Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A definition of dyslexia

  • Part I Defining Dyslexia, Comorbidity, Teachers’ Knowledge Of Language And Reading
  • Published:
Annals of Dyslexia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper elaborates on the components of a working definition of developmental dyslexia. It follows the general format of a paper by Lyon published in Annals of Dyslexia in 1995, which elaborated on a working definition proposed in 1994 (Lyon, 1995). The current definition agreed on by the work group updates and expands on the working definition from 1994.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Benson, D. (1977). The third alexia. Archives of Neurology, 34, 327–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, W. E., Eliez, S., Menon, V., Rumsey, J. M., White, C. D., & Reiss, A. L. (2001). Preliminary evidence of widespread morphological variations of the brain in dyslexia. Neurology, 56(6), 781–783.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruck, M. (1992). Persistence of dyslexics’ phonological awareness deficits. Developmental Psychology, 28, 874–886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunswick, N., McCrory, E., Price, C. J., Frith, C. D., & Frith, U. (1999). Explicit and implicit processing of words and pseudowords by adult developmental dyslexics: A search for Wernicke’s Wortschatz? Brain, 122, 1901–1917.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, L., Dehaene, S., Naccache, L., Lehéricy, S., Dehaene-Lambertz, G., Hénaff, M.-A., & Michel, F. (2000). The visual word form area: Spatial and temporal characterization of an initial stage of reading in normal subjects and posterior split-brain patients. Brain, 123, 291–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, L., Lehéricy, S., Chochon, F., Lemer, C., Rivaud, S., & Dehaene, S. (2002). Language-specific tuning of visual cortex? Functional properties of the visual word form area. Brain, 125, 1054–1069.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corina, D., Richards, T., Serafini, S., Richards, A., Steury, K., Abbott, R., et al. (2001). fMRI auditory language differences between dyslexic and able reading children. NeuoReport, 12, 1195–1201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damasio, A. R., & Damasio, H. (1983). The anatomic basis of pure alexia. Neurology, 33, 1573–1583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dehaene, S., Le Clec’H, G., Poline, J., Le Bihan, D., & Cohen, L. (2002). The visual word form area: A prelexical representation of visual words in the fusiform gyrus. NeuroReport, 13, 1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dehaene, S., Naccache, L., Cohen, L., Le Bihan, D., Mangin, J., Poline, J., et al. (2001). Cerebral mechanisms of word masking and unconscious repetition priming. Nature Neuroscience, 4, 752–758.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dejerine, J. (1891). Sur un cas de cécité verbale avec agraphie, suivi d’autopsie. C. R. Société du Biologie, 43, 197–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dejerine, J. (1892). Contribution a l’etude anatomo-pathologique et clinique des differentes varietes de cecite verbale. Memoires de la Societe de Biologie, 4, 61–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demb, J., Boynton, G., & Heeger, D. (1998). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of early visual pathways in dyslexia. Journal of Neuroscience, 18, 6939–6951.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eden, G. F., VanMeter, J. W., Rumsey, J. M., Maisog, J. M., Woods, R. P., & Zeffiro, T. A. (1996). Abnormal processing of visual motion in dyslexia revealed by functional brain imaging. Nature, 382, 66–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eliez, S., Rumsey, J. M., Giedd, J. N., Schmitt, J. E., Patwardhan, A. J., & Reiss, A. L. (2000). Morphological alteration of temporal lobe gray matter in dyslexia: An MRI study. Journal of Child Psycholology and Psychiatry, 41(5), 637–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filipek, P. (1996). Structural variations in measures in the developmental disorders. In R. Thatcher, G. Lyon, J. Rumsey, & N. Krasnegor (Eds.). Developmental neuroimaging: Mapping the development of brain and behavior (pp. 169–186). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, J. M., & Loveland, K. (1986). Neuropsychology of arithmetic disabilities in children. Focus on Learning Problems in Mathematics, 8, 23–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R., Barnes, M., Steubing, K. K., Francis, D. J., Olson, R. K., et al. (2002). Classification of learning disabilities: An evidence-based evaluation. In R. R. Bradley, L. Danielson, & D. Hallahan (Eds.). Identification of learning disabilities: Research to practice (pp. 185–250). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, J. M., Shaywitz, S. E., Shankweiler, D. P., Katz, L., Liberman, I. Y., Stuebing, K. K., Francis, D. J., Fowler, A. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (1994). Cognitive profiles of reading disability: Comparisons of discrepancy and low achievement definitions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 6–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, R. F., Ween, J. E., & Albert, M. L. (1993). Alexia. In K. M. Heilman & E. Valenstein (Eds.). Clinical neuropsychology (3rd ed., pp. 37–62). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galaburda, A. M., Sherman, G. F., Rosen, G. D., Aboitiz, F., & Geschwind, N. (1985). Developmental dyslexia: Four consecutive patients with cortical anomalies. Annals of Neurology, 18(2), 222–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgiewa, P., Rzanny, R., Hopf, J., Knab, R., Glauche, V., Kaiser, W., et al. (1999). fMRI during word processing in dyslexic and normal reading children. NeuroReport, 10, 3459–3465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geschwind, N. (1965). Disconnection syndromes in animals and man. Brain, 88, 237–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross-Glenn, K., Duara, R., Barker, W. W., Loewenstein, D., Chang, J.