Claims register: glossary
63 claims. Each was checked against its source during drafting; none has had expert review yet.
| Claim | Evidence | Sources | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| The SASC list of suitable tests (June 2024) says there are limited tests for adults over 25 and that tests covering ages 18 to 24 can be used and reported qualitatively where no adult-normed test exists. | Regional law or rule | SpLD Test Evaluation Committee (STEC) of SASC (2024) Charity or professional body | Can adults be diagnosed with dyslexia?Is there a dyslexia test for adults?Glossary |
| The June 2024 SASC list gives an age range of 4:0 to 24:11 for the CTOPP-2, which includes elision, blending, phonological memory and rapid naming subtests. | Regional law or rule | SpLD Test Evaluation Committee (STEC) of SASC (2024) Charity or professional body | Is there a dyslexia test for adults?Glossary |
| The BDA says screening tests and checklists cannot provide a diagnosis and dyslexia can only be formally diagnosed through a diagnostic assessment by a certified assessor; AUSPELD says online screening tools cannot provide a formal diagnosis. | Established guidance | British Dyslexia Association Charity or professional bodyAUSPELD (Australian Federation of SPELD Associations) Charity or professional body | Is there a dyslexia test for adults?Glossary |
| A 2024 study of the Dyslexia Adult Checklist recruited 400 adults, 200 self-identified as dyslexic without proof of diagnosis; at a cut-off of 45 sensitivity was 76% and specificity 88%, at 40 sensitivity was 91.5% and specificity 80%; the authors say screening tools are not diagnostic and the mostly university sample may not represent other settings. | Preliminary or mixed findings | Stark, Elalouf, Soldano, Franzen and Johnson. Dyslexia 31(1): e1797 (doi:10.1002/dys.1797) (2024) Peer-reviewed research | Is there a dyslexia test for adults?Glossary |
| For Disabled Students' Allowance in England, GOV.UK asks for a diagnostic assessment from a practitioner psychologist or suitably qualified specialist teacher. | Regional law or rule | GOV.UK Government or law | Who can diagnose dyslexia in adults?Glossary |
| OCR says colleges may set reasonable documentation standards, a high school IEP or 504 plan is generally not sufficient on its own, and colleges need not pay for new evaluations. | Regional law or rule | U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights Government or law | Who can diagnose dyslexia in adults?Is dyslexia a disability?Glossary |
| Under the ADA a person with a disability has an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, a record of one, or is regarded as having one; Title I applies to employers with 15 or more employees. | Regional law or rule | US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (ADA.gov) Government or law | Is dyslexia a disability?Do I need a diagnosis to get accommodations at work?Glossary |
| The ADA lists learning, reading, concentrating, thinking and communicating as major life activities, requires broad construction, and disregards mitigating measures including assistive technology and learned behavioral or adaptive neurological modifications. | Regional law or rule | United States Code (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) University | Is dyslexia a disability?Glossary |
| IDEA regulations define specific learning disability and name dyslexia; FAPE runs from ages 3 to 21 and ends on graduation with a regular high school diploma. | Regional law or rule | US Department of Education regulations (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) UniversityUS Department of Education regulations (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) UniversityUS Department of Education regulations (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) University | Is dyslexia a disability?Glossary |
| Section 504 prohibits disability discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance, including colleges and universities, and in federal agencies. | Regional law or rule | United States Code (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) UniversityUS Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (ADA.gov) (2020) Government or law | Is dyslexia a disability?Glossary |
| The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as an impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities; substantial means more than minor or trivial and long-term means 12 months or more. | Regional law or rule | legislation.gov.uk (2010) Government or lawGOV.UK Government or law | Is dyslexia a disability?Glossary |
| 2011 UK guidance lists dyslexia among developmental impairments, treats persistent and significant difficulty reading written material in the native language as a substantial effect but not minor problems with writing or spelling, and notes coping strategies can stop working, for example for someone with dyslexia under stress. | Regional law or rule | Office for Disability Issues, HM Government (2011) Government or law | Is dyslexia a disability?GlossaryCan you have dyslexia and read well? |
| The Equality Act extends to England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland has separate disability law. | Regional law or rule | legislation.gov.uk (2010) Government or lawnidirect (Northern Ireland Government) Government or law | Is dyslexia a disability?Glossary |
| In UK usage Mencap defines learning disability as a reduced intellectual ability and describes dyslexia as a learning difficulty that does not affect intellect; in US usage the LDA lists dyslexia as a common learning disability. | Established guidance | Mencap Charity or professional bodyLearning Disabilities Association of America (2025) Charity or professional body | Is dyslexia a disability?Glossary |
| JAN provides free, expert and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and is funded by the US Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy. | Regional law or rule | Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Government or law | Is dyslexia a disability?What to say when telling an employer about dyslexiaGlossaryDyslexia and ADHD in adults |
