Understanding Dyslexia
Reflections from the 2026 Understanding Dyslexia Zoom Conference hosted by The Reading League, Presented by Shelia Clonan, Ph.D. February 11, 2026
As an educator working with students ages 5–18, I am continually reminded that dyslexia is not confined to early elementary school—and it certainly does not disappear in adulthood. One of the clearest messages from the recent Understanding Dyslexia conference hosted by The Reading League was this:
Dyslexia is about the brain.
Dyslexia Is a Neurological Difference
Dyslexia is not a motivation problem.
It is not caused by lack of exposure.
It is not a vision issue.
And it is not something students simply “grow out of.”
It is a difference in how the brain processes written language.
Research in reading science consistently shows that non-dyslexic readers activate multiple interconnected neural pathways when they read. These pathways form a kind of triangular network in the brain—connecting:
Phonological processing (sounds)
Orthographic processing (letters and spelling patterns)
Meaning (semantics and vocabulary)
In contrast, a dyslexic brain often relies on alternative pathways.
What Does That Mean in Practical Terms?
Instead of automatically breaking a word into individual phonemes (sounds), mapping those sounds onto letters, blending them, and attaching meaning, a dyslexic reader may attempt to process the word more like a visual image.
If the word has been memorized visually, it may be recognized.
But if the word has not been stored as an “image,” the student often has no reliable strategy to decode it.
That is when we see:
Guessing based on the first letter
Guessing based on context
Skipping words
Substituting similar-looking words
And ultimately, comprehension breaks down—not because language comprehension is weak, but because word reading is inefficient.
There Are No Shortcuts
One theme that resonated deeply with me was the reminder that dyslexia is not something that can be “fixed” overnight.
I see many advertisements promising quick interventions or fast solutions. But because dyslexia involves neural circuitry, improvement requires building new pathways in the brain—intentionally, systematically, and one connection at a time.
That process is:
Explicit
Sequential
Cumulative
Hard work
For young learners especially, this work is cognitively demanding. Fatigue is real. What looks like avoidance is often exhaustion.
We are asking their brains to do something that does not come naturally—and to do it repeatedly until it becomes automatic.
Core Challenges in Dyslexia
Presented in the conference and what I see in my own practice, breakdowns occur in these areas:
Phoneme awareness
Letter–sound correspondence
Automaticity in word reading
Processing and retrieval speed
Many students can tell you letter names.
Many can even tell you the sounds.
But when they encounter connected text, automaticity falls apart.
Reading becomes slow, effortful, and fragile.
And because reading is not automatic, cognitive energy is spent on decoding rather than comprehension.
Early Warning Signs (Kindergarten–1st Grade)
Early identification is critical. In primary grades, watch for:
Difficulty associating letters with sounds
Limited understanding that words are made of individual sounds
Difficulty blending sounds to form words
Trouble sounding out simple CVC words
Difficulty remembering previously taught words
Writing with missing vowels
Guessing words based on first sound or picture cues
These are not developmental “quirks” to ignore. They are important data points.
Later Warning Signs (2nd Grade and Beyond)
When dyslexia is not addressed early, we often see:
Slower acquisition of reading skills
Avoidance of reading tasks
Stronger listening comprehension than reading fluency
Lack of strategy for unknown words
Continued guessing (visual or context-based)
One important nuance:
Language comprehension is often intact—or even strong. The difficulty lies in word recognition and decoding efficiency.
This distinction matters tremendously for instruction.
Moving Forward
Understanding dyslexia changes how we teach.
It shifts the focus from:
“Try harder”
to“Teach differently.”
It reminds us that:
Explicit phonemic awareness instruction matters.
Systematic phonics matters.
Repeated practice toward automaticity matters.
Processing speed differences require patience and precision.
And most importantly, it reminds us that struggling readers are not broken.
Their brains simply require a different instructional pathway.
As educators and parents, our role is not to search for shortcuts—but to build strong, durable neural connections through evidence-based instruction.
One sound at a time.
One word at a time.
One pathway at a time.
