Dyslexia Signs, Traits, and Vision

What Does Dyslexia Really Mean?

Dyslexia is a term referring to a learning style that makes it harder for some people to understand letters, numbers, reading, writing, and math in traditional school settings. This term can feel limiting or negative—especially for parents or adults who know they or their children are bright but learn differently.

The term Dyslexia can be perceived as limiting or negative. Really it just means some individuals process information differently and information needs to be presented in a slightly different manner.

Teacher helping student with schoolwork.

A Different Way of Learning Not a Label

Dyslexic individuals are often intelligent and creative. The term 'learning disability' is misleading; instead, we advocate for respectful and empowering language. We prefer 'right-brained' and 'left-brained' to describe how people process information.

Understanding the Two Sides of the Brain

The human brain is divided into two hemispheres right and left. Both sides work together, but each handles certain tasks differently. Everyone’s brain is unique, and in some people, the right side takes on roles typically handled by the left. This difference can lead to struggles in traditional classrooms.

How Each Side of the Brain Works

Left-Brained Thinkers:

  • Process logical, step-by-step information
  • Excel with spelling, grammar, arithmetic, and abstract concepts
  • Handle symbols, rules, and sequences with ease
  • Thrive with creativity, innovation, and visual thinking
  • Struggle with reading, spelling, writing, sequencing, and math
  • Find abstract or symbolic learning confusing when taught traditionally

The Problem is Often the Teaching Style

One of our mentors, Alan McDowel, a dyslexia consultant from the UK in the 1990s, described dyslexia as a “learning difference.” He believed the real challenge begins around grade 4 or 5 a point when schoolwork becomes more abstract and symbolic.

At that stage, many right-brained learners find the teaching methods confusing or overwhelming. It’s like being dropped into a country where everyone speaks a different language and follows unfamiliar rules without anyone to guide you.

It’s Not About Intelligence

When a person is taught in a way their brain doesn’t naturally understand, it leads to frustration and possibly failure. With the right approach, right-brained learners can understand and succeed just as well as anyone else.

We’re Here to Help You Learn Differently

At Dyslexia Victoria, we focus on explaining these learning differences and showing new ways to manage them. Our goal is to make learning make sense by working with your learning process, not against it.

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What is Dyslexia? A Different Way of Learning

Understanding Dyslexia Beyond Labels

Dyslexia expert, Alan McDowell said “It’s not “Are you smart” rather “How are you smart”.

The word “dyslexic” describes people who face challenges with common school skills and concepts like reading, writing, spelling, math, and numbers. Medical experts call dyslexia a learning disorder that does not affect intelligence. However, this view limits teaching methods.

Learning Difference, Not a Disability

Many educators and specialists see dyslexia as a learning difference, not a disability. Dyslexic learners think differently, often starting with the “big picture” and patterns. Then seeing the individual elements which become the pattern instead of using step-by-step procedures. Western schools usually teach sequentially, which can make learning difficult for dyslexics.

Breaking the Stigma Around Dyslexia

Parents and individuals with dyslexia often reject the 'learning disability' label due to its stigma. Dyslexia should be seen as a 'learning difference' rather than a disability. Dyslexic individuals are usually highly intelligent and often gifted, preferring not to be seen as disabled."

Right-Brained and Left-Brained Thinking

Instead of 'dyslexic,' we use 'right-brained' and 'left-brained' to describe learning styles. Dyslexics often use the right side of their brain, which processes information differently. When information matches right-brained learning, dyslexics thrive.

Scientific Support for Different Brain Use

Research, including MRI studies, shows that dyslexics use right-brain areas for tasks like reading, spelling, writing, and math, which are usually managed by the left brain.

  • Typical readers: Rely more on the left hemisphere, especially in areas important for phonological processing and word recognition.
  • Dyslexic readers: Show underactivation in these left-side areas during reading and may recruit more right hemisphere or frontal areas as compensation 

This suggests that dyslexia reflects different brain pathways, not a lack of ability.

How Dyslexia Becomes a Challenge

Alan McDowel, a respected UK dyslexia expert, referred to dyslexia as a learning difference that often becomes a disability by 4th or 5th grade due to ineffective teaching methods. He likened it to being in a foreign country without guidance.

Brain Hemispheres: Right and Left Sides

The brain has two hemispheres, each with distinct roles. The left hemisphere is logical and sequential, excelling in abstract ideas, symbols, and sequences, which aids in reading, spelling, grammar, math, and arithmetic. The right hemisphere is creative and visionary, but struggles with logical, sequential, or abstract steps, affecting skills like spelling, reading, writing, sequencing, analyzing, and math.

