What does it mean to have Dyslexia?

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The IDA fact sheet titled Dyslexia Assessment: What is it and how can it help? states "the problems associated with dyslexia are language-based, not related to cognitive skills or intelligence.  Phonological processing problems are the principal cause of dyslexia.  Phonological processing refers to the ability to analyze speech or spoken language, from identifying individual words, to word parts or syllables, and then into the smallest parts called phonemes or speech sounds."  

So why do dyslexic people often have letter and word reversals?

In order to read and write fluently, a person must have the ability to:

• perceive individual speech sounds (hear them)
• manipulate those sounds in words (rhyme, beginning, middle, end)
• recognize letters and match them to their respective sounds
• connect those speech sounds to their written symbols (letters)
• create written symbols for individual speech sounds (shape, formation, direction)
• visually perceive whole words (as one unit)
• match those units to their auditory gestalt or whole parts (sight words)
• remember information as new information is being added (working memory)
• visually track lines of text across the page and to the next line
• sustain attention to task

And that is all before we even consider comprehension!

The New Jersey Department of Education, along with many other states, has adopted the International Dyslexia Association's (IDA) definition of Dyslexia.

"Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”