Identifying Dyslexia by Subtype

0:00
Hello and welcome. I’m so glad you’re here. I know that if you’re watching this, you’re on a really personal journey to understand your child’s learning. And my hope today is to just create a little space of clarity and honestly, a lot of hope for you. We’re going to dive into why understanding your child’s specific type of dyslexia is probably the single most important step you can take to help them truly, truly thrive.

0:24
This quote, wow, it just gets right to the heart of everything, doesn’t it? I know that feeling so well, sitting in that evaluation, your heart just pounding, and then you walk out with a single word, dyslexia.

0:36
But what are you supposed to do with that? As the author says, I know because I sat in that chair too. A label can feel like an ending, but a profile? Oh, a profile is a beginning. And this is the fundamental difference. Right here. A label just confirms that there’s a challenge. A profile is your roadmap. It literally maps out the beautiful, unique landscape of your child’s mind, showing you their strengths and the exact places they need support so you know precisely which path to take. It’s what turns all that confusion into a clear, actionable plan. OK, so this is the thing that most parents are never told. And it’s so important. Dyslexia isn’t just one thing. It’s not a monolith. It shows up in a bunch of different ways because it can be caused by different little breakdowns in the brain’s reading system. And that means that two kids, both with that same dyslexia label, might need completely different kinds of help.

1:32
You know, this research really puts it into perspective. The stakes are so high. If you don’t know exactly what the underlying issue is, you can’t pick the right tools to fix it. You’re just guessing. And when it comes to our kids and their confidence and their future, guessing just isn’t an option. And that guessing, it has a real cost. This isn’t just a theory. The research has actually put a number on it. And it’s a number that represents so much time and so much effort and so much hope. 100 hours.

2:04
Just let that sink in for a minute. That’s basically a full school year of intervention sessions, a whole year of your child showing up trying their best, a year of you rearranging your life to get them there.

2:15
All of that energy poured into a program that wasn’t matched to their specific profile. And the result of all that work?

2:23
No meaningful progress. It’s just heartbreaking. Can you imagine the frustration for your child, who is trying so, so hard, but just not getting anywhere, and the weight on you as a parent watching them struggle?

2:38
That lost time, it’s so much more than just a number. But here’s the hopeful part. Now, let’s look at the same 100 hours, same amazing kid, same dedicated family. The only thing we’re changing is that the intervention is now precisely, perfectly matched to their unique learning profile. And the impact? A documented 22-point jump in their standard score. I mean, that’s not just progress. That is life-changing. That is the difference between feeling stuck and left behind and confidently moving right into the average range with their peers. It’s the same amount of effort, just finally aimed at the right target. This is what happens when we stop guessing and start knowing. So how do we find that target?

3:19
It all starts with understanding these different profiles. We’re going to walk through the six main subtypes now. And please, don’t let this feel overwhelming. My real hope is that maybe, just maybe, you’ll see your child in one of these descriptions, and it will feel like a light bulb turning on.

3:36
OK, first up is the phonological profile. This is what many of us think of as classic dyslexia. It’s a child who really struggles to hear and work with the individual sounds and words, you know, like hearing the p sound in spin.

3:49
Then you have the surface or orthographic profile. This kid might be pretty good at sounding out new words, but they read so slowly because their brain doesn’t store those tricky, irregular words like said or friend as pictures. You can already see how they need totally different kinds of practice, right?

4:04
Next, we have what’s called the double deficit profile. This is when a child has trouble with both the sound processing we just talked about and something called rapid naming, which is just how quickly their brain can name things like colors or letters. Then there’s the RAN or rapid naming profile all on its own. These kids are often really accurate readers, but they are just so slow. Reading never becomes automatic for them.

4:28
And then there’s a working memory profile. This is the child who might read every single word in a paragraph perfectly, but by the time they get to the end, they’ve forgotten how it started, so they have no idea what it was about.

4:39
And finally, you have the mixed profile, which is when a child has a few of these challenges at once, often alongside something like ADHD. Each one of these needs such a unique, tailored plan. So now you’re probably thinking, okay, this is great, but how in the world do I find out which profile my child has? This is where it’s so important to talk about having the right tool for the job, because not all evaluations are the same. Not even close.