-Y., Yoshii, F., et al. (1991). Positron emission tomographic studies during serial word-reading by normal and dyslexic adults. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 13(4), 531–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helenius, P., Tarkiainen, A., Cornelissen, P., Hansen, P. C., & Salmelin, R. (1999). Dissociation of normal feature analysis and deficient processing of letter-strings in dyslexic adults. Cerebral Cortex, 4, 476–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horwitz, B., Rumsey, J. M., & Donohue, B. C. (1998). Functional connectivity of the angular gyrus in normal reading and dyslexia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 95, 8939–8944.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klingberg, T., Hedehus, M., Temple, E., Salz, T., Gabrieli, J., Moseley, M., et al. (2000). Microstructure of temporo-parietal white matter as a basis for reading ability: Evidence from diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging. Neuron, 25, 493–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefly, D. L., & Pennington, B. F. (1991). Spelling errors and reading fluency in compensated adult dyslexics. Annals of Dyslexia, 41, 143–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, J. (1989). Educational interventions in learning disabilities. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 326–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y., & Shankweiler, D. (1991). Phonology and the beginning reader: A tutorial. In L. Rieben & C. A. Perfetti (Eds.). Learning to read: Basic research and its implications (pp. 24–42). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindamood, P. (1994). Issues in researching the link between phonological awareness, learning disabilities, and spelling. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.). Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 351–373). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Logan, G. (1988). Toward an instance theory of automatization. Psychological Review, 95, 492–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan, G. (1997). Automaticity and reading: Perspectives from the instance theory of automatization. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Disabilities, 13, 123–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, G. R. (1995). Toward a definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 3–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, G. R., Fletcher, J. M., & Barnes, M. C. (2003). Learning disabilities. In E. J. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds.). Child psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 520–586). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, G. R., Fletcher, J. M., Shaywitz, S. E., Shaywitz, B. A., Torgesen, J. K., Wood, F. B., Schulte, A., & Olson, R. K. (2001). Rethinking learning disabilities. In C. E. Finn, Jr., R. A. J. Rotherham & C. R. Hokanson, Jr. (Eds.). Rethinking special education for a new century (pp. 259–287). Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and Progressive Policy Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCandliss, B., Cohen, L., & Dehaene, S. (2003). The visual word form area: Expertise in reading in the fusiform gyrus. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(7), 293–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moats, L. (1994). Issues in researching the link between phonological awareness, learning disabilities, and spelling. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.). Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 333–349). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, C. J., & Price, C. J. (1999). Three distinct ventral occiptotemporal regions for reading and object naming. NeuroImage, 10, 181–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, R. D., Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., Shaywitz, S. E., Lyon, G. R., Shankweiler, D. P., Katz, L., Francis, D. J., & Shaywitz, B. A. (1998). Subtypes of reading disability: Variability around a phonological core. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 347–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orton, S. (1937). Reading, writing, and speech problems in children: A presentation of certain types of disorders in the development of the language faculty. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulesu, E., Démonet, J.-F., Fazio, F., McCrory, E., Chanoine, V., Brunswick, N., Cappa, S.F., Cossu, G., Habib, M., Frith, C.D., & Frith, U. (2001). Dyslexia: Cultural diversity and biological unity. Science, 291, 2165–2167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulesu, E., Frith, U., Snowling, M., Gallagher, A., Morton, J., Frackowiak, R. S. J., & Frith, C. D. (1996). Is developmental dyslexia a disconnection syndrome? Evidence from PET scanning. Brain, 119, 143–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, C., Moore, C., & Frackowiak, R. S. J. (1996). The effect of varying stimulus rate and duration on brain activity during reading. NeuroImage, 3(1), 40–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramus, F., Rosen, S., Dakin, S., Day, B., Castellote, J., White, S., & Frith, U. (2003). Theories of developmental dyslexia: Insights from a multiple case study of dyslexic adults. Brain, 126, 841–865.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Report of the National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (Vol. NIH Pub. No. 00-4754): Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumsey, J. M., Andreason, P., Zametkin, A. J., Aquino, T., King, C., Hamburber, S. D., et al. (1992). Failure to activate the left temporoparietal cortex in dyslexia. Archives of Neurology, 49, 527–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumsey, J. M., Nace, K., Donohue, B., Wise, D., Maisog, J. M., & Andreason, P. (1997). A positron emission tomographic study of impaired word recognition and phonological processing in dyslexic men. Archives of Neurology, 54, 562–573.