Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin.

California recognizes specific learning disabilities as a disorder in one or more basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language.

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with accurately or fluently recognizing words or spelling.

Secondary problems may include reading comprehension and impeding vocabulary growth.

Dyslexia does not mean a lack of intelligence - rather it is difficulty reading or processing that makes it difficult for someone to process information.

Individuals with dyslexia may have weaknesses in information processing that bleed into other higher-level functions like critical thinking.

Early diagnosis is key to narrow the achievement gap.

Dyslexia affects socio-cultural groups equally.

Dyslexia can run in families.

Dyslexia can run in tandem with other handicapping conditions.

Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder with brain patterns that reflect poor phonological and orthographic processing.

Typically this manifests in issues with left-brain functions.

Scientists have been able to locate unique identifiers that can lead to intervention and improvement.

Dyslexic individuals have different chemical or brain patterns than non-dyslexic individuals when processing information.

Children can show these brain patterns even prior to learning how to read.

The neural signatures are present in both English and non-English speakers.

Neural signatures for dyslexia can change with intervention.

Neural signatures alone cannot determine an instructional plan, but it can indicate a student needs intervention.

Scientists have also discovered that the structure of some genes are different for those with dyslexia, which may allow for early identification and intervention.

Early identification and intervention allows for students to close the gap with non-dyslexic students.

Dyslexia affects both form and content of language learning.

The most widely-reported characteristics of dyslexia are problems with accurate and fluent word identification.

Students with dyslexia are typically identified when they exhibit a deficit that primarily affects their ability to decode language.

The majority of people with dyslexia have a core deficit in phonologically processing language.

Phonological awareness is a key aspect of language acquisition, recognition, and fluency. Dyslexic individuals can experience difficulties with even the most basic phonological issues (nursery rhymes) which can affect their overall language growth.

Phonemic awareness is the understanding of and ability to manipulate discrete individual phonemes of language (adding or subtracting letters from words to create new words).

Phonemic awareness is most closely linked to acquisition and spelling skills, with which dyslexic individuals struggle.

Phonological memory is affected by dyslexia because individuals may not be able to "code" information into short-term memory.

Dyslexic individuals may have problems with "rapid naming" letters, numbers, or objects in a list or in a certain order.

Dyslexia can lead to delayed speech or language development.

Dyslexic individuals have problems sounding out new words, processing sight-word vocabulary, or reading comprehension.

Early intervention is key for dyslexia.

Parents can look for signs of dyslexia even before children learn to read or write.

Preschool children may have difficulty recognizing their own name, have reduced interest in books, or learning nursery rhymes.

Kindergarten and first grade children may have difficulty rhyming simple words, use pictures to "read" a story, or complain that they do not like reading.

Second and third grade children may make simple grammatical mistakes (omitting proper endings of words), have difficulty with high-frequency words like "with" or "for," and may have difficulty with telling basic stories in sequential order.

Fourth through eighth grade students may display reading problems typical of much younger students, lack awareness and proper usage of common prefix or suffixes, demonstrate difficulty reading or learning vocabulary, or avoid reading altogether.

High school and college students may continue to display basic reading and language issues, mispronounce common words, have difficulty in classes with lots of note-taking, or show fatigue when reading.

Dyslexic students can also display many strengths, including curiosity, imagination, problem-solving, and good listening comprehension.

Understanding and addressing dyslexia as early as possible will help close the learning gap and allow dyslexic students to "catch up" earlier.