Is Dyslexia a Learning Disability?

January 31, 2025

Key Takeaways:

Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by difficulties in decoding and identifying words, spelling, and reading.
Dyslexia and learning disabilities, such as language disorders and dyscalculia, may co-occur; in fact, comorbidities are high between dyslexia and other learning disorders.
Not only does dyslexia lead to poor academic performance, but it may also lead to diminished self-esteem and other negative consequences.

Academic performance is undoubtedly an influential factor in a child's development. Western cultures, specifically, hold academic attainment in higher regard compared with achievement in other areas [*]. Unfortunately, this puts children with learning disabilities at a disadvantage. But what disorders are considered learning disabilities? More specifically, is dyslexia a learning disability?

Is Dyslexia a Learning Disability?

Before this question is addressed, it is important to first understand what a learning disability is. Learning disabilities are characterized by impaired academic functioning that is not congruent with the affected individual's age, intelligence, and educational level [*]. It differs from the typical picture of academic underachievement in that children with learning disabilities do not suffer from poor performance due to contextual factors but rather due to an innate lack of intellectual functioning appropriate to their developmental level.

Given this definition, is dyslexia a learning disability?

Dyslexia is most definitely a learning disability. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it is classified as one of several specific learning disorders (SLDs). Dyslexia and learning are very much intertwined. Individuals with this learning disability exhibit language-processing difficulties, which, understandably, contribute to academic performance [*].

How Does Dyslexia Affect Learning?

Before anything else, it is worth emphasizing the fact that children with dyslexia do not have an intellectual disability. That is, they may demonstrate, or exceed, average general intelligence [*]. However, school-age children with dyslexia often present with problems in school performance. Specifically, they have trouble identifying words, recalling how words are spelled, and reading [*]. How dyslexia affects learning is a complex matter that extends beyond this simplified definition, though. Many researchers have proposed different theories on how dyslexia affects learning; some of these explanations will be discussed.

The misconception about dyslexia is that affected children tend to read letters or words backward. However, that is not entirely the case because the learning disability lies in the area of linguistics, not visual processing [*]. Mounting literature has debunked this misconception.

First, some research examining the causes of dyslexia has suggested that children with this learning disability demonstrate a deficit in retrieving words from memory (also known as lexical access) [*]. Meanwhile, other studies have indicated that these children suffer from impairments in short-term memory and, more specifically, verbal working memory [*]. The general consensus, though, is that there is a deficit in phonemic awareness in these children; that is, they have difficulties with decoding words through their phonological components [*]. Word decoding is critical in reading; until the words have been decoded and identified, the reader will not be able to use higher linguistic processes [*].

Given these research findings, how can you tell whether an individual is experiencing dyslexia? Perhaps it would be best characterized by a person who may have learned to speak much later, who has not learned letters by the first years of schooling, and who has only learned to read past the first grade [*]. Meanwhile, in individuals who appear capable of reading, their dyslexia may manifest as extremely slow reading and writing that requires much mental effort on their part [*].

Why is it important to understand whether dyslexia is a learning disability? The reality is that poor academic performance in children with dyslexia does not just reflect a learning impairment but also increases the risk that their self-esteem and self-efficacy will suffer [*]. Thus, with this understanding comes the responsibility of the caregiver or teacher to provide accommodations accordingly.

What are Some Learning Disabilities Associated With Dyslexia?

For these individuals, having dyslexia unfortunately does not preclude the development of other associated learning disabilities. Dyslexia and learning disabilities may co-occur, a phenomenon called comorbidity. Some of these associated learning disabilities are the following:

Language disorders: Research has indicated that dyslexia often develops following a language disorder, such as expressive and receptive language disorders [*]. This may be due in part to the fact that dyslexia and language disorders share similar genetic contributions. Thus, it could be argued that both stem from the same cognitive impairment, albeit taking different forms [*].
Dyscalculia: Dyscalculia has also been noted as an SLD in the DSM. This learning disability differs from dyslexia in that whereas dyslexia manifests as difficulties in reading, dyscalculia is expressed in difficulties in mathematics. More specifically, children with dyscalculia demonstrate diminished efficiency in calculations, and processing numbers does not come so easily to them [*]. This SLD is associated with dyslexia in that phonological processing is associated with mathematics. Research has suggested that a brain structure related to the retrieval of arithmetic facts, known as the angular gyrus, is also impaired in dyslexia [*].

Can Someone Have Dyslexia and Another Learning Disability?

Comorbidity in learning disabilities is rather common throughout a child's development. As explained earlier, dyslexia and learning disabilities can often both be diagnosed in an individual. For example, dyscalculia and dyslexia can co-occur, with a comorbidity rate of approximately 40% [*].

People with comorbid learning disabilities typically experience more impairments, poor academic performance, and even negative social interactions, as well as greater treatment unresponsiveness [*]. Compounded with the child gradually believing that their academic failures reflect their failure as a person, dyslexia can also destroy one's self-esteem [*]. This is exemplified by a respondent in one study who has dyslexia, confessing, "I think that, especially in the first years of school, I felt like I was quite stupid. 'Cause I wasn't at the same level as everybody else" [*]. Treatment planning, accommodations, and social support are thus crucial in helping these children succeed.

The Bottom Line

Is dyslexia a learning disability? Yes, it is very much so. Not only does it lead to poor academic performance, but it can also make people feel inferior, as though they have failed. Fortunately, a proper diagnosis given early on can destigmatize and lead to positive experiences for children with dyslexia. With therapy and appropriate accommodations, coupled with the use of these self-esteem worksheets, individuals living with dyslexia can not only cope with their learning disability eventually but also preserve positive self-evaluations.

References:

Lithari E. Fractured academic identities: dyslexia, secondary education, self-esteem and school experiences. 2018.
Margari L, Buttiglione M, Craig F, and others. Neuropsychopathological comorbidities in learning disorders. 2013.
Kalsoom T, Mujahid AH, and Zulfqar A. Dyslexia as a learning disability: Teachers' perceptions and practices at school level. 2020.
Shaywitz SE and Shaywitz BA. Dyslexia (specific reading disability). 2003.
Wilson AJ, Andrewes SG, Struthers H, and others. Dyscalculia and dyslexia in adults: Cognitive bases of comorbidity. January 2015.