American Dyslexia Association

Author: Dr. Elsa Palmer

  • Africa Dyslexia Organisation joins IFDDA

    Africa Dyslexia Organisation joins IFDDA

    In short

    • The Africa Dyslexia Organisation (ADO) from Ghana is the newest member of the International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA).
    • It is IFDDA’s first member in sub-Saharan Africa.
    • Founder and Executive Director Rosalin Abigail Kyere-Nartey learned at 30 that she is dyslexic.
    • The ADO trains teachers, supports families, and runs a Dyslexia Advocate Fellowship in 38 African countries.
    • In the United States, the ADO is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit (EIN 99-3270841).

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations welcomes a new member: the Africa Dyslexia Organisation (ADO) from Ghana, our first member in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Across much of Africa, children who learn differently are still called lazy or slow, and many leave school without anyone ever recognizing dyslexia. The Africa Dyslexia Organisation was founded to change that. Since its first nationwide awareness campaign in Ghana in 2020 [1], it has grown into a pan-African non-profit that works with schools, families, governments, and international partners so that learning differences are recognized and supported.

    Who is the Africa Dyslexia Organisation?

    The organization was founded by Rosalin Abigail Kyere-Nartey, who is also its Executive Director. Growing up in Suhum, Ghana, she could not read or write her own name until the age of 17. “I endured years of being called lazy and slow, of being punished for what I could not yet do. At 30 years old, I finally learned the truth: I am dyslexic,” she said at the Africa Dyslexia Conference 2025 [2]. That discovery did not limit her. It showed her strengths and turned into lifelong advocacy for others.

    In their own words, from their membership application:

    Africa Dyslexia Organisation is a pan-African nonprofit advancing the rights, inclusion and opportunities of people with dyslexia and related learning differences across Africa. We work through teacher training, early identification and screening, structured literacy, research, family support, advocacy, and inclusive education and workplace practices. Our vision is an Africa where no child is unseen and no talent is left behind.

    The ADO has a team of about twenty educators, reading specialists, trainers, and counselors [3], and an international board that includes Lee Siang, CEO of the Dyslexia Association of Singapore, and Jennifer Topple of The Howard School in Atlanta [4]. In the United States, the organization is recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit under EIN 99-3270841 [5].

    What does the ADO do?

    In practice, the Africa Dyslexia Organisation:

    • trains teachers in early identification, screening, and structured literacy,
    • supports families and adults with dyslexia,
    • runs the Dyslexia Advocate Fellowship, which connects advocates in 38 African countries,
    • appoints Dyslexia Youth Ambassadors who lead awareness work in their own schools and communities [6],
    • and works with ministries, universities, and employers on inclusive education and workplace practices.

    Two projects show the scale. In 2025, with a grant from UNESCO and support from the Ghana Commission for UNESCO, the ADO ran a training program for 500 teachers in Ghana on how to identify and support students with dyslexia [7]. In August 2025, it hosted the Africa Dyslexia Conference in Accra under the theme “Shifting Minds, Inspiring Action.” About 400 delegates came together: policymakers, educators, researchers, business leaders, and people with lived experience of dyslexia [2][8].

    Why it matters for IFDDA

    With the Africa Dyslexia Organisation, the federation gains its first member in sub-Saharan Africa and a partner whose network already spans much of the continent. Building awareness where dyslexia has long gone unrecognized is exactly the kind of work a federation should support. We look forward to giving the ADO a larger stage and to learning from its experience across so many countries.

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA) is a non-profit federation incorporated in Florida in 2011. It connects dyslexia and dyscalculia associations worldwide, and its members exchange knowledge, methods, and experience across borders. The American Dyslexia Association, which publishes this blog, is a member; the ADA-accredited Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program follows the IFDDA training standards. For background on how the federation approaches training, read Approaches to Dyslexia Training.

    You can find the Africa Dyslexia Organisation at africadyslexia.org, and all IFDDA members at ifdda.org.

    If you run a non-profit dyslexia or dyscalculia organization and would like to join the federation, membership is free. Apply at ifdda.org.

    More IFDDA member news

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the Africa Dyslexia Organisation?

    The Africa Dyslexia Organisation (ADO) is a pan-African non-profit based in Ghana. It advances the rights and inclusion of people with dyslexia and related learning differences through teacher training, early identification, structured literacy, family support, and advocacy. Website: africadyslexia.org.

    Who founded the Africa Dyslexia Organisation?

    Rosalin Abigail Kyere-Nartey founded the ADO and serves as its Executive Director. She grew up in Suhum, Ghana, and learned at the age of 30 that she is dyslexic.

    Is the Africa Dyslexia Organisation a registered non-profit?

    Yes. In the United States, Africa Dyslexia Organization Inc is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with EIN 99-3270841, listed on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

    What is the Dyslexia Advocate Fellowship?

    The Dyslexia Advocate Fellowship is an ADO program that connects dyslexia advocates in 38 African countries, strengthens local leadership, and builds a continental movement for learning differences.

    How can an organization join IFDDA?

    Non-profit dyslexia and dyscalculia organizations can apply for free membership at ifdda.org.

    Sources

    1. Citi Newsroom: Africa Dyslexia Organization launches nationwide awareness campaign, June 29, 2020. citinewsroom.com
    2. Ghanaian Times: Founder of ADO advocates evidence-based understanding of dyslexia, August 27, 2025. ghanaiantimes.com.gh
    3. Africa Dyslexia Organisation: Meet the Team. africadyslexia.org
    4. Africa Dyslexia Organisation: Our Board. africadyslexia.org
    5. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Africa Dyslexia Organization Inc, EIN 99-3270841. projects.propublica.org
    6. Graphic Online: Organisation names youth ambassadors to champion dyslexia inclusion. graphic.com.gh
    7. B&FT: Africa Dyslexia Organisation, UNESCO and partners champion inclusive learning for 500 teachers, March 15, 2025. thebftonline.com
    8. Africa Dyslexia Organisation: Africa Dyslexia Conference 2025. africadyslexia.org
  • Technology Is a Tool, Not a Teacher: What Children With Dyslexia Still Need

    Technology Is a Tool, Not a Teacher: What Children With Dyslexia Still Need

    Technology helps children with dyslexia learn, and the research says so clearly. What it cannot do is notice why a child is stuck and decide what to try next. That job still belongs to a trained person. A new paper by Dr. Livia R. Pailer-Duller, originally written for Liberty University, looks at what the research says about screens, apps, handwriting, and the role of the educator. Here is what parents and teachers can take from it.

    In short

    • Technology works. A review of 85 studies with 9,157 students found positive effects of mobile technology on learning.
    • Text-to-speech helps many readers, not all of them. The average effect on reading comprehension is positive, but results vary a lot from child to child.
    • Children with dyslexia need explicit, systematic instruction from a person, one-to-one or in small groups. 14 meta-analyses and systematic reviews point the same way.
    • The pencil still matters. Writing letters by hand activates the brain differently than typing them.
    • Use both. The best plan for a child often mixes a tablet, a pencil, and a Certified Dyslexia Trainer.
    Watch: what children with dyslexia still need, in 82 seconds.

    Yes, technology really does help

    Digital tools improve learning when they are used well. Wang and colleagues (2023) reviewed 85 studies involving 9,157 students in primary and secondary school. They found positive effects of mobile technology on what students know, how they feel about learning, and how they behave in class.

    For children with dyslexia, technology can remove barriers that have nothing to do with what they actually know. Think of text-to-speech, speech-to-text, audiobooks, spelling support, word processing, and larger or reformatted text. A child who understands a science chapter perfectly well should not fail the test only because decoding the words takes all their energy.

    Wood and colleagues (2018) pooled the research on text-to-speech and read-aloud tools for students with reading difficulties. The overall effect on reading comprehension was positive, but outcomes varied across students and studies. In plain words: the tool helps, it just does not help every child the same way. Someone still has to find out whether it helps this child.

    What children with dyslexia need: a person who notices

    Children with dyslexia learn best with explicit, systematic instruction, given one-to-one or in small groups. Al Otaiba and colleagues (2023) looked across 14 meta-analyses and systematic reviews of literacy research. They found support for direct teaching, a planned sequence of skills, attention to both the sound code and the meaning of words, and enough time and intensity. Hall and colleagues (2023) reviewed 40 years of reading research for elementary students with or at risk for dyslexia and found that more training time went along with stronger results.