5:04
This slide really says it all. A typical school evaluation is designed to answer one question, and one question only. Does this child check enough boxes to qualify for services? It’s really about eligibility. But a deep assessment? Its entire purpose is to tell you what to do. It’s the difference between a gatekeeper and a guide.

5:25
A deep assessment is the tool that actually builds that roadmap we’ve been talking about. It goes way beyond just a simple reading score. It looks under the hood of the car, so to speak, to figure out why things aren’t running smoothly. It finds the root cause so we can create a truly personalized plan. And as you can see, it looks at all these different puzzle pieces. It measures sound processing and naming speed and decoding all separately. This is how you get that complete three-dimensional picture of your child’s brain, identifying not just their challenges, but their amazing strengths too. So let’s bring this all home. When you have this information, it truly changes everything. It’s the thing that moves your family from a place of confusion and frustration to a place of empowerment with a clear, hopeful path forward. I want you to just take a breath and really let this one sink in. Hearing that word, dyslexia, can feel so heavy. It can feel like the end of something, but it’s not.

6:21
It’s the beginning of a new chapter, a better, more informed one. It’s the starting gun that says, OK, we know what we’re aiming at now. Let’s go. When it all comes down to it, this is the truth. Your child’s unique profile is everything. It’s the key that unlocks the door to an intervention that is tailor-made for them, an intervention that finally honors all of their hard work and lets them see the incredible progress they so, so deserve.

6:48
This journey can feel so big and overwhelming, I know. But it does not have to be a journey of guesswork. You can have a map. You can have real answers. You can know with confidence exactly what to do next to help your child unlock their incredible potential. You are their fiercest advocate, and you can absolutely do this.

0:00
Most parents leave a dyslexia evaluation with a label. What they actually need is a profile. The label tells you your child has dyslexia. The profile tells you what to do about it. I know because I sat in that chair too. And without the profile, the intervention that follows is a guess.

0:18
Here’s what most parents are never told. Dyslexia is not one condition. It presents across multiple distinct profiles, each driven by a different breakdown in the reading system. The intervention must match the breakdown. Two children sitting in the same classroom, both labeled dyslexic, may need programs that look nothing alike. Giving them the same program doesn’t help one of them.

0:42
What happens without subtype identification? Research has put a number on it, and it is not a small number. Children who received intervention not matched to their deficit profile showed no meaningful progress after 100 hours of instruction. The same 100 hours matched to the right profile moved children from below grade level to the average range, a documented 22-point standard score gain.

1:08
100 hours is approximately one full school year of intervention sessions. The only variable between those two outcomes was whether the assessment identified the correct target first.

1:19
The six profiles and what each one requires. In the classroom, two of these children can look identical. The breakdown underneath is completely different. The intervention must match the breakdown, not the behavior.

1:35
Phonological subtype. This child cannot decode unfamiliar words. He or she struggles to segment and manipulate speech sounds, fails nonsense word tasks, and guesses at words using context and memory. The intervention must target structured literacy instruction, Orton-Gillingham, Wilson-Barton, with heavy emphasis on phonological awareness and decoding.

1:59
Surface slash orthographic. This child can decode phonetically, but reads slowly because irregular words aren’t automatic. He or she spells phonetically. “Sed” for “said.” Phonics is intact. Sight word memory is weak. The intervention must target structured literacy with heavier weighting on orthographic awareness. A good structured literacy program addresses both phonological and orthographic processing simultaneously. The orthographic component needs to be front and center for this profile.

2:20
Double deficit. This child has deficits in both phonological processing and rapid naming speed. This is the weakest reader profile. He or she struggles with decoding and cannot automate even words that are learned. The intervention must target structured literacy with intensive weighting across both phonological and fluency components. This is the most demanding profile to remediate. Outcomes are good when correctly identified early.

3:13
RAN slash fluency. This child’s phonological awareness is intact, but reading is very slow. He or she can decode accurately, but cannot automate. This profile is often misidentified as “not really dyslexic.” The intervention must target structured literacy, building fluency through automatic decoding. Additional fluency practice should be layered in. The goal is automaticity — accurate reading that no longer requires conscious effort.

