Understanding the child behind the difficulty

Picture the scene of a child sitting in a classroom. They are looking at the same board, listening to the same teacher and being given the same instructions as everybody else, but something is not connecting. They do not fully understand what is being asked of them. They cannot quite figure it out. They feel lost, perhaps they become quiet, and they start looking around the classroom wondering why other children seem to find things easier.

Why can that boy remember it? Why can that girl read it? Why does everybody else seem to understand? Why do I not know this? Why can I not do this?

For many dyslexic children, these questions can become part of their everyday experience of education. What we see on the outside does not always tell us what is happening on the inside. A child may appear quiet, distracted, reluctant or unwilling to participate, but underneath that behaviour can be confusion, cognitive overload, frustration, embarrassment and fear of getting something wrong.

We often hear children say things such as, “I don’t want to be picked”, “don’t ask me to read”, “I don’t like reading”, “I understand it when somebody reads it to me”, “my hand hurts when I write” or simply, “I don’t know what I’m meant to be doing”.

Sometimes that child may actually know the answer. They may deliberately avoid putting their hand up because they are worried about what might happen next. Will they be asked to read? Will they have to spell something? Will everybody notice if they make a mistake?

Over time, these experiences can create a feeling of being different or misunderstood. That is why understanding dyslexia is about much more than reading and spelling. We have to understand the child, the way they process information, the cognitive effort they are using and the impact this can have on their confidence and learning.

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a neurological difference that primarily affects the development of skills involved in reading, writing and spelling. It is particularly associated with difficulties in phonological processing and phonological awareness.

Phonological awareness is our ability to recognise and work with the sounds within spoken language. This includes understanding rhyme, identifying syllables, recognising individual sounds and being able to blend and segment sounds within words. These skills are fundamental when a child is learning to connect spoken sounds with written letters and words.

For a dyslexic child, this process may not become automatic as quickly as it does for other children. They may need more repetition, structured teaching and opportunities to revisit learning before information becomes secure.

Working memory can also play an important part. A child may understand each part of an instruction but struggle to hold all of that information in mind while completing the task.

A teacher might say, “Get your maths book, turn to page 24, answer questions one to six and then bring your book to me.”

The child may have understood the instruction perfectly well when it was spoken, but by the time they reach their desk part of it has disappeared.

That does not necessarily mean they were not listening. It may simply mean that the amount of information being held, processed and acted upon at one time was too great.

There is no single dyslexic child

One of the most important things to understand is that dyslexia looks different from person to person. It should not be seen as a simple linear line where every dyslexic person experiences the same difficulties to a greater or lesser degree.

Two dyslexic children can have very different profiles. One child may struggle significantly with spelling but read relatively fluently. Another may have strong verbal understanding but struggle to get those ideas onto paper. Another may find sequencing, working memory, organisation or processing speed particularly demanding.

We also need to recognise that dyslexia can occur alongside other neurodevelopmental differences such as ADHD, autism, dyspraxia or Developmental Coordination Disorder, and dyscalculia. Emotional wellbeing and mental health can also be affected, particularly where a child experiences repeated frustration, misunderstanding or a sense of failure.

A checklist can help us identify possible traits. Screening can give us useful information. A full diagnostic assessment can provide a much deeper understanding. But none of these replace the importance of understanding the individual child.

Possible Traits of Dyslexia and How We Can Help

The traits we notice will change as a child develops and as the demands placed upon them increase. The following age ranges are therefore a guide rather than a checklist.

Ages 0 to 4

Possible traits

• Difficulty recognising or producing rhyming words and nursery rhymes.
• Difficulty remembering or pronouncing longer and unfamiliar words.
• Difficulty learning sequences, names, colours, shapes or everyday routines.
• Difficulty hearing and identifying sounds within words.
• Appearing to know something one day but struggling to recall it the next.
• A family history of dyslexia or significant literacy difficulties.

How we can help

• Use songs, rhymes, rhythm and playful sound activities to build phonological awareness.
• Read stories together and talk about the pictures, characters and events.
• Use practical and multisensory learning through movement, objects, touch, sound and play.
• Repeat new vocabulary naturally and use it in different situations.
• Break instructions into short, simple stages.
• Focus on curiosity, confidence and enjoyment rather than pressure around early reading or writing.

At this age, the aim is not to label a young child because they find one particular skill difficult. It is about noticing patterns and creating strong foundations for language, sound awareness and learning.

Ages 4 to 8

The early years of primary education are often where dyslexic difficulties become more noticeable because children are being asked to develop reading, spelling and writing skills much more quickly.