| EEOC guidance says an accommodation request can be in plain English, need not mention the ADA or the phrase reasonable accommodation, and need not be in writing. | Regional law or rule | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Government or law | Do I need a diagnosis to get accommodations at work?What to say when telling an employer about dyslexiaGlossary |
| Acas says employers should offer support whether or not a worker has a diagnosis and a worker is not legally required to provide proof such as a diagnosis letter; it publishes a request letter template. | Regional law or rule | Acas (2025) Government or law | Do I need a diagnosis to get accommodations at work?What to say when telling an employer about dyslexiaGlossary |
| Access to Work is a grant for support beyond employer adjustments for people 16 or over in paid work in England, Scotland and Wales; dyslexia is named and no diagnosis is needed to apply; Northern Ireland has a separate scheme; applicants contact the scheme to arrange its assessment. | Regional law or rule | GOV.UK Government or lawGOV.UK Government or lawnidirect (Northern Ireland Government) Government or lawBritish Dyslexia Association (2023) Charity or professional body | Do I need a diagnosis to get accommodations at work?What to say when telling an employer about dyslexiaGlossary |
| Reading-related accommodation ideas include text-to-speech, screen reading software and written instructions (JAN), and material before meetings, recording and dictation software (BDA). | Practical suggestion | Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Government or lawBritish Dyslexia Association (2023) Charity or professional body | What to say when telling an employer about dyslexiaGlossary |
| IDA 2002 names poor spelling and decoding; Rose 2009 names accurate and fluent word reading and spelling; IDA 2025 names word reading and/or spelling; the Delphi definition names the acquisition of reading and spelling and treats fluency and spelling as a key marker. | Established guidance | Carroll, Holden, Kirby, Thompson, Snowling and the Dyslexia Delphi Panel. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (doi:10.1111/jcpp.14123) (2025) Peer-reviewed researchNational Center on Improving Literacy (developed under a US Department of Education grant) (2026) Government or law | Does dyslexia affect spelling?GlossaryWhat is dysgraphia? |
| In languages with very regular spelling, accuracy often develops quickly and difficulties appear mainly in speed; in English and Danish they often affect accuracy and speed. | Established guidance | National Center on Improving Literacy (developed under a US Department of Education grant) (2026) Government or law | Does dyslexia affect spelling?Dyslexia in a second languageGlossary |
| The BDA defines dyscalculia as a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers leading to diverse difficulties with mathematics, describes maths difficulties as a continuum with many causes, and says it can co-occur with other SpLDs and maths anxiety. | Established guidance | British Dyslexia Association (2023) Charity or professional body | Does dyslexia affect math?Glossary |
| The 2025 SASC definition describes a specific learning difficulty in mathematics as processing difficulties affecting arithmetic and other areas, with numerical magnitude processing the most common difficulty in dyscalculia. | Regional law or rule | SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC), published on the British Dyslexia Association website (2025) Charity or professional body | Does dyslexia affect math?Glossary |
| A specific learning difficulty in maths is more common than dyscalculia. | Established guidance | British Dyslexia Association Charity or professional body | Does dyslexia affect math?Glossary |
| DSM-5 combines reading, written expression and mathematics under one specific learning disorder diagnosis with specifiers. | Established guidance | American Psychiatric Association (2024) Charity or professional body | Does dyslexia affect math?What is dysgraphia?Glossary |
| Stress, sadness, loneliness, poor sleep and low fitness can make a person appear to have executive function difficulties like ADHD when they do not. | Established guidance | Diamond. Annual Review of Psychology 64: 135-168 (doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750) (2013) Peer-reviewed research | Dyslexia and ADHD in adultsGlossary |
| The SEND code of practice names dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia as specific learning difficulties; the BDA guide also covers ADHD, which can exist alone but commonly co-occurs with SpLDs. | Regional law or rule | Department for Education and Department of Health (England) (2015) Government or lawBritish Dyslexia Association Charity or professional body | Dyslexia and ADHD in adultsGlossary |
| Fluent reading means reading accurately, at an appropriate rate and with expression; comprehension depends on decoding, word knowledge, fluency and spoken language. | Established guidance | Foorman et al., What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (2016) Government or law | Can you have dyslexia and read well?Glossary |
| In adults, basic decoding may be adequate while fluency remains an issue; some people with dyslexia use strong language skills to avoid comprehension difficulties while others have comprehension problems. | Established guidance | Carroll, Holden, Kirby, Thompson, Snowling and the Dyslexia Delphi Panel. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (doi:10.1111/jcpp.14123) (2025) Peer-reviewed research | Can you have dyslexia and read well?Glossary |
| The SASC list includes TOWRE-2, a timed test of real and nonsense word reading, and the Advanced Reading Comprehension test, which can be timed or untimed and has norms from 80 first-year psychology students. | Regional law or rule | SpLD Test Evaluation Committee (STEC) of SASC (2024) Charity or professional body | Can you have dyslexia and read well?Glossary |
