Understanding DLD and Dyslexia
There is a lot to know about DLD and dyslexia. Educational Inspiration is here to help.
You can find the answers to frequently asked questions about dyslexia and developmental language disorder below. To learn more about Educational Inspiration’s diagnoses, please visit our FAQs page.
If you have any additional questions, please reach out. We would be happy to discuss them with you.
What Is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a language-based learning disorder. Common symptoms of dyslexia include problems with accurately reading words and/or reading connected text with ease. When there are difficulties reading words, it usually makes spelling hard too. It also becomes even more difficult to understand what is read.
It’s important to know that dyslexia is not the result of low intelligence. Many very smart people have dyslexia.
Children with a history of speech-language therapy needs are at higher risk for later reading and spelling challenges. Dyslexia is very common and can be identified early. Since dyslexia is a language-based learning disorder, a speech-language pathologist is an excellent choice for the evaluation of dyslexia.
What Is Developmental Language Disorder?
DLD is diagnosed when children have difficulties using or understanding language for no obvious reason. Children with DLD do not have low intelligence. Symptoms include problems expressing thoughts clearly, learning and using new words, or using appropriate word tense.
Older students might have trouble answering questions if the answer isn’t explicitly stated and requires them to “read between the lines.” Fifty percent of children with DLD experience co-occurring reading and spelling challenges.
DLD is very common, but it’s often overlooked because it is not always obvious in casual conversation. DLD should not be ruled out based on screenings or surface-level quick subtests done by other professionals. A speech-language pathologist is a language expert and can evaluate and diagnose DLD.
What Does Dyslexia Have to Do with DLD?
Understanding what we read comes from two important things: figuring out what words say (decoding) and understanding what they mean (language comprehension). If someone has trouble with either of these, it can make the reading experience harder.
Sometimes, a child might only get checked for dyslexia, without a comprehensive look at language skills. When this happens, a child might make progress in reading, but they continue to struggle with comprehension, which limits academic success.
Since DLD and dyslexia often co-occur, it’s important to have a thorough evaluation that delves deeply into both reading and language. This way, we can help children make the most out of their learning experience.