Understanding and Managing Differences

These brain differences shape how dyslexic learners experience school and life. We explore these learning styles and practical ways to support them throughout our website. Welcome to learning that makes sense to everyone.

Dyslexia Traits Explained

Unique Profiles, Shared Challenges

Dyslexic individuals share common traits, but each experience is unique. Recognizing these patterns aids in understanding their learning style.

Right-Brain Learners Need the Big Picture

Dyslexic learners often need to see the whole concept first, as their right brain processes information as complete images. Without this full picture, learning smaller parts can be confusing.

The Connection is Crucial

Dyslexic students need to see both the whole image and its parts simultaneously to understand information. For example, teaching fractions is more effective when showing a whole orange alongside its halves and quarters.

Right-Brain Challenges With Abstract Skills

Many dyslexic learners find writing by hand, spelling, reading, math and grammar difficult. This is because right-brained thinkers rely on real world, concrete examples of concepts. They struggle when dealing with abstract symbols like letters, words, numbers and sentence structure.

Connecting Images to Abstract Concepts

Dyslexic learners process abstract information by forming whole images in their minds. They memorize these images and reproduce answers based on visual memories, which works well for short responses but makes complex thinking challenging without specific training.

 

Trouble With Logical Sequencing

Sequencing letters, numbers, words, and ideas is hard for dyslexic students. Without seeing how parts fit into the whole in the right order, spelling, reading, writing sentences, and doing math become overwhelming tasks.

Visualizing Complex Thoughts

Dyslexic learners often struggle to grasp abstract words, ideas, and concepts. Without turning these into clear mental images, understanding becomes difficult. When a thought can’t be visualized, it is hard to remember or store in long-term memory because it lacks meaning.

How Dyslexics Process Language

Relying on Nouns, Verbs, and Intuition

Right-brained thinkers focus on concrete nouns and active verbs to make sense of what they read or hear. They often fill gaps with intuition or reasoning, as abstract language alone can feel confusing or incomplete.

Need for a Sight Word Vocabulary

All students, especially those with dyslexia, benefit from memorizing a list of common words appropriate to their grade. This “sight word” bank helps the brain avoid wasting time decoding each word’s sound or meaning.

Decoding Slows Comprehension

How Struggling With Words Affects Reading

If too much effort goes into decoding words, understanding the story suffers. Dyslexic readers may have to reread passages repeatedly, causing short-term memory to lose details. This makes it hard to answer questions or remember the material because the information never fully registers.

Trouble Following Instructions

Dyslexic learners often need clear, complete, and step-by-step instructions to begin a task confidently. Without this, confusion sets in quickly. These students perform best when they see the whole picture of an assignment before breaking it down into steps.

What Students Need to Know First

To avoid being overwhelm, provide all the details upfront:

  • What materials to use (pen, pencil, paper, or computer)
  • Where to place the name, date, and title
  • Expected format (one-word answers, paragraph, full page)
  • Submission deadline
  • How the final product should look

When dyslexic students have this full mental image, they’re ready to begin and much more likely to succeed.

Teach It All in One Sitting

Try to deliver the complete lesson or task instructions in one session. Breaking it into pieces over different days increases the chance they'll forget critical information and become frustrated.

Encourage Questions Always

Dyslexic students must feel free to ask questions often and without hesitation. Clarifying missing pieces helps them process the whole picture. For best results, follow the Five Steps to Learning found in our “Help for Teachers” section. This framework supports how dyslexic minds learn best.

What is Visual Stress?

Common in People With Dyslexia

Many individuals with dyslexia also experience visual stress; a sensitivity to reading text on white backgrounds. Switching to colored overlays or colored paper often improves comfort and clarity. Some notice a small improvement, less fatigue, and longer focus. For others, this can be a dramatic change. The right color can stabilize the text, reduce headaches, and ease physical discomfort.

Seeing What Was Missed

Readers often begin to notice punctuation and sight words like “and”, “then”, “is”, which they previously missed. Using color filters on paper and screens is a key part of our program for those managing both dyslexia and visual stress.

Teen and adult discussing with clipboard in hand.

