Dyslexia is distinguished from other learning disabilities due to its weakness occurring at the phonological level.  Dyslexia is a Specific Learning Disability that is neurobiological in origin. 

It  is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.

These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. 

Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities: 

• Extreme difficulties acquiring accurate and fluent phonemic decoding skills (phonics), and this interferes with their ability to read text accurately or to read independently
• Struggle to acquire both knowledge of letter-sound correspondences and skill in using this knowledge to “decode” unfamiliar words in text. 
• In first grade, their difficulties with accurate word identification quickly begin to interfere with the development of text reading fluency.

It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities:

• Difficulties decoding unfamiliar words in text interfere with the development of fluency because, to become a fluent reader in the primary grades, students must learn to recognize large numbers of words automatically, or at a single glance. 
• Students learn to recognize individual words “by sight” only after they accurately read them several times (Ehri, 2002). Thus, the initial difficulties that students with dyslexia have in becoming accurate and independent readers interfere with the development of their “sight word vocabularies”.  It is important to map phonemes to graphemes to increase students’ sight word vocabularies

These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction:

• The discovery that students with dyslexia experience difficulties processing the phonological features of language (Liberman, Shankweiler, & Liberman, 1989) was important in establishing the foundations of the current scientific understanding of dyslexia.  
• The phonological processing problems of students with dyslexia are usually not severe enough to interfere with the acquisition of speech, but they sometimes:
• produce delays in language development 
• significantly interfere with the development of phonemic awareness and phonics skills for reading.

These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction:

• Skill in using phonemic analysis to identify words that have not been seen before in print (and beginning readers encounter these words in their reading almost everyday) is one of the foundational skills required in learning to read text independently (Share & Stanovich, 1995).

Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge. 

• One of the consequences of early difficulties becoming an accurate, confident, fluent, and independent reader is that it affects the amount of reading that students do.
• For example, one study indicated that students reading at the 50th percentile (average) in 5th grade read about 600,000 words in and out of school during the school year. In contrast, students reading at the 10th percentile read about 50,000 words during the same period of time (Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988).

There are 13 disability categories recognized under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  There are 14 disability categories recognized in Virginia.  Dyslexia is a condition recognized within the disability category of Specific Learning Disabilities.

A Specific Learning Disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes, or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.  This disability category includes conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

“Most people have one or two of these characteristics. That does not mean that everyone has dyslexia. A person with dyslexia usually has several of these characteristics that persist over time and interfere with his or her learning” (IDA Dyslexia Handbook: What Every Family Should Know (2019)  p.5).

Oral language

• Late learning to talk.
• Difficulty pronouncing words.
• Difficulty acquiring vocabulary or using age appropriate grammar.
• Difficulty following directions.
• Confusion with before/after, right/left,and so on.
• Difficulty learning the alphabet, nursery rhymes, or songs.
• Difficulty understanding concepts and relationships.
• Difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems.

Reading 

• Difficulty learning to read.
• Difficulty identifying or generating rhyming words, or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness).
• Difficulty with hearing and manipulating sounds in words (phonemic awareness).
• Difficulty distinguishing different sounds in words (phonological processing).
• Difficulty in learning the sounds of letters (phonics).
• Slow, laborious oral reading
• Difficulty remembering names and shapes of letters, or naming letters rapidly.
• Transposing the order of letters when reading or spelling.
• Misreading or omitting common short words.
• “Stumbles” through longer words.
• Poor reading comprehension during oral or silent reading, often because words are not accurately read.
• Slow, laborious oral reading.

Written Language

• Difficulty putting ideas on paper.
• Many spelling mistakes.
• May do well on weekly spelling tests, but may have spelling mistakes in daily work.
• Difficulty proofreading.

Other Common Symptoms

• Difficulty naming colors, objects, and letters rapidly, in a sequence (RAN: Rapid Automatized Naming).
• Weak memory for lists, directions, or facts.
• Needs to see or hear concepts many times to learn them.
• Distracted by visual or auditory stimuli.
• Downward trend in achievement test scores or school performance.
• Inconsistent school work.
• Teacher says, “If only she would try harder,” or “He’s lazy.”
• Relatives may have similar problems.

Yes, there is Virginia legistlation regarding Dyslexia.

HB 842, Part 1 - Every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license shall complete awareness training, provided by the Department of Education, on the indicators of dyslexia, as that term is defined by the Board pursuant to regulations, and the evidence-based interventions and accommodations for dyslexia.

HB 842, Part 2 - The Department of Education shall collaborate with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to ensure that all teacher preparation programs offered at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth or otherwise available convey information on the identification of students at risk for learning disabilities, including dyslexia, other language-based learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder.

HB 2395 - One reading specialist employed by each local school board that employs a reading specialist shall have training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder and shall serve as an advisor on dyslexia and related disorders. Such reading specialist shall have an understanding of the definition of dyslexia and a working knowledge of (i) techniques to help a student on the continuum of skills with dyslexia; (ii) dyslexia characteristics that may manifest at different ages and grade levels; (iii) the basic foundation of the keys to reading, including multisensory, explicit, systemic, and structured reading instruction; and (iv) appropriate interventions, accommodations, and assistive technology supports for students with dyslexia.

SB 368 - Requires each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education that leads to a degree, concentration, or certificate for reading specialists to include coursework or other training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder. 

SB 1718 - Directs the Department of Education (the Department) to consult with stakeholders and develop a plan to implement a pilot program to incorporate additional diagnostic tools into reading diagnostic tests used for screening students in kindergarten through grade three. The bill directs the Department to submit such plan to the General Assembly by December 1, 2019.

SB 904 - Directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to facilitate the development of a statewide coalition of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, by December 1, 2020, to gather and share information on the latest evidence-based methods and approaches to prepare teachers to effectively educate K-12 students in reading, including multisensory structured language education to instruct students with dyslexia. The bill allows each public institutions school of education, education department, or relevant department for the career paths of K-12 reading specialists and teachers to collect such information and collaborate with other public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth regarding the latest reliable research for reading instruction to all K-12 students, with an emphasis on improving reading instruction to students with dyslexia.