    Explicit means the skill is taught directly instead of hoping the child will discover it alone. The trainer shows how it works, the child practices, and the trainer gives feedback right away. Systematic means one step builds on the next, and someone decides when the child is ready to move on.

    A good dyslexia trainer looks at much more than right or wrong. They ask questions like these:

    • What kind of mistake was this?
    • Does the child understand the idea behind the task?
    • Is the child using the strategy we practiced, or guessing?
    • Does the child need more practice, or should we go back a step?
    • Would a different way of showing the material help?

    A computer can record answers and even spot patterns. Only a person can put those patterns into the context of the whole child, including tiredness, frustration, motivation, and what happened last week.

    Why the pencil still matters

    Forming a letter by hand is a different learning experience than pressing a key. Over a hundred years ago, Maria Montessori (1912) described children who saw and touched sandpaper letters while hearing their sounds at the same time. She wanted learning to move “from sensations to ideas, from the concrete to the abstract.”

    Brain research has since backed up the idea. James and Engelhardt (2012) worked with five-year-olds who could not yet read. The children printed, typed, or traced letters. Afterward, a reading-related network in the brain responded to the letters after handwriting practice, but not in the same way after typing or tracing. Askvik and colleagues (2020) used high-density EEG with 12-year-olds and young adults and also found different brain activity for handwriting and drawing compared with typing.

    That matters for dyslexia, because good training often combines seeing a letter, saying its sound, and writing it. If schools drop handwriting only because typing is faster, children may lose one of their most useful ways to learn. Looking for practice pages? Try our Handwriting Worksheet Wizard or read When the “Different” Learner Meets Cursive.

    Handwritten or typed notes? The honest answer

    The research on note-taking is mixed, and that is worth knowing. In a well-known study, Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) found that students who typed their notes wrote more and copied lectures word for word, while students who wrote by hand did better on conceptual questions. Their explanation: handwriting is slower, so you have to choose, summarize, and rephrase.

    Then Urry and colleagues (2021) repeated the study and combined it with similar ones. Laptop users again wrote more and copied more word for word. But this time, handwritten notes did not lead to better immediate learning.

    So handwriting does not always win, and laptops do not ruin learning. Handwriting and typing are simply different ways of working with information. For one child with dyslexia, writing by hand is the right practice. For another, typing or speech-to-text removes a barrier so they can show what they know. The method should follow the learning goal and the child, not the other way around.

    Personalization is not the same as automation

    An adaptive app personalizes by following programmed rules. A trainer personalizes by watching the child. Here are situations a dyslexia trainer sees every week:

    • A child keeps mixing up the same letters.
    • A child gives correct answers but is actually guessing.
    • Performance drops because the child is tired.
    • A child understands a story when it is read aloud but cannot decode it alone.
    • A pattern the child had mastered suddenly falls apart in a longer text.

    Software may log every one of these. A person asks why it happened and decides what to do next. That is why the paper argues for professional and technology, not professional versus technology. Let the tablet handle repetition and access. Let the trained adult keep the responsibility for teaching decisions.

    Questions parents and teachers can ask

    Judge a learning program by what the child actually learns, not by minutes logged or exercises completed. Finishing an online activity does not prove that learning happened. Before adding another app, it helps to ask:

    1. What learning problem are we trying to solve?
    2. What does this technology do well for this child?
    3. What still needs a trained person?
    4. Is the child still writing by hand, working with real materials, and getting direct instruction?
    5. Do grades and tests show what the child knows, or only how fast they read and write?

    A realistic plan can use everything at once: text-to-speech for grade-level content, a pencil for practicing letter and word patterns, an app for extra repetition, and regular sessions with a Certified Dyslexia Trainer. There is no contradiction in that. If you want to become that trained person yourself, take a look at the ADA-accredited dyslexia trainer certification program at dyslexiacertificate.com. For free practice material, see our free dyslexia resources for parents and teachers.

    Want to read the whole scientific paper?

    This article is a short, reader-friendly version. Want to read the whole scientific paper, with every study and all references? Go here: Technology as a Tool, Not a Teacher: Meeting the Learning Needs of Students with Dyslexia in the 21st-Century by Dr. Livia R. Pailer-Duller on pailer-duller.com.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can an app replace a dyslexia trainer?

    No. Apps are good at repetition, feedback, and access, but research on dyslexia points to explicit, systematic instruction given one-to-one or in small groups by a trained person. The best results come from combining both.

    Should children with dyslexia still learn to write by hand?

    Yes, in most cases. Studies by James and Engelhardt (2012) and Askvik and colleagues (2020) show that handwriting activates the brain differently than typing. For some children, typing or speech-to-text is the right accommodation for showing what they know, while handwriting stays part of their practice.

    Where can I read the full paper?

    The complete paper by Dr. Livia R. Pailer-Duller, including all references, is published on pailer-duller.com.

    Sources

    1. Al Otaiba, S., McMaster, K., Wanzek, J., & Zaru, M. W. (2023). What we know and need to know about literacy interventions for elementary students with reading difficulties and disabilities, including dyslexia. Reading Research Quarterly, 58(2), 313–332. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.458
    2. Askvik, E. O., van der Weel, F. R. R., & van der Meer, A. L. H. (2020). The importance of cursive handwriting over typewriting for learning in the classroom: A high-density EEG study of 12-year-old children and young adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1810. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810
    3. Hall, C., Dahl-Leonard, K., Cho, E., Solari, E. J., Capin, P., Conner, C. L., Henry, A. R., Cook, L., Hayes, L., Vargas, I., Richmond, C. L., & Kehoe, K. F. (2023). Forty years of reading intervention research for elementary students with or at risk for dyslexia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Reading Research Quarterly, 58(2), 285–312. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.477
    4. James, K. H., & Engelhardt, L. (2012). The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 1(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2012.08.001
    5. Montessori, M. (1912). The Montessori method: Scientific pedagogy as applied to child education in “The Children’s Houses” (A. E. George, Trans.). Frederick A. Stokes Company.
    6. Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159–1168. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614524581
    7. Pailer-Duller, L. R. (2026). Technology as a tool, not a teacher: Meeting the learning needs of students with dyslexia in the 21st-century. Originally written for Liberty University, School of Education. https://www.pailer-duller.com/technology-as-a-tool-not-a-teacher/
    8. Urry, H. L., et al. (2021). Don’t ditch the laptop just yet: A direct replication of Mueller and Oppenheimer’s (2014) Study 1 plus mini meta-analyses across similar studies. Psychological Science, 32(3), 326–339. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620965541
    9. Wang, J., Tigelaar, D. E. H., Zhou, T., & Admiraal, W. (2023). The effects of mobile technology usage on cognitive, affective, and behavioural learning outcomes in primary and secondary education: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 39(2), 301–328. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12759
    10. Wood, S. G., Moxley, J. H., Tighe, E. L., & Wagner, R. K. (2018). Does use of text-to-speech and related read-aloud tools improve reading comprehension for students with reading disabilities? A meta-analysis. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 51(1), 73–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219416688170
  • Did You Know? The American Dyslexia Association Is a 501(c)(3) Dyslexia Charity

    Did You Know? The American Dyslexia Association Is a 501(c)(3) Dyslexia Charity

    In short

    • The American Dyslexia Association (ADA) has been a nonprofit organization since 2008 and is a 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 26-3530084.
    • Donations and the charitable part of membership fees are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
    • From tax year 2026, US taxpayers who do not itemize can deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts to qualified charities ($2,000 for joint filers).
    • ADA gives away 1,593 printable worksheets, audio training, and links to more than a dozen practice websites.
    • Ten apps from our circle are free in the App Store, in English, with no ads and no in-app purchases; most also run in the browser.

    Did you know that the American Dyslexia Association has been a non-profit organization since 2008 and is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 26-3530084), dedicated to free help and quality services for people affected by dyslexia and their families? Your donations and membership fees are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. As a dyslexia charity, ADA uses every gift to keep worksheets, practice websites, and learning apps free for children, parents, and teachers.

    The need is large. The International Dyslexia Association estimates that 15 to 20 percent of the population show some symptoms of dyslexia, such as slow reading, poor spelling, or mixing up similar words [Source: International Dyslexia Association, Dyslexia Basics, dyslexiaida.org]. Most families look for help at home first, long before they find a trained specialist. That is exactly where free, well-made material makes a difference.