Possible traits

• Difficulty learning and remembering letter and sound relationships.
• Difficulty blending sounds to read words or segmenting words for spelling.
• Slow, hesitant or effortful reading.
• Inconsistent spelling, including spelling the same word differently.
• Difficulty remembering multi-step instructions, sequences or number facts.
• Stronger verbal understanding than their written work appears to show.

How we can help

• Use explicit, structured and cumulative teaching of phonological awareness, phonics, reading and spelling.
• Break learning into smaller stages and revisit previous learning regularly.
• Use multisensory approaches that combine seeing, hearing, saying, touching and doing.
• Give short instructions one stage at a time.
• Reduce unnecessary copying and allow children to demonstrate knowledge in different ways.
• Praise progress, effort, ideas and strengths, not just accuracy.

This is also an important stage for protecting confidence. Children begin comparing themselves with classmates very early, so helping them understand that they learn differently can be just as important as teaching them how to read.

Ages 8+

As children move through primary school, expectations increase. They are no longer simply learning to read. Increasingly, they are expected to read in order to learn.

Possible traits

• Reading remains slower or more effortful than expected.
• Persistent difficulties with spelling and unfamiliar words.
• Difficulty organising and structuring written work despite having strong ideas verbally.
• Working memory difficulties become more noticeable as tasks become more complex.
• Difficulty remembering facts, sequences, times tables or subject-specific vocabulary.
• Increasing frustration, avoidance or loss of confidence around reading and writing.

How we can help

• Continue structured literacy teaching where it is still needed.
• Teach planning strategies such as mind maps, bullet points and visual organisers.
• Break larger pieces of work into smaller, clearly defined stages.
• Use overlearning and regular retrieval to help information become more secure.
• Introduce appropriate technology such as typing, text-to-speech and speech-to-text.
• Give children different ways to demonstrate what they know.

At this stage, some children become very skilled at hiding their difficulties. They may avoid situations, copy other children, use humour or become disruptive when they are worried about being exposed.

Sometimes the behaviour we see is actually a coping strategy.

Ages 12+

Secondary school introduces a different level of complexity. Young people move between subjects and teachers, manage homework, deadlines, timetables and equipment, and are expected to process much larger amounts of written information.

Possible traits

• Reading may be accurate but remains slow and requires considerable concentration.
• Difficulty processing large amounts of written information quickly.
• Difficulty taking notes while listening at the same time.
• Persistent spelling difficulties and difficulty structuring longer written answers.
• Difficulty organising homework, deadlines, equipment and competing tasks.
• Cognitive fatigue, frustration or anxiety after sustained reading or writing.

How we can help

• Present information in manageable sections and highlight the most important points.
• Teach clear strategies for planning assignments, revision and longer written responses.
• Provide notes or lesson materials so the young person does not have to listen, understand and write simultaneously.
• Make technology a normal part of learning.
• Build in additional processing time where needed.
• Help the young person understand their own strengths and the strategies that work for them.

This is also a stage where self-advocacy becomes increasingly important. Young people should begin to understand their own dyslexia and recognise what helps them to learn effectively.

Ages 18+

At 18, dyslexia does not disappear. What changes is the environment. A young person may move into university, an apprenticeship, employment or other areas of adult life where independence, organisation and written communication become even more important.

Possible traits

• Reading large amounts of information remains slower or cognitively demanding.
• Difficulty structuring longer assignments, reports or emails.
• Difficulty remembering verbal instructions, appointments or terminology.
• Problems with organisation, time management and competing priorities.
• Greater difficulty when required to process information quickly under pressure.
• Cognitive fatigue after sustained literacy or information-processing demands.

How we can help

• Encourage individuals to understand their own dyslexic profile and ask for appropriate adjustments.
• Use assistive technology such as speech-to-text, text-to-speech and digital organisation tools.
• Break complex projects into smaller stages with clear priorities.
• Use voice notes, mind maps and visual planning where helpful.
• Allow appropriate time for reading, processing and written work.
• Continue to recognise strengths, interests and preferred ways of working.

By this point, many dyslexic people have developed their own strategies. Understanding why those strategies work can help turn coping mechanisms into deliberate and effective ways of working.

Moving Beyond the Deficit Model

When we talk about dyslexia, much of the conversation naturally focuses on difficulty. This is partly because assessment has to identify areas where an individual is struggling.

We look at reading. We look at spelling. We look at phonological processing. We look at working memory. We look at the barriers.