3:30
Working memory. This child decodes words but cannot hold enough of the sentence in memory to comprehend it. He or she can read words accurately but loses meaning by paragraph’s end. The intervention must target working memory support strategies alongside decoding instruction. This must be identified separately or comprehension deficits will be misattributed.

3:55
Mixed slash comorbid. This child has deficits across multiple areas. The condition often co-occurs with ADHD, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia. The profile does not fit cleanly into one subtype. The intervention must target structured literacy with intervention design that accounts for all presenting areas. Co-occurring conditions such as ADHD or dysgraphia must be identified and addressed alongside the literacy program.

4:20
Why the profile matters. A child with a predominantly orthographic profile needs a structured literacy program that addresses both phonological and orthographic processing simultaneously, with orthographic awareness front and center. When intervention is weighted toward the wrong area, progress stalls. The assessment tells you exactly where to weight it.

4:42
Why generic assessment falls short. School evaluations are designed to answer one question. Does this child qualify for services? That’s it. Not what’s wrong. Not what to do. Just whether the threshold is met. A screener tells you a reading problem likely exists. It cannot tell you why. It cannot identify the profile. It cannot guide intervention.

5:06
School evaluations tell you eligibility for special education and broad reading levels. They cannot tell you subtypes, intervention targets, or which cognitive process is intact versus impaired. Screeners tell you risk flags and that a reading problem likely exists. They cannot tell you everything needed to build an intervention, subtypes, profiles, and a roadmap.

5:30
Comprehensive assessments tell you which processes are intact and which are impaired, subtypes, and profiles, along with a specific intervention roadmap. This is the tool that answers the right questions. What a deep assessment actually measures. Each component of a comprehensive assessment builds a different piece of your child’s learning profile. Together, they reveal not just where the difficulty is, but how severe it is, what strengths exist, and exactly where intervention needs to be weighted.

6:01
Phonological processing tells us the ability to hear, segment, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. It reveals the primary indicator for phonological dyslexia and double deficit. Rapid automatized naming tells us the speed of retrieving familiar labels from memory, measured independently of phonological processing. It reveals RAN slash fluency and double deficit profiles. This cannot be inferred from phonological scores alone. Decoding skills tell us the ability to sound out both real and nonsense words. This isolates the phonological decoding route by removing memory compensation. It reveals phonological dyslexia and distinguishes a true decoding deficit from compensated reading. Reading fluency tells us speed, accuracy, and expression in connected text, and the gap between decoding ability and automaticity. It reveals the RAN fluency subtype and distinguishes accuracy problems from speed problems.

7:10
Spelling and writing tells us about written expression and orthographic processing, and also screens for dysgraphia comorbidity. It reveals orthographic deficits, comorbid dysgraphia, and surface and mixed presentations. Visual attention tells us about visual processing and tracking abilities that support reading accuracy and efficiency. It reveals visual processing contributions to reading difficulty and informs accommodation recommendations. Comprehension tells us about the reading versus listening comprehension comparison. Strong listening but weak reading points to the reading system, not language ability or intelligence. It distinguishes dyslexia from broader language processing disorders and is critical for correct diagnosis.

7:55
Math skills screens for dyscalculia when indicated by history or presenting concerns. It reveals dyscalculia, mixed learning disability profiles, and co-occurring conditions that affect intervention design. Oral expression, vocabulary, and picture analogies measures verbal reasoning, expressive language, and conceptual thinking independently of reading.

8:13
This area is often a significant strength in dyslexic learners. It documents the gap between a child’s cognitive ability and their reading performance, critical for showing what the child is truly capable of.

8:28
What this means for your child. Getting the diagnosis is not the finish line, it is the starting gun. What comes next, the intervention, the program, the hours, only works if it is aimed at the right target. Every child presents with a unique profile. The areas of difficulty, their severity, and how they combine are different for every learner. That profile is what makes targeted intervention possible.

8:53
At READ Learning Center, our assessment builds that complete picture, strengths and difficulties across phonological processing, decoding, rapid naming, reading fluency, spelling and writing, visual attention, oral expression, vocabulary, comprehension, and math screening when indicated. The report tells you where your child is, what is driving the difficulty, and exactly where intervention needs to be aimed.

9:20
I was not about to let my son fail. That is why we do this work.