    Watch: the American Dyslexia Association as a 501(c)(3) dyslexia charity, in 83 seconds

    What does 501(c)(3) public charity status mean for donors?

    A 501(c)(3) public charity is an organization that the IRS recognizes as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that receives broad support from the public. The IRS has confirmed this status for the American Dyslexia Association, Inc. in a determination letter, as a public charity under Section 509(a)(2). Gifts to public charities are deductible under the rules of Section 170 [Source: IRS, Public charities, irs.gov].

    For you as a donor to a dyslexia charity, that means three things:

    • Your gift goes to a charity, not a company. ADA has no shareholders; donations fund free help.
    • You can name our EIN, 26-3530084, on your records and in your tax software.
    • You receive a written acknowledgment for your gift, which the IRS asks donors to keep for any contribution of $250 or more [Source: IRS, Publication 526, irs.gov].

    Can you deduct a donation if you take the standard deduction?

    Yes, starting with tax year 2026 you can. The IRS states: “Beginning with tax year 2026, if you do not itemize, you may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 if filing jointly) of your cash contributions to certain qualified organizations” [Source: IRS, Topic no. 506, Charitable contributions, irs.gov].

    This is new. For years, most households received no federal tax benefit for small cash gifts, because only people who itemized could deduct them. The new rule covers cash gifts, including card and PayPal payments; it does not cover gifts of clothing, stock, or other property, and it does not cover donor-advised funds. Keep a receipt or bank record for every gift. For your personal situation, please ask a tax professional; this article is general information, not tax advice.

    How do you donate to the American Dyslexia Association?

    You can donate online in under a minute through our secure PayPal donation page. Choose any amount, one time or as often as you like.

    Donate to ADA
    Become a Member

    The donation button also sits at the top of every page of american-dyslexia-association.org. Questions about a gift, a matching gift from your employer, or a donation in memory of someone are welcome at [email protected].

    Which ADA memberships are there, and is the fee deductible?

    ADA offers three annual memberships, and each one supports the same mission. You can join on our Memberships page; the details of each level are listed under Membership Levels.

    MembershipAnnual feeFor whom
    Supporting$40Parents, students, educators, and advocates
    Professional$120Certified Dyslexia Trainers who completed an ADA-accredited training program
    Organizational$350Schools, learning centers, tutoring organizations, and institutions
    ADA membership levels, as of October 2026

    Membership fees are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. In practice, this means the part of your fee that is above the value of the member benefits you receive, such as badges, certificates, webinars, or a directory listing. The IRS rule is simple: “you can only deduct the amount that exceeds the fair market value of the benefit received” [Source: IRS, Topic no. 506, irs.gov]. Professionals who join for their practice may treat the fee as a business expense instead; your tax advisor can tell you which applies.

    What does ADA offer for free?

    ADA gives away 1,593 printable worksheets for training visual, auditory, and spatial skills, plus symptom training for dyslexia and dyscalculia. You find them on the FREE Worksheets page, sorted by area:

    • Visual recognition (276 pages), visual memory (46), and visual sequencing (89)
    • Auditory recognition (121), auditory memory (20), and auditory sequencing (20)
    • Spatial orientation (12) and body perception (7)
    • Symptom training dyslexia (467) and dyscalculia (14), attention (3)
    • Create your own worksheet (51), word formulation (228), and a picture dictionary (239)

    Next to the worksheets, Ears Open and Paying Attention! offers free audio clips for auditory perception training. On this blog, our Freebies page collects free downloads, and the article 1500 free worksheets explains how to start. If you want the full overview by age and topic, read Free Dyslexia Resources for Parents and Teachers.

    All material follows the AFS-Method developed by dyslexia researcher Dr. Astrid Kopp-Duller. The method trains attention, sensory perceptions, and the symptoms in reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating together, because a child needs all three to learn these skills without constant errors [Source: Astrid Kopp-Duller, Dyslexia – Training Using the AFS-Method, 3rd revised edition, 2021].

    Which practice websites can families and trainers use?

    Certified Dyslexia Trainers find the following websites in the resource library of the Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program, and families can open them directly. Most of them are free to use; a few belong to printed card games that you can order.

    For background, the reference sites afs-method.com, dyslexiatest.com, and dyslexia-dyscalculia.com explain the method, the AFS-Test, and the books behind the training. Our article More Than 25 Years of the AFS-Test tells the story of the assessment.

    Which free apps help children with dyslexia and dyscalculia practice?

    Ten apps from our circle are free in the App Store, in English, with no ads, no in-app purchases, and no sign-up. Most of them also run as web apps, so a laptop or a school Chromebook is enough. All apps and browser versions are listed at appsthrum.com.

    AppWhat it trainsApp StoreBrowser
    AFS5.com10 math games: addition, subtraction, times tables, division, fractions, time, money; 10 languages online (app in English).
    Also available in Spanish – También disponible en español: afs5.com en español (web version / versión web)    		App Storeafs5.com
    Math-BingoTimes tables as a bingo gameApp StorePlay online
    WordthrumWord building in a letter wheel crosswordApp StorePlay online
    HivethrumA daily honeycomb of seven letters to build wordsApp StorePlay online
    3erClose looking and comparing color, shape, number, and fill (visual discrimination)App StorePlay online
    TangramthrumVisual perception, spatial orientation, and shape recognitionApp StorePlay online
    LinkthrumAttention and spatial thinking in a calm line puzzleApp StorePlay online
    BrickthrumA classic brick breaker for a short, playful breakApp Storebrickthrum.com
    HeartthrumPulse check with the iPhone camera, for calm moments before homeworkApp Storeheartthrum.com
    Spoon Hero48 healthy recipes, a weekly planner, and a shopping list for parentsApp StoreOpen web app
    Free apps in English, checked in the US App Store on October 3, 2026

    One detail matters to many parents: these apps collect no data about your child. They need no account, show no ads, and keep progress on the device. AFS5.com also avoids time pressure; after a mistake, the game shows the solution instead of a penalty.

    What can free material do, and when does a child need a trainer?

    Free worksheets and apps are excellent for daily practice, but they do not replace an individual training plan. A short daily session of 10 to 15 minutes at home, plus weekly work with a specialist, is the pattern the AFS-Method recommends [Source: Kopp-Duller, 2021]. A Certified Dyslexia Trainer first finds out, with an educational assessment, which sensory perceptions and which symptoms need training. Then the free material becomes targeted instead of random.

    If you would like to become that specialist yourself, read Have You Heard of the ADA-Accredited Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program? and visit dyslexiacertificate.com.

    Why supporting a dyslexia charity matters

    Every free worksheet, website, and app costs money to write, host, test, and keep up to date. Dyslexia is a learning difference, not a lack of intelligence, and children who learn differently deserve material that respects that. Your donation or membership keeps this help free for the next family that searches for it at night after a hard homework session.

    Donate now or become a member. Thank you for standing with people affected by dyslexia and their families.

    More on this topic: see how families can use these free resources day by day in our 31-day Dyslexia Awareness Month plan.

    Frequently asked questions

    Is the American Dyslexia Association a 501(c)(3) charity?

    Yes. The American Dyslexia Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity under Section 509(a)(2), EIN 26-3530084. It has been a non-profit organization since 2008; details are on the About page.

    Are donations to the American Dyslexia Association tax-deductible?

    Yes, to the extent permitted by law. From tax year 2026, non-itemizers can deduct up to 1,000 dollars in cash gifts, or 2,000 dollars when filing jointly, according to IRS Topic 506.

    Are ADA membership fees tax-deductible?

    Membership fees are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law, which generally means the part above the value of the member benefits. Memberships start at 40 dollars a year at american-dyslexia-association.org/membership.

    Where can I find free dyslexia worksheets?

    ADA offers 1,593 free printable worksheets at american-dyslexia-association.org, sorted by visual, auditory, and spatial skills and by symptom training for dyslexia and dyscalculia.

    Are there free apps for children with dyslexia or dyscalculia?

    Yes. Ten apps from our circle, including AFS5.com, Math-Bingo, Wordthrum, and Tangramthrum, are free in the App Store in English, without ads or in-app purchases. Most run in the browser too; see appsthrum.com.

