexia, including difficulties with phonological processing, inconsistent spelling patterns, and slow, laborious reading.
Early identification of these patterns allows us to recommend interventions that align with the Orton-Gillingham and Structured Literacy approaches proven to help dyslexic learners succeed.
Personalized Recommendations and Next Steps
At the end of the evaluation, you’ll receive a clear, detailed report outlining your child’s current literacy profile.
You’ll also receive:
📌 Specific recommendations for Structured Literacy tutoring
📌 Guidance on how to support your child at home
We’re here to walk with you every step of the way. Give Your Child the Gift of Literacy
Don’t wait to find out why reading feels hard for your child. Whether you suspect dyslexia or simply want peace of mind, our comprehensive evaluation gives you the answers you need—and the support your child deserves.
Orton-Gillingham / Structured Literacy
Structured Literacy is an explicit and evidence-based way of teaching the foundational skills of reading.
It emphasizes:
Phonology – understanding the sound structure of language
Sound-symbol association – connecting letters and letter combinations to sounds
Syllable instruction – recognizing the types of syllables and how they affect pronunciation
Morphology – understanding how prefixes, suffixes, and roots impact word meaning
Syntax and grammar – grasping sentence structure and parts of speech
Semantics – developing vocabulary and comprehension
Structured literacy, including the Orton-Gillingham approach, focuses on direct, sequential instruction.
At Reading Reach, this is exactly what we deliver—lessons that are intentional, personalized, and guided by student data.
Why It Works
Decades of reading research, including the findings of the National Reading Panel and the work of neuroscientists studying how the brain learns to read, confirm that reading is not a natural process. Children must be taught how to decode language, and structured literacy provides the roadmap.
This method is particularly effective for struggling readers, who often need more explicit instruction in the building blocks of language. But here’s the key: structured literacy benefits all students, not just those with reading challenges.
Frequency of lessons matter, for quicker mastery of concepts.
See the link below for IDA's Fact Sheet for Effective Reading Instruction.
