Can You Cure Dyslexia? Better Yet, Decode Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a common brain-based reading difficulty that affects 1 in 5 people (Yale, 2022). The literacy problem impacts every school district and, hence, all taxpayers (NCLD, 2023).

A common question in searches is whether there is a cure for dyslexia. Firstly, dyslexia is not a disease. Secondly, it is not a single, unitary condition that one has or not. Let me explain below.

Linguistic Components in the Brain

People with dyslexia have difficulty processing language (Shaywitz, 2003). Problems with phonological or sound processing are a strong predictor of reading difficulty, or dyslexia (Elliott & Grigorenko, 2014). But natural language is not just made up of sounds. In 2025, the International Dyslexia Association revised its definition of dyslexia to add the morphological (parts of words) to the phonological (IDA, 2025).

In linguistics, the scientific study of natural language, language can be described structurally as having these two components in addition to the semantic (meaning), lexical (words), syntactic (sentences), and textual components.

If deficits can exist in one component, logically they should be present in the other components as well across the population. Indeed, research bears this out even though the smallest unit (phonemes) has been studied the most (Landi & Perfetti, 2007).

The Complexity of Language Processing

For most of us, language comes automatically. This automatized function masks its complexity. Take, for example, this sentence: Yield if you cannot win.

Typical readers get it instantly. But underneath the surface in the brain, a lot of processes have to occur. To read the word yield, the brain has to activate various components, including the phonetic, orthographic (spelling), and semantic.

My point is that just one word alone triggers a complex network of brain processes. And we typically process over 200 words per minute when reading (Brysbaert, 2019).

Measure Language Processing Inefficiencies

For the typical brain, reading is already an involved, complex process, masked by automaticity and subconscious operations (Berninger & Richards, 2002). But for a dyslexic brain, the internal processes may be even more complicated. A 5th grader with dyslexia once described to me what she had to do to try to retain the word yield when she first encountered it:

1. Picture someone yelling.
2. Retrieve the word yell.
3. Break up the word yell into its onset (Y) and rime (ELL).
4. Picture a field of grass.
5. Retrieve the word field.
6. Break up the word field into its onset (F) and rime (IELD).
7. Now combine Y and IELD to get yield.

Each time she came across this word, she had to go over these 7 operations again.

In short, this 5th grader was processing language inefficiently. We may view language-based difficulties such as dyslexia in terms of processing efficiency. We can then quantify reading difficulty, thus operationalizing the concept. Up till now, the field lacks consensus on an operational definition of dyslexia (Elliott & Grigorenko, 2014).

Why Decoding Dyslexia Is the Solution

When we define dyslexia in terms of inefficient processes happening in specific linguistic components, then the solution is obvious: decode it for each person affected. Which language processes are affected in which linguistic components and to what degree of inefficiency? In linguistics, these components are described in terms of complex codes. The figure above shows some linguistic models.

The Continuum of Language Processing Inefficiencies

Take two individuals with dyslexia, Abby and Bobby. Language processing inefficiencies occur along a continuum across linguistic components (Fig. 2). The language processes that are running inefficiently for Abby are marked as aqua bars showing their efficiency percentages. Those for Bobby are marked as coral bars. These inefficiencies manifest as reading, spelling, or writing difficulties on the surface.

Think of the linguistic system in the brain as a huge computer operating system. Any component may operate inefficiently. This can cause the system to get glitchy, halt, or crash. And this is exactly what we see on the surface for struggling readers: some misread words, some read haltingly, and others break down in tears.

Reading the Invisible Layer

On the surface, the child cannot read and spell. No matter how many times you teach them how to spell “sorry,” it does not stick. To solve the problem, we need to go underneath the surface of visible symptoms. The root of the problem is in language processing, the invisible layer underneath. In other articles, I have described the computational method for decoding this processing layer, which has been shown in a clinical trial to have a transfer effect on reading comprehension (May & Van Horne, 2025).

Clarifying the Language around Dyslexia

Some researchers suggest dispensing with the term dyslexia for the confusion it causes (Elliott & Grigorenko, 2014). But alternatives tied to word decoding are also problematic. For Aaliyah Williams, her problem in 5th grade was not word decoding but reading comprehension. Each struggling reader thus presents a unique profile of inefficiencies, leaving conflicting and inconclusive findings for studies on dyslexia (Elliott & Grigorenko, 2014).

These inefficiencies create difficulties on the surface that may affect reading or writing. The former is labeled dyslexia and the latter dysgraphia. But these labels for surface symptoms are less helpful than the specific processes involved if we want to resolve them. When you can find each specific deficit, you no longer need indirect measures of surface symptoms. The condition is measured directly by the specific inefficiencies themselves.

On this Dyslexia Awareness Month, let us start with clear language: Dyslexia is an umbrella term for a continuum of reading difficulties caused by underlying language-processing inefficiencies.

You don’t address dyslexia directly—you resolve the processing inefficiencies underneath.

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