    Sources

    1. Internal Revenue Service: Determination Letter 947 for American Dyslexia Association, Inc., EIN 26-3530084 (on file with ADA).
    2. Internal Revenue Service: Topic no. 506, Charitable contributions. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc506
    3. Internal Revenue Service: Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526
    4. Internal Revenue Service: Public charities. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/public-charities
    5. International Dyslexia Association: Dyslexia Basics. https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-basics/
    6. Astrid Kopp-Duller: Dyslexia – Training Using the AFS-Method, 3rd revised edition, 2021. https://www.afs-method.com/
    7. Apple App Store (US), app listings of AFS5.com, Math-Bingo, Wordthrum, Hivethrum, 3er, Tangramthrum, Linkthrum, Brickthrum, Heartthrum, and Spoon Hero (still listed in the App Store under its German name), checked October 3, 2026. https://appsthrum.com/en/

    This article is general information and not tax or legal advice. Please ask a tax professional about your own situation.

  • 31 Days of Free Dyslexia Help: Your Dyslexia Awareness Month Plan

    31 Days of Free Dyslexia Help: Your Dyslexia Awareness Month Plan

    In short

    • October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. This plan gives you one free activity for each of its 31 days.
    • Each activity takes about ten minutes. You need no account, no app purchase, and no special training.
    • The order follows the AFS-Method: attention first, then seeing, hearing, space and body, then words and numbers.
    • Sundays are family days: you read aloud or play together, so your child gets one calm day each week.
    • You can start on any day. Missed a day? Skip it or move it. Consistency matters more than the calendar.
    The 31-day plan in about 90 seconds.

    Every day of the plan also comes with a short video that shows exactly what to do. You will find one new video a day, through October 31, on our Facebook page at facebook.com/americandyslexiaassociation and on Instagram at instagram.com/americandyslexiaassociation.

    As many as 1 in 5 people have dyslexia, according to the U.S. Senate resolution that designated October 2025 as National Dyslexia Awareness Month [1]. The same resolution notes that the gap between typical readers and dyslexic readers appears as early as first grade. So this Dyslexia Awareness Month, we did not want to give you another list of facts. We wanted to give you something to do, every day of October, for free.

    Below is your 31-day plan. Every day has one short activity from the free resources of the American Dyslexia Association (ADA) and its partners: brain-training games, printable worksheets, audio training, a word of the day, and learning apps. Bookmark this page, or print it and put it on the fridge.

    How does the 31-day Dyslexia Awareness Month plan work?

    You spend about ten minutes a day on one activity, and you follow the order of the weeks. The plan is built on the AFS-Method, which works in three steps: Attention, Function (the sensory perceptions of seeing, hearing, and spatial orientation), and Symptom (reading, writing, and math). Most children with dyslexia do not need more of the same spelling drill. They need their perception trained first, so that the letters and numbers they practice later can actually stick.

    That is why the plan starts with two attention games and moves on, week by week, to seeing, hearing, space, and body. Only in the last week do words and numbers come in. Three simple rules make it work:

    1. Same time, every day. After an afternoon snack or before dinner works well. Ten minutes, then stop, even if it is going well.
    2. Praise the effort, not the score. Children with dyslexia hear a lot about their mistakes at school. At home, they should hear what went well.
    3. Stay calm on hard days. If an activity frustrates your child, switch to an easier level or yesterday’s game. Nothing in this plan is a test.

    Most games in the plan come from the Easy Training Program, a free collection of brain-training games sorted by sensory area. They run in any browser, on a tablet or a computer, with no sign-up.

    Week 1, October 1 to 7: Attention and looking closely

    The first week trains attention and visual recognition, because a child who cannot hold attention for a few minutes cannot use any other exercise. Background: Attention Training: Building Focus for Learning Success and Inside the AFS-Test: Visual Recognition.

    DayYour 10 minutesWhat it trains
    Day 1
    Oct 1 (Thu)    		Play Arrow Stroop: click the direction of the middle arrow and ignore the others.Attention
    Day 2
    Oct 2 (Fri)    		Play Count Stroop: count how many digits you see, not which digit it is.Attention
    Day 3
    Oct 3 (Sat)    		Solve today’s Picture of the Day on spot-differences.com, online or printed.Visual recognition
    Day 4
    Oct 4 (Sun)    		Read-aloud Sunday: you read, your child listens and looks at the pictures. Why this matters: The Book Lady.Joy in stories
    Day 5
    Oct 5 (Mon)    		Play Dot to Number: match the dots to the right number.Visual recognition
    Day 6
    Oct 6 (Tue)    		Play Shape Matcher: shape, fill, and outline must all match.Visual recognition
    Day 7
    Oct 7 (Wed)    		Print one page from the Visual Recognition set in the ADA FREE Worksheets (276 pages).Visual recognition

    Week 2, October 8 to 14: Remembering what you see

    The second week trains visual memory and visual sequencing, the skills a child needs to keep the order of letters in a word. Background: Inside the AFS-Test: Visual Memory and Visual Sequencing.

    DayYour 10 minutesWhat it trains
    Day 8
    Oct 8 (Thu)    		Play Memory 4×4: memorize the cards, then find the 8 pairs.Visual memory
    Day 9
    Oct 9 (Fri)    		Play Color Recall: which color was in the highlighted square?Visual memory
    Day 10
    Oct 10 (Sat)    		Play Picture Sequence: watch the pictures, then repeat them in order.Visual sequencing
    Day 11
    Oct 11 (Sun)    		Read-aloud Sunday, plus one printed puzzle from Spot the 10 Differences.Visual recognition
    Day 12
    Oct 12 (Mon)    		Play Number Chain: the chain of numbers grows each round.Visual sequencing
    Day 13
    Oct 13 (Tue)    		Play Simon Visual: repeat the growing color sequence.Visual sequencing
    Day 14
    Oct 14 (Wed)    		Print one Visual Memory or Visual Sequencing page from the ADA FREE Worksheets.Visual memory and sequencing

    Week 3, October 15 to 21: Listening carefully

    The third week trains auditory perception, because a child who cannot hear the difference between two sounds will struggle to write them. Background: Sensory Perception Training: Visual, Auditory, and Spatial Foundations.

    DayYour 10 minutesWhat it trains
    Day 15
    Oct 15 (Thu)    		Listen to Track 1 of Ears Open!, ADA’s free audio training, and name every sound you hear.Auditory recognition
    Day 16
    Oct 16 (Fri)    		Play Tone Match: are the two tones the same or different?Auditory recognition
    Day 17
    Oct 17 (Sat)    		Play Rhyme Detective: do the two words rhyme?Auditory sequencing
    Day 18
    Oct 18 (Sun)    		Read-aloud Sunday with a rhyming book. Then try a harder track of Ears Open! (there are 12).Listening
    Day 19
    Oct 19 (Mon)    		Play Sound Sequence: repeat the sounds in the right order.Auditory memory
    Day 20
    Oct 20 (Tue)    		Play Missing Sound: which sound was left out?Auditory recognition
    Day 21
    Oct 21 (Wed)    		Play Beat Pattern: copy the pattern of high and low beats.Auditory sequencing

    Week 4, October 22 to 28: Space, body, and the first words

    The fourth week trains spatial orientation and body perception, then moves to words, the point where perception training turns into reading and writing. Background: Symptom Training in Language Arts.

    DayYour 10 minutesWhat it trains
    Day 22
    Oct 22 (Thu)    		Play Turn Me Right: find the picture turned 90 degrees.Spatial orientation
    Day 23
    Oct 23 (Fri)    		Play Mirror Me: find the mirrored picture. Think of b and d.Spatial orientation
    Day 24
    Oct 24 (Sat)    		Play Left or Right?: tap the right body part, fast.Body perception
    Day 25
    Oct 25 (Sun)    		Family Sunday: build three figures together in Tangramthrum, free in the browser.Spatial orientation
    Day 26
    Oct 26 (Mon)    		Take today’s Word of the Day: look at it, say it, explain what it means.Reading and spelling
    Day 27
    Oct 27 (Tue)    		Make a sheet with the Word of the Day in the Handwriting Worksheet Wizard and write it five times.Writing
    Day 28
    Oct 28 (Wed)    		Do one puzzle on Find the Words, starting at Level 1.Reading

    October 29 to 31: Reading, numbers, and a look back

    The last three days bring reading and math together and end the month with praise.

