{"id":27457,"date":"2024-10-17T10:51:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T09:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings-new\/?page_id=27457"},"modified":"2026-09-11T07:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T06:39:28","slug":"what-is-dyslexia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/cognition-and-learning\/devon-spld\/dyslexia-guides\/what-is-dyslexia\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 9 What is dyslexia?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-d5be3348 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column doc-aside is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Contents<\/h2><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#what-is-dyslexia\">What is dyslexia?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-delphi-definition-of-dysleixa-2025\">The Delphi Definition of Dyslexia (2025)<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#nature\">Nature<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#manifestation\">Manifestation<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#impact\">Impact<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#where-can-i-find-out-more\">Where can I find out more?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"document-download-acf-block clearfix \" id=\"block_acf-block-6aa3a21e215b3\">\r\n\r\n\t\t<div class=\" dcc-documents-downloads hide-for-print\"><div class=\"dcc-documents-widget dcc-documents-widget-block\"><div class=\"dcc-documents-widget-box2\"><div class=\"content-container\"><div class=\"content-column download-copy\"><h2 class=\"dcc-documents-title\">Document resources<\/strong><\/h2><p class=\"dcc-documents-intro\">These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"content-column download-button\"><ul class=\"dcc-documents-widget-dropdown dcc-documents-widget-menu\"><li class=\"dcc-documents-widget-is-dropdown\"><button class=\"button secondary dcc-documents-widget-noarrow dcc-documents-widget-button dcc-documents-widget-download-button\" >Download<\/button><ul id=\"\" class=\"dcc-documents-widget-vertical dcc-documents-widget-menu dcc-documents-widget-is-submenu\" data-disable-hover=\"true\" data-click-open=\"true\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/EcEWydRPZWNDrZTDRGxAP5IBFm3mDAUuB_XainKZmOZYHg?e=uROPXA\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"dcc-documents-widget-text\"><span>No. 9 What is dyslexia? (Document)<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/aside>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"dcc-documents-cpt-fixed dccdocs-sticky dccdocs-hidden\">\r\n    <div class=\"grid-container\">\r\n        <div class=\"grid-x grid-margin-x\">\r\n            <div class=\"cell medium-12\">\r\n                <a class=\"back-to-top hide-for-print\" href=\"#content\"><svg class=\"app-c-back-to-top__icon\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"13\" height=\"17\" viewBox=\"0 0 13 17\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M6.5 0L0 6.5 1.4 8l4-4v12.7h2V4l4.3 4L13 6.4z\"><\/path><\/svg> Contents<\/a>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column doc-content is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<article class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 id=\"what-is-dyslexia\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is dyslexia?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The word \u2018dyslexia\u2019 comes from the Greek \u2018dys\u2019 meaning \u2018difficulty with\u2019 and \u2018lexis\u2019 meaning \u2018word\u2019 or \u2018language\u2019. So \u2018dyslexia\u2019 means literally \u2018difficulty with words\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Devon uses the Delphi Definition of Dyslexia (2025), a research-informed definition developed through a collaboration between the University of Birmingham, the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC), King&#8217;s College London, and the University of Oxford. Researchers brought together 58 international experts in dyslexia, including academics, specialist teachers, educational psychologists, and individuals with lived experience of dyslexia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"the-delphi-definition-of-dysleixa-2025\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Delphi Definition of Dyslexia (2025)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Across languages and age groups, difficulties in reading fluency and spelling are a key marker of dyslexia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depends on multiple genetic and environmental influences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e. in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dyslexia frequently co-occurs with one or more other developmental difficulties, including developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD, and developmental coordination disorder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Caroll, J. M., Holden, C., Kirby, P., Thompson, P. A. Snowling, M.J., &amp; Dyslexia Delphi Panel (2025) Towards a Consensus on Dyslexia: findings of a Delphi Study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 0(0). 1-12<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"nature\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Nature<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depend on multiple genetic and environmental influences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"manifestation\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Manifestation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e. in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"impact\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Impact<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Across languages and age groups, difficulties in reading and spelling fluency are a key marker of Dyslexia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dyslexia frequently co-occurs with one or more other developmental difficulties, including developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD and developmental coordination disorder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"where-can-i-find-out-more\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where can I find out more?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to know more about this complex area, the following websites provide more information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>British Dyslexia Association<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bdadyslexia.org.uk\/dyslexia\/about-dyslexia\" rel=\"noopener\">www.bdadyslexia.org.uk\/dyslexia\/about-dyslexia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Dyslexia Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk\" rel=\"noopener\">www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Dyslexia-SpLD Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk\/\" rel=\"noopener\">www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PATOSS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Professional Association for Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.patoss-dyslexia.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\">www.patoss-dyslexia.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a Service, we feel that what is most important is that we will seek to identify a student\u2019s specific areas of difficulty and then aim to support the school in addressing the pupil\u2019s specific needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/cognition-and-learning\/devon-spld\/\">www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/cognition-and-learning\/devon-spld\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">or contact<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"mailto:%20deborah.lynch@qe.devon.sch.uk\">deborah.lynch@qe.devon.sch.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"mailto:%20ann.atherton@qe.devon.sch.uk\">ann.atherton@qe.devon.sch.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"mailto:%20rebecca.hughes@qe.devon.sch.uk\">rebecca.hughes@qe.devon.sch.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"mailto:%20ossian.pleasance@qe.devon.sch.uk\">ossian.pleasance@qe.devon.sch.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"mailto:devonspld@devon.gov.uk\">devonspld@devon.gov.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"document-meta-acf-block clearfix \" id=\"block_acf-block-6aa3a21e215e6\"><div class=\" dcc-documents-meta\"><div class=\"dcc-documents-widget dcc-documents-widget-block\"><div class=\"dcc-documents-widget-box2\"><p class=\"dcc-documents-published\"><span>Published<\/span> <time datetime=\"2024-10-17T10:51:51+00:00\">17\/10\/2024 10:51am<\/time><\/p><p class=\"dcc-documents-updated\"><span>Last Updated<\/span> <time datetime=\"2026-09-11T07:39:28+00:00\">11\/09\/2026 7:39am<\/time><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is dyslexia? The word \u2018dyslexia\u2019 comes from the Greek \u2018dys\u2019 meaning \u2018difficulty with\u2019 and \u2018lexis\u2019 meaning \u2018word\u2019 or \u2018language\u2019. So \u2018dyslexia\u2019 means literally \u2018difficulty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2755,"featured_media":0,"parent":27416,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"longdocument-template.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-27457","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"updated":"","dccdocs_documents":[{"title":"No. 9 What is dyslexia?","file":"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/EcEWydRPZWNDrZTDRGxAP5IBFm3mDAUuB_XainKZmOZYHg?e=uROPXA","file_size":"","unit_type":"KB","file_type":"Document"}],"section-guidance":"","sections":null},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-25 23:22:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2755"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27457"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37952,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27457\/revisions\/37952"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}