Dyslexia

Caroline Erdos, Literacy Expert

Dr. Erdos is a consultant for the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board in Quebec and a speech-language pathology advisor for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Canada. Prior to this, she was ALDI Coordinator (Advancing Learning in Differentiation & Inclusion) for the 10 English school boards in Quebec, Canada, where she supported resource teachers through various professional development initiatives. Caroline has over 20 years’ experience as a pediatric speech-language pathologist in a tertiary care centre and has worked as a language and literacy consultant and a legal expert in speech-language pathology. Her areas of expertise include bilingualism and multilingualism, reading impairment, oral language impairment, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and craniofacial disorders. She has guest lectured at Université de Montréal, McGill University, and the McGill University Health Centre. She has also given workshops at numerous conferences across North America and has written and collaborated on several publications.

Dyslexia, also called developmental dyslexia or specific learning disorder with impairment in reading, is a type of learning disability that affects reading speed and/or accuracy, both at the word level and in connected text. This condition is often accompanied by spelling difficulties. Dyslexia can be identified as early as grade 1, although the myth that it can only be identified as of grade 3 or 4 remains quite prevalent. Also contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence suggesting that exposure to two languages will aggravate the reading difficulties of a child with dyslexia. With the right evidence-based intervention targeting phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondences and spelling rules, individuals with dyslexia can make significant gains and reach functional levels of reading proficiency or higher. Teaching children to memorize words or word chunks, having them engage in tracing, recopying, or drawing an outline around a word’s shape are all strategies that have been found to be ineffective. Research evidence also suggests that coloured overlays, specialized fonts, and behavioural optometry do not effectively treat most cases of dyslexia. Concurrent with intervention, individuals with dyslexia require adaptations (e.g., text-to-speech and speech-to-text technology) that allow them to access print to the same extent as their peers so that they do not fall behind in learning subject matter as a secondary consequence of their reading difficulties.

For more information on this topic, including how to help young children, see this resource.