    DayYour 10 minutesWhat it trains
    Day 29
    Oct 29 (Thu)    		Fill in one cloze text on cloze-test.com: read the sentence, find the missing word.Reading comprehension
    Day 30
    Oct 30 (Fri)    		Play Twenty Zone or Math Bingo on AFS5.com, then print one sheet from the Math Worksheet Wizard.Math
    Day 31
    Oct 31 (Sat)    		Let your child pick the favorite game of the month and play it once more. Then tell your child three things that got easier.Confidence

    What if we start in the middle of October?

    Start today with the day that matches today’s date, or start with Day 1. Both work. If your child has never trained attention, Day 1 is the better start, because the later weeks build on it. If you start late, simply carry the plan into November. A child who trains ten minutes a day for 31 days has done the plan, no matter which month it ends in.

    If your child is younger than six, pick the easiest level of each game and do it together. If your child is older, let them choose the order inside each week. A choice turns practice into something they own.

    Why ten minutes a day instead of one long session?

    Short daily practice works better than one long session on the weekend, because perception is trained by repetition, not by effort. In the AFS-Method, parents practice with their child for ten to fifteen minutes a day, and a Certified Dyslexia Trainer guides the plan about once a week [3]. Ten minutes is short enough that a tired child can still do it, and long enough to make a difference over a month.

    Our free lesson series explains how trainers turn this into a home routine: From Session Design to Home Practice. The lesson is written for trainers, but many parents find it helpful.

    What a free plan can do, and what it cannot

    This plan can show you where your child finds things easy and where they find them hard. It cannot replace a test or a Certified Dyslexia Trainer. Watch which weeks go smoothly and which ones are a struggle. A child who flies through the visual games but cannot hear the difference between two tones in Week 3 is telling you something useful.

    If you notice that pattern, the next step is a closer look. The AFS-Test checks attention and each sensory perception one by one and turns the result into an individual training plan. To find a Certified Dyslexia Trainer near you or online, use dyslexiatrainer.com.

    Teachers and parents who want to go further can train as a Certified Dyslexia Trainer themselves. The 48-lesson Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program is 50% off this October for the first 50 sign-ups, and Lesson 1 is free.

    Where to find more free dyslexia resources

    This plan uses only a part of what we give away. The full list is in our post Free Dyslexia Resources for Parents and Teachers. You will also find 1,500 free worksheets on this blog, the Freebies section, and more than 1,500 printable pages in the ADA FREE Worksheets library. Our free learning apps are listed on appsthrum.com.

    All of this stays free because the American Dyslexia Association is a nonprofit. Read what ADA’s 501(c)(3) dyslexia charity status means for donors and members.

    Frequently asked questions

    When is Dyslexia Awareness Month?

    Dyslexia Awareness Month is in October. The U.S. Senate designated October 2025 as National Dyslexia Awareness Month in S. Res. 471, and a resolution for October 2026 was introduced on September 30, 2026.

    Are all activities in the 31-day plan really free?

    Yes. Every game, worksheet, audio track, and app in the plan is free and needs no account. The games are on easy-training-program.com, the worksheets on american-dyslexia-association.org.

    What if my child still struggles after October?

    Then a closer look helps. The AFS-Test shows which sensory perceptions need training, and dyslexiatrainer.com lists Certified Dyslexia Trainers who work in person and online.

    Sources

    1. U.S. Senate, S. Res. 471, 119th Congress, agreed to October 28, 2025: designating October 2025 as National Dyslexia Awareness Month. govinfo.gov
    2. U.S. Senate, S. Res. 933, 119th Congress, introduced September 30, 2026: support for October 2026 as National Dyslexia Awareness Month. congress.gov
    3. Kopp-Duller, A. (2021). Dyslexia – Training Using the AFS-Method (3rd revised ed.). Background: afs-method.com
    4. Easy Training Program, free brain-training games by sensory area. easy-training-program.com
    5. American Dyslexia Association, FREE Worksheets and Ears Open! audio training. american-dyslexia-association.org
  • Was Princess Diana Dyslexic? What the Record Actually Shows

    Was Princess Diana Dyslexic? What the Record Actually Shows

    No record shows that Princess Diana was ever assessed for dyslexia. What exists is one sentence her younger brother said out loud on September 21, 2026: “I think Diana suffered from dyslexia. She found spelling and word orders and letter orders quite tricky.”

    He said it to PEOPLE, one day before his memoir went on sale, and within hours the Princess Diana dyslexia question was in newsrooms on four continents. At the American Dyslexia Association we hear the same two questions every time a famous name gets attached to dyslexia. Does the claim hold up? And what is a parent, or an adult who recognizes something of themselves in it, supposed to do with it? Here is the record, separated from the headline.

    In short

    • Princess Diana was never assessed for dyslexia, and nothing from her lifetime records a reading or spelling assessment.
    • The claim comes from her brother Charles Spencer, made on September 21, 2026, one day before his memoir was published.
    • No source published before 2026 calls Diana dyslexic, and none describes a reading or spelling problem.
    • What has been documented since 1992: her family called her the thick one, and she failed every O-level examination twice.
    • Against the claim: as a teenager she read romance novels heavily, and after her wedding she answered many of the 47,000 letters of congratulation by hand.
    • Dyslexia can only be identified by testing a person’s reading and writing. A family account is testimony, and testimony is not an assessment.

    What Charles Spencer actually said

    Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer and Diana’s only brother, made the claim in an interview with Michelle Tauber for PEOPLE on September 21, 2026, the day before the publication of his memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister (Michael Joseph, September 22, 2026). His words on dyslexia were brief: “I think Diana suffered from dyslexia. She found spelling and word orders and letter orders quite tricky.”

    The dyslexia remark sits inside a larger argument about attention. Spencer told PEOPLE: “I was only found out to have very severe ADHD late in life, and I know it’s exactly what Diana had. It’s so similar.” He added a piece of context that matters: “Diana was born in 1961, and certainly the private school system in England was not tuned into children’s needs as they are today.”

    Spencer was careful about his own framing. “This isn’t a criticism,” he said. “It’s a recognition that she was struggling with a condition that was totally undiagnosed.” What he did not offer was a school report, a reading or spelling assessment, or a second family member who agrees. The claim rests on his memory and on his own experience late in life.

    Had anyone suggested this before 2026?

    No published source before September 2026 uses the word dyslexia about Princess Diana, but the pattern her brother describes has been on the record, in her own voice, for more than thirty years. The Princess Diana dyslexia claim is new. The evidence behind it is old.

    Diana recorded a set of tapes with her voice coach Peter Settelen in 1992 and 1993, broadcast in the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words in 2017. On them she says: “I was always told by my family that I was the thick one. That I was stupid and my brother was the clever one.” She goes on: “I used to go to the headmistress crying saying I wish I wasn’t so stupid and thick, and wished my family felt a bit more of me. I remember doing that a lot.”

    She returned to the subject in her BBC Panorama interview on November 20, 1995: “I was portrayed in the media at that time, if I remember rightly, as someone, because I hadn’t passed any O-levels and taken any A-levels, I was stupid. And I made the grave mistake once of saying to a child I was thick as a plank, in order to ease the child’s nervousness, which it did. But that headline went all round the world, and I rather regret saying it.”

    What the earlier sources never describe is a reading or spelling problem. Her biographers and her schoolfellows call her a poor student, not academic, frustrated by lessons. The strongest concrete fact anyone recorded is that she attempted all of her O-level examinations twice and passed none of them, which is a written-examination failure across every subject rather than a difficulty anyone traced to literacy. Charles Spencer in 2026 is the first person on the public record to name spelling and letter order as the reason.

    The school record backs the outline. Diana sat her O-level examinations twice at West Heath School in Kent and left at sixteen without passing them, in the same years that the school recognized her for helpfulness and she stood out in swimming, dance and domestic science. Strong in some areas, stuck in others, and written off as slow: that shape is familiar to every dyslexia trainer. Nobody in 1977 gave it a name.

    Why “she found spelling tricky” is a clue, not an answer

    Weak spelling is one of the most recognizable signs of dyslexia and one of the weakest pieces of evidence on its own. The International Dyslexia Association puts it plainly: as many as 15 to 20 percent of the population as a whole show some of the signs of dyslexia, including slow or inaccurate reading, poor spelling, poor writing, or mixing up similar words. Spencer’s description of his sister would fit a large share of the adult population.