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmelin, R., Service, E., Kiesila, P., Uutela, K., & Salonen, O. (1996). Impaired visual word processing in dyslexia revealed with magnetoencephalography. Annals of Neurology, 40, 157–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seki, A., Koeda, T., Sugihara, S., Kamba, M., Hirata, Y., Ogawa, T., & Takeshita, K. (2001). A functional magnetic resonance imaging study during sentence reading in Japanese dyslexic children. Brain & Development, 23, 312–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shankweiler, D., Crain, S., Katz, L., Fowler, A. E., Liberman, A. M., Brady, S. A., Thornton, R., Lundquist, E., Dreyer, L., Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (1995). Cognitive profiles of reading-disabled children: Comparison of language skills in phonology, morphology, and syntax. Psychological Science, 6, 149–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz, B. A., Fletcher, J. M., & Shaywitz, S. E. (1994). A conceptual framework for learning disabilities and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Canadian Journal of Special Education, 9(3), 1–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz, B. A., Shaywitz, S. E., Pugh, K. R., Mencl, W. E., Fulbright, R. K., Skudlarski, P., Constable, R. T., Marchione, K. E., Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R., & Gore, J. C. (2002). Disruption of posterior brain systems for reading in children with developmental dyslexia. Biological Psychiatry, 52, 101–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz, S. E., Fletcher, J. M., Holahan, J. M., Shneider, A. E., Marchione, K. E., Stuebing, K. K., Francis, D. J., Pugh, K. R., & Shaywitz, B.A. (1999). Persistence of dyslexia: The Connecticut longitudinal study at adolescence. Pediatrics, 104, 1351–1359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz, S. E., Shaywitz, B. A., Fulbright, R. K., Skudlarski, P., Mencl, W. E., Constable, R. T., Pugh, K. R., Holahan, J. M., Marchione, K. E., Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R., & Gore, J. C. (2003). Neural systems for compensation and persistence: Young adult outcome of childhood reading disability. Biological Psychiatry, 54, 25–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz, S. E., Shaywitz, B. A., Pugh, K. R., Fulbright, R. K., Constable, R. T., Mencl, W. E., Shankweiler, D. P., Liberman, A. M., Skudlarski, P., Fletcher, J. M., Katz, L., Marchione, K. E., Lacadie, C., Gatenby, C., & Gore, J. C. (1998). Functional disruption in the organization of the brain for reading in dyslexia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 95, 2636–2641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simos, P., Breier, J., Fletcher, J., Bergman, E., & Papanicolaou, A. (2000). Cerebral mechanisms involved in word reading in dyslexic children: A magnetic source imaging approach. Cerebral Cortex, 10, 809–816.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E., & Siegel, L. S. (1994). Phenotypic performance profile of children with reading disabilities: A regression-based test of the phonological-core variable-difference model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(1), 24–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, J., & Walsh, V. (1997). To see but not to read: The magnocellular theory of dyslexia. Trends in Neurosciences, 20(4), 147–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talcott, J. B., Witton, C., McLean, M. F., Hansen, P. C., Rees, A., Green, G. G. R., & Stein, J. F. (2000). Dynamic sensory sensitivity and children’s word decoding skills. Proceedings of the National Academy of. Sciences, USA, 97, 2952–2957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tallal, P. (2000). The science of literacy: From the laboratory to the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. USA, 97, 2402–2404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Temple, E., Poldrack, R.A., Salidas, J., Deutsch, G. K., Tallal, P., Merzenich, M. M., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2001). Disrupted neural responses to phonological and orthographic processing in dyslexic children: An fMRI study. NeuroReport, 12, 299–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torgesen, J. K. (2000). Individual differences in response to early interventions in reading: The lingering problem of treatment resisters. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 1, 55–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Office of Education (USOE) (1977). Definition and criteria for defining students as learning disabled. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, M., Bowers, P. G., & Biddle, K. (2001). Naming speed processes, timing, and reading: A conceptual review. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33, 387–407.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

    G. Reid Lyon

  2. Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut

    Sally E. Shaywitz & Bennett A. Shaywitz

Authors
  1. G. Reid Lyon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sally E. Shaywitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bennett A. Shaywitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Reid Lyon.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lyon, G.R., Shaywitz, S.E. & Shaywitz, B.A. A definition of dyslexia. Ann. of Dyslexia 53, 1–14 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-003-0001-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-003-0001-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation