How specific is a Specific Learning Disability.

Just because your child receives a diagnosis of a Specific Learning Disorder doesn’t mean you have all the information you need.  Rather, it is an umbrella term for a variety of disorders. A psychological educational assessment can determine if there is a problem or no problem in reading and written output.  If there is a problem in reading or written expression, the mechanisms behind that problem should be explored with a speech-language pathologist.

If we look at the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986), we will see 2 major language systems impacting reading comprehension: sound/word level skills (word recognition) and sentence/discourse level skills (oral language).

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties at the sound/word level (word recognition). Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is characterized by difficulties at the sentence/discourse. Some people have difficulties with both.  Given that these are connected language systems, it is not surprising that 50% of people with Dyslexia have DLD (Chalikia et al., 2025; Willcutt et al., 2023).

Unfortunately, despite this information, families are often not referred to an SLP by the psychologist. They are told to seek a tutor or are given apps to try.  However, a speech-language pathologist can deep dive into the language skills impacting reading to develop an individualized therapeutic plan targeting specific areas of weakness while capitalizing on areas of strength.

“Oral language is literacy- not a precursor to it” – Dr. Tiffany Hogan

Partner with an SLP to better understand your child’s strengths and weaknesses and build a plan that targets the language processes your child needs help with most. Let’s get specific about what your child needs for success!