    A real dyslexia assessment is an educational one. It looks at how a person reads and writes: accuracy, decoding of unfamiliar words, reading fluency and spelling, the kinds of errors they make, and how their attention and sensory perceptions hold up during the task, all weighed against their age and schooling. This is also why a short screening is not enough to settle the question in a living child, let alone in a historical figure. None of that exists for Diana. Two details cut the other way and rarely make the coverage. The first is that she read for pleasure as a teenager, and heavily. Tina Brown records in The Diana Chronicles that Diana devoured Barbara Cartland’s romance novels, with an endless and steady supply, and Cartland herself said later that the only books Diana ever read were hers. The second is that she wrote constantly. After her 1981 wedding she chose to answer many of the 47,000 letters of congratulation herself, by hand, and her handwritten correspondence now fills auction catalogs. Those letters may offer a clue of their own. One of the wedding thank-you notes, sent in October 1981 to a couple who worked at Althorp and later sold by Julien’s Auctions, reads in the auction house’s transcription: “Enclosed is a small momento of our wedding day, which I do you’ll like.” That is a misspelled word and a missing word in one short sentence. A single note proves nothing, and “momento” is one of the most common misspellings in English, but a careful look at her letters as a whole would tell a dyslexia trainer more than any headline. Neither her reading nor her letter-writing rules dyslexia out. Cartland’s novels are short, formulaic and written at a reading level a weak decoder can manage, and plenty of dyslexic adults write for a living. But a real assessment weighs both, and a headline skips both.

    Can dyslexia be identified after someone has died?

    No. Dyslexia shows itself in how a person reads and writes, and the only way to see that is to sit down with them and watch them do it. Labels given to historical figures after the fact are guesses, and scholars who study them, among them Osamu Muramoto in a 2014 paper, warn that they should describe the pattern people observed rather than name a cause.

    For Diana there is no school assessment on file, no reading or spelling sample, and no teacher’s report that names the problem. So the accurate sentence is the one Spencer nearly said: his sister showed a pattern consistent with dyslexia, as described by the person who grew up in the same house. That is family testimony, and it is worth something. It is not an assessment, and no amount of repetition in the press turns the Princess Diana dyslexia story into one.

    What English schools knew about dyslexia when Diana was a pupil

    Dyslexia entered British law for the first time nine years after Diana was born. Section 27 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 required local education authorities to arrange special educational treatment for children “suffering from acute dyslexia” within schools they maintained or assisted. It was the first statutory use of the word in the United Kingdom, and it framed dyslexia as a matter for schools and teaching.

    Diana was born on July 1, 1961, went to boarding school at about nine, and left West Heath in 1977. The 1970 provision applied to the state sector, not to the independent schools she attended, and teachers were not trained to recognize the signs of dyslexia in either system. A girl who could not spell reliably in that era was described as lazy, dreamy, or not academic. Spencer’s framing of the period is fair, and it is the least contested part of his claim.

    Why a family claim still matters, even without an assessment

    Dyslexia has a genetic component and runs in families, which is why a sibling saying “this is what I have, and I think she had it too” is one of the most common ways a family discovers it at all. A child with a dyslexic parent has a 40 to 60 percent chance of being dyslexic, and roughly 40 percent of the siblings of a child with dyslexia have reading difficulties of their own.

    The attention side of Spencer’s account fits as well. Attention problems and dyslexia turn up together far more often than chance would predict: Boada, Willcutt and Pennington found that 25 to 40 percent of children with one also show the other. This is why good dyslexia training starts with attention. A brother who struggled to focus and a sister who could not spell is not an odd pairing. Teachers see it every day.

    The most useful fact in the whole story is the one about Charles Spencer himself. He reached his sixties before anyone gave his difficulties a name. That is not a royal anomaly. Adults recognize themselves late every week, usually when a child’s assessment report lands on the kitchen table and a parent reads their own childhood in it. Being underestimated at school is also a pattern with a long history: several American presidents struggled in the classroom before anyone had a word for why.

    The royals who have spoken about their own dyslexia

    Diana’s is a claim made after her death, while several living royals have spoken about their own dyslexia. Princess Beatrice of York was identified as dyslexic at the age of seven, spoke publicly about it from 2005, and has become one of Britain’s most visible advocates. Her husband is dyslexic as well. In Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Carl Philip have all spoken about dyslexia, and Prince Carl Philip has described what being asked to read aloud in class actually felt like.

    One correction worth making while the story circulates: Diana was a patron of the British Deaf Association, which shares its initials with a dyslexia organization. She held no dyslexia patronage and, on the public record, never discussed reading or spelling difficulties as anything other than a source of embarrassment.

    If this story sounds like your own

    If a headline about Princess Diana dyslexia made you think about your own child, or about yourself at sixteen, the useful next step is a proper assessment and training rather than a label. In an older child or an adult the pattern usually looks like this: spelling that stays unreliable long after reading has improved, slow and effortful reading, a strong dislike of reading aloud, letters and word order slipping under time pressure, and effort that is wildly out of proportion to the result.

    What changes that pattern is targeted training rather than more of the same schoolwork. The AFS Method works in a fixed order, attention first, then the sensory functions involved in reading and writing, then the symptom itself. It is set out in Dyslexia – Training Using the AFS-Method by Dr. Astrid Kopp-Duller, 3rd revised edition, 2021. The American Dyslexia Association publishes free worksheets for practice at home, an introduction to the AFS Method, and a certification program for teachers and parents who want to train others. If you want the myths cleared out first, start with Debunking the Myths about Dyslexia, and see everything we give away for free in one place. For what a full evaluation actually measures, read about more than 25 years of the AFS-Test.

    Frequently asked questions

    Was Princess Diana ever assessed for dyslexia?

    No. There is no record of any dyslexia assessment during her lifetime. The claim was made by her brother Charles Spencer in September 2026, twenty-nine years after her death, and is his personal view rather than the result of an assessment.

    Did Princess Diana have ADHD?

    Charles Spencer believes she did, based on his own experience with ADHD late in life and on the similarities he sees in her. Diana was never assessed for it, so this too is a family view looking back, not a finding.

    Does failing exams mean a child is dyslexic?

    No. Exam results alone say nothing about the cause. Dyslexia is identified through an educational assessment of how a child reads and writes, measured against their age and schooling. Poor results in a bright, capable child are a reason to ask for that assessment, not an answer in themselves.

    Sources

    • Michelle Tauber, “Princess Diana’s Brother, Charles Spencer, Addresses Conspiracy Theories, Her Neurodivergence and More,” PEOPLE, September 21, 2026. Interview
    • Charles Spencer, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Michael Joseph, September 22, 2026. Publisher page · Available on Amazon
    • Diana, Princess of Wales, BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir, November 20, 1995. Full transcript, PBS Frontline
    • Diana: In Her Own Words (2017), based on tapes recorded with Peter Settelen in 1992 and 1993. Documentary background
    • International Dyslexia Association, Dyslexia Basics: as many as 15 to 20 percent of the population show some signs of dyslexia. Fact sheet
    • Understood.org, “Is dyslexia genetic?”: 40 to 60 percent chance for a child with a dyslexic parent. Article
    • R. Boada, E. G. Willcutt and B. F. Pennington, “Understanding the Comorbidity Between Dyslexia and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder,” Topics in Language Disorders, 2012: 25 to 40 percent of children with one also show the other. Full text, PDF
    • Osamu Muramoto, “Retrospective diagnosis of a famous historical figure: ontological, epistemic, and ethical considerations,” Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, 2014. Paper
    • Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, Section 27, “acute dyslexia.” Statute text
    • Julien’s Auctions, handwritten letter from Diana to Mr. and Mrs. Pendrey, October 21, 1981. Lot description
    • Tina Brown, The Diana Chronicles, 2007, on Diana’s reading as a teenager. Book excerpt, ABC News · Available on Amazon
    • Prince Carl Philip of Sweden on growing up dyslexic. Interview

    Photo: Diana, Princess of Wales, by John MacIntyre for Paisley Scotland, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0. Card design by the American Dyslexia Association.

  • Jamaica Dyslexia Association joins IFDDA

    Jamaica Dyslexia Association joins IFDDA

    In short

    • The Jamaica Dyslexia Association (JDA) is a member of the International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA).
    • It is IFDDA’s first member in the Caribbean.
    • Founded in 2016 by Heather Christian, it describes itself as the only charity in Jamaica devoted entirely to dyslexia.
    • It is a registered charity (CA100-1212C) and offers consultations, assessments, tutoring, and teacher training.

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations welcomes a new member: the Jamaica Dyslexia Association (JDA), our first member in the Caribbean.

    Jamaica has associations for many things, but until 2016 it had none for dyslexia. The JDA describes itself as the first and only charity in the country that focuses entirely on dyslexia, and it is a registered charity, number CA100-1212C [1]. Its vision reaches beyond services: the association wants to influence public policy and laws by educating government officials, schools, employers, and the public about what people with dyslexia need.

    Who is the Jamaica Dyslexia Association?

    The association was founded by Heather Christian, a Jamaican-born Canadian who has dyslexia herself. She spent more than 25 years as an education administrator and community development project manager, served on boards in both Jamaica and Canada, and decided to make it her personal goal to bring dyslexia into the open in Jamaica. She is the JDA’s founder, chair, and chief executive, and she has written about dyslexia for the Jamaica Observer [2].

    In their own words, from their membership application:

    The JDA provides helpful information and appropriate services that best meet the needs of those who have dyslexia without compromising quality and professionalism. The Association was developed through extensive consultation with key stakeholders that involved a range of organisations, individuals and families who have or have experienced dyslexia. The Jamaica Dyslexia Association (JDA), as a charitable organisation, is seeking to address the needs of children and adults with dyslexia and bring awareness, understanding, resources, and services to all people with dyslexia.

    The association is run by a volunteer board and advised by an advisory board that brings together Jamaican and international expertise: Dr. Susan Anderson, an educational psychologist with more than 40 years in education, Dr. Barbara Matalon, consultant psychologist and retired professor at the University of the West Indies, Allan Caseman, a certified dyslexia assessor with experience in the United Kingdom and Jamaica, and Jannett Morgan, neurodiversity specialist and author of “Young, Gifted, Dyslexic and Black” [1].

    What does the JDA do?

    In practice, the Jamaica Dyslexia Association:

    • offers a free half-hour phone consultation with an intake coordinator who has dyslexia, for individuals, families, schools, employers, and government agencies,
    • provides dyslexia assessments and tutoring for children, teenagers, and adults at flat fees,
    • trains educators and supports parents who home-school,
    • advises government agencies on policies and employers on workplace adjustments,
    • and publishes dyslexia checklists for preschoolers, school-age children, and adults.

    The association also appoints Goodwill Ambassadors, Jamaicans and people of Jamaican descent from every continent, to raise awareness of dyslexia at home and in the diaspora. Its homepage quotes Harry Belafonte, the Jamaican-American singer and activist, on growing up in a school system where nobody understood learning differences [1].

    Why it matters for IFDDA

    With the Jamaica Dyslexia Association, the federation gains its first member in the Caribbean and a partner that is building dyslexia support from the ground up in a country where it did not exist before. That is pioneering work, and pioneers benefit most from a network. We look forward to giving the JDA a larger stage and to learning how dyslexia is identified and supported in Jamaica.

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA) is a non-profit federation incorporated in Florida in 2011. It connects dyslexia and dyscalculia associations worldwide, and its members exchange knowledge, methods, and experience across borders. The American Dyslexia Association, which publishes this blog, is a member; the ADA-accredited Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program follows the IFDDA training standards. For background on how the federation approaches training, read Approaches to Dyslexia Training.

    You can find the Jamaica Dyslexia Association at www.jamaicadyslexiaassociation.com, and all IFDDA members at ifdda.org.

    If you run a non-profit dyslexia or dyscalculia organization and would like to join the federation, membership is free. Apply at ifdda.org.

    More IFDDA member news

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the Jamaica Dyslexia Association?

    The Jamaica Dyslexia Association (JDA) is a registered charity (CA100-1212C) founded in 2016. It describes itself as the only charity in Jamaica devoted entirely to dyslexia. Website: jamaicadyslexiaassociation.com.

    Who founded the Jamaica Dyslexia Association?

    Heather Christian, a Jamaican-born Canadian who has dyslexia herself, founded the JDA and serves as its founder, chair, and chief executive.

    What services does the JDA offer?

    The JDA offers a free half-hour phone consultation, dyslexia assessments and tutoring for children and adults, teacher training, support for home-schooling parents, and advice for employers and government agencies.

    How can an organization join IFDDA?

    Non-profit dyslexia and dyscalculia organizations can apply for free membership at ifdda.org.

    Sources

    1. Jamaica Dyslexia Association: official website (registered charity CA100-1212C, team, advisory board). jamaicadyslexiaassociation.com
    2. Heather Christian: Unlocking dyslexia in Jamaica, Jamaica Observer, May 27, 2018. jamaicaobserver.com
  • Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties joins IFDDA

    Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties joins IFDDA

    In short

    • The Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties (SCLD) in the United Arab Emirates is a member of the International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA).
    • It is IFDDA’s first member in the Arab world.
    • The center was established in 2016 by decree of the Ruler of Sharjah and operates under Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services.
    • It serves children and adults of every nationality living in the UAE, from assessment to family counseling and teacher training.

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations welcomes a new member: the Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties (SCLD) in the United Arab Emirates.

    This is our first member in the Arab world, and it is a government center, which makes it a rare kind of partner. Most dyslexia and dyscalculia organizations start as parent initiatives or volunteer groups. The Sharjah Center was created by decree of the Ruler of Sharjah, with its own legal personality and its own budget, to serve people with learning differences of every age and every nationality living in the UAE [1][2]. That is the kind of institutional backing our field rarely gets.

    Who is the Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties?

    The Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties was established by Emiri Decree No. 49 of 2016, issued by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah [1]. According to its chair, the center opened within two months of the Ruler’s directive [3]. It operates as an autonomous entity under Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, whose Director-General, Sheikha Jamila bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, chairs the center [2]. The center is located in the Wasit suburb of Sharjah and is directed by Dr. Hanadi Al Suwaidi.

    In their own words, from their membership application:

    The Sharjah center for learning difficulties supports individuals with learning difficulties and their families. We provide assessment and diagnosis, counselling, and educational, psychological, and social support. We also work with schools and other educational institutions to raise awareness, build professional capacity, and promote the inclusion and empowerment of individuals with learning difficulties.

    What does the SCLD do?

    The center’s slogan is “We are your advocates to education.” Its stated vision is to be the leading center for advocacy, inclusion, and empowerment of people with learning differences in the UAE and the Arab world. In practice, the center:

    • assesses children and adults with learning differences and monitors the progress of enrolled students,
    • offers family counseling, career advice, social and psychological support, and a self-advocacy program,
    • provides speech and language services, assistive technology, and further specialist support under one roof,
    • trains teachers and specialists, advises schools and institutions, and runs school visits and a parents council,
    • and has hosted three Learning Difficulties Conferences and two virtual forums, alongside lectures, workshops, and its own publications [4].

    Why it matters for IFDDA

    With the Sharjah Center, the federation gains its first member in the Gulf region and the Arabic-speaking world, and a partner that combines assessment, support, teacher training, and public awareness in a single publicly funded institution.

    Most of what is published about dyslexia and dyscalculia describes learners of English. Arabic has its own script and its own challenges, and a center that assesses and supports Arabic-speaking learners every day brings knowledge to the federation that most of our members do not have. We look forward to learning from it.

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA) is a non-profit federation incorporated in Florida in 2011. It connects dyslexia and dyscalculia associations worldwide, and its members exchange knowledge, methods, and experience across borders. The American Dyslexia Association, which publishes this blog, is a member; the ADA-accredited Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program follows the IFDDA training standards. For background on how the federation approaches training, read Approaches to Dyslexia Training.

    You can find the Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties at www.scld.ae/en, and all IFDDA members at ifdda.org.

    If you run a non-profit dyslexia or dyscalculia organization and would like to join the federation, membership is free. Apply at ifdda.org.

    More IFDDA member news

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties?

    The Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties (SCLD) is a government center in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, that supports children and adults with learning differences and their families. Website: scld.ae.