These things matter, but they should not become the whole story.

If a child constantly hears about everything they find difficult, they can begin to believe that dyslexia is simply a list of things they cannot do.

We also need to recognise strengths. A dyslexic child may have strengths in verbal communication, creativity, practical problem-solving, visual thinking, imagination or seeing connections. Not every dyslexic child will have the same strengths, but finding what a child is good at can help change the way they see themselves.

The question begins to move from, “What is wrong with me?” to, “How do I learn best?”

Structured Teaching, Overlearning and Multisensory Learning

Dyslexic children often need learning to be explicit, structured and cumulative. We cannot always assume that repeated exposure alone will allow a skill to become automatic.

Overlearning can therefore be very valuable. This means practising something beyond the point where it has initially been understood so that the information becomes more secure and easier to retrieve.

Multisensory teaching can help by bringing together different ways of accessing information. A child might hear a sound, say it, see the letter, write or trace it and physically manipulate letters or objects as part of the same learning experience.

Concrete manipulatives, mnemonics, visual organisers, repetition and explicit modelling can all help reduce the demands on working memory and make information easier to recall.

The aim is not to remove dyslexia. It is to create strategies and teaching approaches that allow the child to access learning more effectively.

Technology Can Remove Barriers

Technology can also become a powerful tool.

Text-to-speech can allow a child to access written information without all of their cognitive energy being used to decode every word. Speech-to-text can allow them to capture complex ideas without spelling or handwriting becoming the main barrier.

Typing can reduce the physical and cognitive demands of handwriting for some children. Digital planners, reminders and visual organisation tools can also help with working memory and organisation.

Technology should not be viewed as cheating or as an easy way out. Sometimes removing the literacy barrier simply allows us to see what the child actually knows.

Understanding Cognitive Load

We also need to think about the amount of cognitive effort involved in an ordinary school day for a dyslexic child.

Reading may involve decoding individual words, processing sounds, remembering what has already been read and trying to understand the meaning at the same time.

Writing can involve thinking of an idea, remembering the sentence, deciding how to spell each word, forming the letters, using punctuation and trying not to lose the original thought.

Listening to instructions can involve understanding the language, holding several pieces of information in working memory and deciding which part to do first.

When these demands happen repeatedly throughout the day, the cognitive load can become significant. This can help us understand why some dyslexic children are exhausted after school, why homework becomes difficult and why frustration can build.

The Emotional Impact of Dyslexia

The emotional impact of dyslexia should never be underestimated. A child who repeatedly experiences difficulty with reading, writing, spelling, memory or processing may begin to compare themselves with others and question their own ability.

Some children become quiet. Some avoid work. Some become frustrated or anxious. Others may use humour, distraction or behaviour to move attention away from the things they find difficult.

A child who says, “I don’t care”, may care enormously. A child who refuses to read may be frightened of getting it wrong. A child who appears distracted may already be cognitively overloaded.

Understanding the reason behind the behaviour can help us respond differently.

Understanding the Individual Child

There is no single approach that will work for every dyslexic child. Dyslexia affects individuals differently, which means the starting point should always be understanding the child in front of us.

We need to understand what they find difficult, what creates the greatest cognitive demand, what helps them remember information and where their strengths lie. We also need to listen to the child themselves.

The aim is not to lower expectations. It is to remove unnecessary barriers so the child has a genuine opportunity to demonstrate what they know and what they can do.

Changing the Question

For too long, conversations about dyslexia have centred around what someone cannot do. We need to understand difficulties because that is how we identify the right support, but difficulty should never become the whole story.

Instead of simply asking, “Why can’t this child do this?”, we can start asking, “What is making this difficult?” and “What could we change to help?”

That small change in thinking can make a significant difference.

Dyslexia does not define a child’s intelligence, ability or future. But how adults understand and respond to dyslexia can have a lasting impact on how that child understands themselves.

The Studying with Dyslexia Takeaway

Dyslexic children do not need us to constantly remind them of what they find difficult. They need us to understand why something is difficult and then help them find another way.

That might mean structured teaching, repetition, overlearning, multisensory approaches, reducing demands on working memory or using technology to remove a barrier.

It also means recognising the whole child.

Their difficulties matter. Their strengths matter. Their confidence matters. And their voice matters.

The aim should not be to make a dyslexic child learn exactly like everybody else. It should be to give them the understanding, strategies and opportunities they need to learn successfully in their own way.

Understand the difficulty. Remove the barrier. Build the strength.

That, for us, is what Studying with Dyslexia is about.