Unlocking Words: The Dyslexia and Word Recognition Connection with Elizabeth Doherty

In this Literacy Connect podcourse, we are joined by Elizabeth Doherty (“Reading SLP”) in a presentation on the connection between dyslexia and word recognition, outlining objectives to define word recognition, why it’s difficult, key dyslexia characteristics, and how SLPs can support treatment. Elizabeth explains reading as word recognition plus linguistic comprehension (Simple View of Reading) and describes word recognition as progressing from phonological awareness to decoding to orthographic mapping and sight word recognition (Scarborough’s Reading Rope), emphasizing reading is not natural and often requires explicit, repeated instruction. She details challenges including weak phonological awareness in speech/language students, English’s opaque and morphophonemic system, and inconsistent instruction. Dyslexia is defined as a neurobiological, phonological-based difficulty with accurate, fluent word recognition; it is not visual, not intelligence-related, and not a comprehension disorder. She recommends multisensory structured literacy (e.g., Orton-Gillingham), early identification, assistive technology, and highlights overlap with DLD and risk with persistent SSD and apraxia, sharing key resources including IDA fact sheets and an SLP-focused dyslexia guide.