    When was the SCLD founded?

    The center was established in 2016 by Emiri Decree No. 49 of 2016, issued by the Ruler of Sharjah, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi.

    Who can use the Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties?

    The center serves people with learning differences of every age and every nationality living in the UAE, both Emiratis and expatriates, and their families.

    How can an organization join IFDDA?

    Non-profit dyslexia and dyscalculia organizations can apply for free membership at ifdda.org.

    Sources

    1. Sharjah Center for Learning Difficulties: official website, Center Establishment (Decree). scld.ae
    2. Gulf News: New centre for learning difficulties promises affordable services. gulfnews.com
    3. Sharjah24: SCLD five years of harvesting fruitful achievements, September 13, 2021. sharjah24.ae
    4. Gulf Today: Sharjah Ruler attends launch of Learning Difficulties Forum, October 28, 2023. gulftoday.ae
  • The Dyscalculia Network joins IFDDA

    The Dyscalculia Network joins IFDDA

    In short

    • The Dyscalculia Network CIC in England is a member of the International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA).
    • Founded in 2019 by math teachers Cat Eadle and Rob Jennings, it was incorporated as a community interest company in 2021.
    • It runs the UK’s only dedicated directory of dyscalculia assessors and tutors and an Adults with Dyscalculia Advisory Board.
    • It started Dyscalculia Day (March 3) and Maths Anxiety Awareness Day (November 10).

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations welcomes a new member: The Dyscalculia Network CIC, based in England.

    Dyscalculia is in the name of our federation, but around the world it is still the quieter half. Dyslexia has associations, awareness weeks, and specialist teachers in most countries. Dyscalculia rarely does. That is why this membership matters to us more than most.

    Who is The Dyscalculia Network?

    The Dyscalculia Network was founded in 2019 by two math teachers and learning difficulty specialists, Cat Eadle and Rob Jennings [1]. It is a not-for-profit community interest company, run by volunteers, registered with Companies House in January 2021 under number 13124713 [2]. It supports and advocates for children and adults with dyscalculia and math learning difficulties. Its patron is Baroness Deborah Bull.

    In their own words:

    The Dyscalculia Network is a volunteer-led not for profit community interest company that supports, educates, and advocates for individuals with dyscalculia and maths learning difficulties. It bridges the gap between research and practice by hosting the only exclusively dyscalculia UK-based postcode finder for assessors and tutors; providing educational support, practical tips, toolkits, and resources for parents, students, and educators; advocating for dyscalculic adults by promoting workplace accessibility, inclusive recruitment, and reasonable adjustments; and leading campaigns to raise awareness of dyscalculia and offering training for schools, workplaces, and community services.

    What does The Dyscalculia Network do?

    What sets the Network apart is how much of its work is aimed at adults. Most dyscalculia support ends with school. The Dyscalculia Network runs an Adults with Dyscalculia Advisory Board made up of people who live with dyscalculia themselves, and their experience shapes what the organization does [3]. Alongside that, the Network:

    • runs the UK’s only dedicated directory of dyscalculia specialist assessors and tutors,
    • provides training for schools, workplaces, and community organizations on how to accommodate people with dyscalculia and math learning difficulties,
    • campaigns for better provision for children and adults with dyscalculia,
    • and set up two annual awareness days that are now fixed points in the calendar: Dyscalculia Day on March 3 and Maths Anxiety Awareness Day on November 10 [4][5].

    If you want to understand how dyscalculia relates to dyslexia, our lesson A Guide to Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Sensory Processing is a good starting point.

    Why it matters for IFDDA

    With The Dyscalculia Network, the federation gains a partner with deep practical expertise in math learning difficulties and a working model for adult support that other members can learn from. We are looking forward to sharing their awareness days with our international audience and to bringing dyscalculia the attention it deserves.

    The International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations (IFDDA) is a non-profit federation incorporated in Florida in 2011. It connects dyslexia and dyscalculia associations worldwide, and its members exchange knowledge, methods, and experience across borders. The American Dyslexia Association, which publishes this blog, is a member; the ADA-accredited Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program follows the IFDDA training standards. For background on how the federation approaches training, read Approaches to Dyslexia Training.

    You can find the The Dyscalculia Network at www.dyscalculianetwork.com, and all IFDDA members at ifdda.org.

    If you run a non-profit dyslexia or dyscalculia organization and would like to join the federation, membership is free. Apply at ifdda.org.

    More IFDDA member news

    Frequently asked questions

    What is The Dyscalculia Network?

    The Dyscalculia Network CIC is a volunteer-led, not-for-profit community interest company in England that supports, educates, and advocates for children and adults with dyscalculia and math learning difficulties. Website: dyscalculianetwork.com.

    Who founded The Dyscalculia Network?

    Two math teachers and learning difficulty specialists, Cat Eadle and Rob Jennings, founded the Network in 2019. It was incorporated as a community interest company in January 2021 (Companies House number 13124713).

    When is Dyscalculia Day?

    Dyscalculia Day is on March 3 each year, and Maths Anxiety Awareness Day is on November 10. Both were set up by The Dyscalculia Network; see dyscalculianetwork.com.

    How can an organization join IFDDA?

    Non-profit dyslexia and dyscalculia organizations can apply for free membership at ifdda.org.

    Sources

    1. The Dyscalculia Network: About the Network. dyscalculianetwork.com
    2. Companies House: THE DYSCALCULIA NETWORK C.I.C., company number 13124713. find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
    3. The Dyscalculia Network: Adult Advisory Board. dyscalculianetwork.com
    4. The Dyscalculia Network: Dyscalculia Day. dyscalculianetwork.com
    5. The Dyscalculia Network: Maths Anxiety Awareness Day. dyscalculianetwork.com
  • On Being Smart and Dyslexic — One Man’s Late-Life Discovery

    On Being Smart and Dyslexic — One Man’s Late-Life Discovery

    We’re delighted to share a moving personal essay by Richard Crume, MSPE, originally published in Telicom, the journal of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. At nearly 73, Richard stumbled on his old third-grade report card — and what it revealed sent him on a journey of self-discovery. We think his story will resonate deeply with our community.

    On Being Smart and Dyslexic

    by Richard Crume, MSPE

    A few years ago, with the COVID pandemic in full swing, I had some free time on my hands and decided to sort through some old files that had been collecting dust in the garage for many years. To my surprise, I ran across my third-grade report card from the 1950s. What was it doing there after all these years!?

    I was about to toss the report card in the trash, but something interesting caught my attention. I noticed that for each of the four quarters of the school year, my teacher wrote that, while I excelled in most areas, there was one big problem: spelling. I could not spell worth a darn, and my reading comprehension was not great, either. One of my sisters was a poor speller, too — even worse than I — and my father spent many evenings at the kitchen table drilling her on words she should have learned to spell long before. Our teachers must have thought we were not trying hard enough, or maybe we were just not that smart.

    In the garage that day, organizing old papers and thinking about our troubles with spelling and reading, it suddenly dawned on me: dyslexia! I did a little internet research and found I had many of the characteristics often associated with dyslexia, and so did my sister. Dyslexia runs in families, and perhaps she and I both had some level of dyslexia all these years and did not even know it.

    What is dyslexia? According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA):

    Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words… most people with dyslexia have been found to have problems with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds, a key factor in their reading difficulties.

    In my case, in addition to spelling and reading worries, I had difficulty remembering people’s names and learning languages. I occasionally mispronounced words, and sometimes I needed a little extra time responding to questions — problems I continue having today as an older adult. On the other hand, I excelled at math and science, consistently at or above the 99th percentile on nationwide aptitude tests, year after year, in middle and high school, and my IQ was exceptionally high. Dyslexia seemed to be a plausible explanation.

    An important fact about dyslexia is that it has nothing to do with intelligence — there is no direct correlation — and people of all intellectual levels, smart and not so smart, may experience it. Dyslexia is not an indicator of low intelligence, just as it does not predict high intelligence. But if that is so, why does it seem a disproportionate number of really smart people have dyslexia, even benefiting from it in their careers?

    Continue reading Richard’s full essay here →

    Reprinted with permission. “On Being Smart and Dyslexic” by Richard Crume originally appeared in Telicom 37, no. 2, copyright 2025 by the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. All rights reserved.

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