Understanding Visual Stress

  • Visual stress causes distorted vision, especially when reading black text on a white background.
  • It is believed to be a visual processing issue in the brain’s visual cortex, not related to the eyes or retina.
  • Processing these visual distortions puts stress on the brain, often leading to eye strain, headaches, and fatigue.
  • Some individuals experience extreme symptoms, such as only seeing a white page despite printed text.
  • Tasks involving repeated patterns, like reading text or music, can trigger visual stress.
  • The brain has difficulty decoding mixed visual signals as the eyes scan the page.
  • Bright environments like sunlight, fluorescent lighting, or shiny paper—can make symptoms worse by increasing contrast and glare.

Signs and Impact of Visual Stress

  • Reading can feel slow, labored, and mentally exhausting.
  • Comprehension may suffer, and information retention becomes difficult.
  • Attention span, motivation, energy, and even mood can be affected.
  • Individuals may be mislabeled as lazy, distracted, or unmotivated.
  • Visual stress often overlaps with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism.
  • Using colored filters as part of treatment can reduce the impact of these conditions.
Woman stressed while sitting at desk.

Common Symptoms While Reading

  • Frequently skipping words or full lines of text.
  • Rereading lines or losing place often.
  • Fatigue and tiredness set in quickly.
  • Taking constant breaks while reading.
  • Squinting, blinking, or straining the eyes.
  • Eyes may become sore, watery, or dry.
  • Bright lighting feels uncomfortable dimmer lighting is preferred.
  • Needing a finger or an object to track words.
  • The longer the reading session, the harder it becomes.
  • Restlessness or fidgeting increases during reading.
  • Losing focus or getting distracted easily.
  • Difficulty recalling recently read content.
  • Avoiding reading whenever possible.
  • Glare from glossy paper makes reading difficult.
  • Headaches or even nausea during or after reading.
  • Viewing screens can be especially unpleasant.
  • Difficulty with depth perception, such as when using stairs or driving.
  • Constant shifting of the body or head to find a comfortable reading position.
  • Reading is slow, choppy, and hard to follow.
  • Yawning or rubbing eyes happens often while reading.
A young girl making a scrunched-up face while smiling.

Visual Distortions on the Page

  • Letters and words may jump, shift, or vanish from the page.
  • Swirling patterns may appear in or around the text.
  • Entire lines may seem to move or wobble.
  • Colors or shimmering effects may be seen across the page.
  • A white background may appear more prominent than the black text, forming vertical “rivers.”
  • Letters may blur, fade, double, reverse, or appear unstable.
  • The text becomes difficult to focus on due to visual instability.

Using Color to Reduce Visual Stress

  • Color filterssuch as acetate overlays, tinted screen apps, or custom color glasses can ease the effects of visual stress.
  • Each person responds differently. It's important to test a variety of colors, both alone and in combination, to find the most effective one.
  • These filters help reduce or eliminate visual distortions by calming the conflicting signals that confuse the brain.
  • This allows the brain to process text more accurately, making the page appear more stable and readable.
  • Tinted glasses may also help those with related issues, like poor depth perception or trouble seeing while driving at night.
Colorful paper with printed text arranged in a row.
Close-up of book pages with red, blue, yellow, and green backgrounds.

Clearer Reading With Simple Tools

  • Although color filtering seems like a basic solution, its impact can be powerful.
  • With the right color filter, individuals can read without eye strain, blurring, or early fatigue.
  • Over time, this makes it easier to build reading confidence and improve learning, especially for students who struggle with reading tasks.

Steps to Address Visual Stress

1. Start With an Eye Check

  • Book an eye exam with a certified optometrist or vision specialist.
  • Rule out general eye problems before addressing visual stress.
  • Choose a provider who understands visual stress and offers screening.

If needed, they can prescribe special tinted lenses with coatings specific to this condition.

Helpful Links – Eye Specialists

Canada

UK

2. Take a Pre-Screening Test

  • Try the VSCAT pre-screening tool from Opticalm.
  • Watch the video guides they offer insight into subtle symptoms.
  • Even if visual stress doesn’t seem like a concern at first, the videos may help you reassess.

Link

visualstress.app

 

3. Get a Full Assessment

  • If pre-screening shows signs of visual stress, book a full assessment.
  • Multiple providers offer tools and support across Canada, the UK, and the US.

Trusted Resources for Testing & Tools

Research and References

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Tutor helping child with homework at table.

Get Help for Visual Stress

Struggling with reading or screen fatigue? Contact us to learn more about support, tools, and screenings that can help reduce visual stress symptoms.

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