The American Dyslexia Association helps people with dyslexia and dyscalculia of all ages with free information, free teaching aids, and the AFS-Method, a comprehensive and open framework that has been helping children succeed for more than 25 years.
The American Dyslexia Association empowers people with dyslexia and dyscalculia to reach their full potential. We provide free information, teaching materials, and practical educational resources for individuals, families, and educators. Our mission is to raise awareness, remove barriers to learning, and promote individualized educational support so that people of all ages can build their skills, confidence, and independence.
We envision a society that recognizes dyslexia and dyscalculia as learning differences, not weaknesses, and in which free, high-quality educational support is available to every child and adult who needs it.
Dyslexia and dyscalculia are genetic predispositions that run in families. People with dyslexia who have good or average intelligence perceive the world around them in a distinctly different way, and their attention fades when they encounter letters or numbers. It is not a weakness, not a disease, and not a learning disability, but a learning difference.
Because letters and numbers are taken in differently, learning to read, spell, write, and/or calculate takes a different path. Everywhere else, those different sensory perceptions can be a real advantage: many people with dyslexia are highly talented in the arts, in music, in science, and in athletics.
The good news: with the right educational support, children with dyslexia do learn to read, spell, write, and/or calculate. The AFS-Method shows how, in three areas that always belong together:
Learning to keep the mind on letters and numbers, until it becomes second nature
Sharpening the sensory perceptions needed for reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating
Working on the child's own mistakes in reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating, with material from the child's own error profile
“A person with dyslexia, of good or average intelligence, perceives the world around them in a distinctly different way. When they encounter letters or numbers, their attention fades, because their different sensory perceptions make them experience these symbols differently than people who are not dyslexic. This results in difficulties in learning to read, spell, write, and/or calculate.”Dr. Astrid Kopp-Duller, 1995
If a bright child unexpectedly struggles to learn to read, spell, write, and/or calculate, the best time to act is now: individual, specific, and targeted help, before secondary problems have a chance to develop.
A comprehensive and open framework, backed by a long-term study. Progress comes from working on attention, function, and symptoms together, never on symptoms alone.
Classroom teachers can support a child with dyslexia in many ways, but they cannot be expected to solve the problem alone. In almost every case, a Certified Dyslexia Trainer outside school is needed as well.
Tailored worksheets for visual, auditory, spatial, and body perception, and symptom training for dyslexia and dyscalculia.
We talk about primary dyslexia when the first three signs below appear together as soon as a child works with letters or numbers. The everyday signs that follow often come with them.
Situational inattentiveness when reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating, which sets in as soon as the child meets letters or numbers
Different sensory perceptions that are not yet formed the way learning to read, spell, write, and/or calculate requires
Perception errors in reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating that follow from those different perceptions and from the inattentiveness they cause
Mixing up letters that differ only in position (d/b, u/n), and halting, slow reading
Trouble remembering and repeating what was heard, and difficulty learning to tell time
Untidy, hard-to-read handwriting with uneven letter sizes and spacing
Children with dyslexia show situational inattentiveness, caused by their different sensory perceptions, and often anxiety as well. These are associated symptoms of the dyslexia, not clinical symptoms.
If the child can concentrate intensively on activities that have nothing to do with reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating, and the anxiety appeared only around the start of school, then associated symptoms are the likely explanation.
Can teachers and parents help? Yes! Most children with dyslexia can be helped on the educational level with specific, targeted training. Certified Dyslexia Trainers test the child with the AFS-Test, build an individual training plan, offer weekly sessions, and show parents what they can do at home.
Worksheets, games, and training materials for Certified Dyslexia Trainers, teachers, and parents.
Visual, auditory, spatial, and body perception, and symptom training for dyslexia and dyscalculia.
DownloadFree apps for iPhone and iPad that make practicing letters, words, numbers, and visual perception fun.
See the appsFree listening exercises that train the auditory perceptions needed for reading and spelling.
Listen nowRead our latest articles on dyslexia, dyscalculia, and practical ideas for home and school.
Visit blogDyslexia is a genetic learning difference that runs in families. People with dyslexia have good or average intelligence, but they perceive letters and numbers differently, and their attention fades when they work with them. This makes learning to read, spell, write, and/or calculate harder. Dyscalculia affects calculating in the same way.
No. Dyslexia is not a weakness, not a disease, and not a learning disability, but a learning difference: a different way of perceiving the world. Outside of reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating, these different sensory perceptions can even be an advantage. Many people with dyslexia are highly talented in the arts, in music, in science, and in athletics.
Watch for three signs that appear together as soon as a child works with letters or numbers: situational inattentiveness, different sensory perceptions, and perception errors in reading, spelling, writing, and/or calculating. An educational assessment such as the AFS-Test at dyslexiatest.com shows where a child stands.
The AFS-Method is a comprehensive and open framework for dyslexia and dyscalculia training, developed by Dr. Astrid Kopp-Duller. It works on three areas together: Attention, Function (the sensory perceptions), and Symptom (the actual errors). It is free to use for anyone who works with children with dyslexia.
Yes. With the right educational support, children with dyslexia do learn to read, spell, write, and/or calculate. Most can be helped on the educational level with individual, targeted training, for example by a Certified Dyslexia Trainer.
Yes. The American Dyslexia Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our worksheets, apps, and listening exercises are free to use at home and in the classroom. Donations help keep them free.
The American Dyslexia Association is dedicated to providing free information and teaching aids to help people with dyslexia and dyscalculia reach their full potential.
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