1. Myth: People with Specific Learning Disabilities are not smart.
Fact: Dyslexia is very specific to reading and spelling. Dysgraphia is related to writing, and Dyscalculia is related to mathematics. None of them are related to a person’s intelligence. You can be an exceptionally intelligent person and also have a SLD.
Learning difficulties for some students are better explained by low intellectual functioning or an Intellectual Disability, but people of all levels of intelligence can have a Specific Learning Disability.
2. Myth: Specific Learning Disabilities can be outgrown or cured.
Fact: Specific Learning Disabilities, such as dyslexia, are lifelong. You are usually born with them and there is no “cure”. Saying that, with the right kind of intervention and accommodations, people with SLDs can overcome their difficulties and be successful in reading, writing, and mathematics.
3. Myth: Specific Learning Disabilities are caused by laziness or lack of effort.
Fact: Students with SLDs are often mistakenly labelled as “lazy”. This may be because their difficulties in school have caused them to get anxious, give up, or want to avoid schoolwork.
The answer, though, isn’t that these students need to work harder or put more effort in. It’s likely they have been working harder than their peers just to get the results they’ve been getting.
SLDs are brain-based and need specific intervention.
4. Myth: Dyslexia is just about reversing letters or writing backwards.
Fact: Reversing letters and numbers is very common in young children. It may be because of memory or attention issues, visual processing difficulties, or because a child simply hasn’t had adequate teaching and practice of their number and letter shapes yet.
Usually, students stop reversing their letters and numbers by age 7 or 8. If they are still reversing them after this age, it may be because they have an underlying difficulty, such as a Specific Learning Disability, but it is not a defining feature of dyslexia.
5. Myth: People with dyslexia see letters or words "dancing" or "moving."
Fact: Some people with dyslexia describe words moving on the page, but most people with dyslexia don’t see words move at all. Experiencing words moving is rare and not part of standard dyslexia. Dyslexia isn’t vision-related and words dancing or moving may be a sign of a separate vision issue.
6. Myth: Early reading struggles mean a child is dyslexic.
Fact: Noticing and diagnosing reading difficulties in the junior school years means a child can have early intervention, however, not all reading struggles are a sign of dyslexia. Some students take more time than others to learn to read or have different reasons for struggling with reading, such as oral language delays.
7. Myth: Specific Learning Disabilities are caused by poor teaching or lack of exposure to books.
Fact: Poor teaching can make it more difficult for students with Specific Learning Disabilities, but SLDs are neurobiological (brain-based), often inherited, and usually from birth. Poor teaching does not cause a Specific Learning Disability.
8. Labels like “SLD” are stigmatising and limiting.
Fact: Parents and teachers sometimes worry that a label, such as a reading disability, will stigmatise a student, or make them feel bad. This certainly is a concern, especially if the adults around them limit them or decide their learning difficulties are “too hard”.
SLDs are real, neurologically based conditions and students with a SLD need support and evidence-based intervention. A label can help explain how they learn and what areas of learning need targeting for intervention. It can be empowering for a student and help them advocate for themselves.
A label such as dyslexia is a description of how a student learns, not what their potential is.
9. Only a psychologist can diagnose an SLD.
Fact: In New Zealand, Educational Psychologists and Registered Assessors (LDANZ and SPELD) can assess Specific Learning Disabilities. Funding for an assessment is sometimes available for low income families.