| The BDA adopted the Delphi definition and IDA released its first revised definition since 2002 in 2025; DSM-5 and ICD-11 use their own terms. | Established guidance | British Dyslexia Association (2025) Charity or professional bodyLD@school (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario) (2025) Charity or professional bodyCarroll, Holden, Kirby, Thompson, Snowling and the Dyslexia Delphi Panel. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (doi:10.1111/jcpp.14123) (2025) Peer-reviewed research | How common is dyslexia?Glossary |
| The LDA describes dysgraphia as impaired ability to produce legible and automatic letter writing and often numeral writing, which may interfere with math. | Established guidance | Learning Disabilities Association of America Charity or professional body | What is dysgraphia?Glossary |
| NCIL defines dysgraphia as a specific learning disability in writing, such as difficulty with spelling, handwriting or recording ideas. | Established guidance | National Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or law | What is dysgraphia?Glossary |
| The BDA SpLD guide calls dysgraphia diagnosis contentious, notes it is not listed in the SEND Code, quotes the National Handwriting Association that dysgraphia does not appear in DSM-5 and that it prefers "an impairment in written expression", and says the Dyspraxia Foundation prefers "handwriting difficulties". | Regional law or rule | British Dyslexia Association Charity or professional body | What is dysgraphia?Glossary |
| Windows voice typing opens with Windows logo key and H; iPhone dictation is enabled in Settings, General, Keyboard; the BDA lists dictation software among workplace adjustments. | Practical suggestion | Microsoft Support Product documentationApple (2026) Product documentationBritish Dyslexia Association (2023) Charity or professional body | What is dysgraphia?Glossary |
| Access to Work is a grant for practical support beyond employer adjustments that does not have to be repaid. | Regional law or rule | GOV.UK Government or law | Glossary |
| Accommodations include changes such as screen reading software, written instructions or readers; employers need not provide one causing undue hardship; the duty to accommodate also exists in Canada and Ireland. | Regional law or rule | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Government or lawJob Accommodation Network (JAN) Government or lawCanadian Human Rights Commission Government or lawIrish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) Government or law | Glossary |
| WHO describes assistive technology as an umbrella term for assistive products and related systems and services that maintain or improve functioning, including speech recognition; IDEA defines an assistive technology device for children; many standard software packages include dictation and screen reading. | Established guidance | World Health Organization (2024) Government or lawUS Department of Education regulations (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) UniversityBritish Dyslexia Association (2023) Charity or professional body | Glossary |
| Decoding is translating a word from print to speech using letter-sound knowledge. | Established guidance | Foorman et al., What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (2016) Government or lawNational Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or law | Glossary |
| iPhone dictation, Windows voice typing and Word Dictate (with a Microsoft 365 subscription) are built-in dictation tools; spoken commands can add punctuation. | Practical suggestion | Apple (2026) Product documentationMicrosoft Support Product documentationMicrosoft Support Product documentation | Glossary |
| DSA helps with extra study costs from a disability including SpLD; in England it is based on need, not repaid, and needs a diagnostic assessment for SpLD; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own versions. | Regional law or rule | GOV.UK Government or lawGOV.UK Government or lawStudent Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) (2026) Government or lawUCAS Charity or professional bodynidirect (Northern Ireland Government) Government or law | Glossary |
| The Delphi definition, adopted by the BDA, describes processing difficulties affecting reading and spelling acquisition; IDA revised its definition in 2025; only a diagnostic assessment can formally identify dyslexia. | Established guidance | Carroll, Holden, Kirby, Thompson, Snowling and the Dyslexia Delphi Panel. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (doi:10.1111/jcpp.14123) (2025) Peer-reviewed researchBritish Dyslexia Association (2025) Charity or professional bodyLD@school (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario) (2025) Charity or professional bodyBritish Dyslexia Association Charity or professional body | GlossaryDoes dyslexia affect spelling? |
| The Equality Act 2010 imposes duties to make adjustments, including on education providers. | Regional law or rule | legislation.gov.uk (2010) Government or lawlegislation.gov.uk (2010) Government or law | Glossary |
| Executive function skills help people plan, focus attention, switch gears and juggle tasks; core executive functions are inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility; executive function issues are not a recognized medical diagnosis. | Established guidance | Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University UniversityDiamond. Annual Review of Psychology 64: 135-168 (doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750) (2013) Peer-reviewed researchHeller and Cooper-Kahn, CHADD Attention Magazine (2022) Charity or professional body | Glossary |
| Prosody refers to the timing, phrasing, emphasis and intonation of oral reading. | Established guidance | Vaughn, Gersten et al., What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (2022) Government or law | Glossary |
| An IEP is a written statement for a child with a disability under IDEA. | Regional law or rule | US Department of Education regulations (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) University | Glossary |
| Immersive Reader in Edge (F9 or address-bar icon) and Word (View tab) reads aloud, changes text size, spacing and page color, offers line focus, and in Word splits syllables. | Practical suggestion | Microsoft Support Product documentationMicrosoft Support Product documentation | Glossary |
| JAN lists reading-related accommodation ideas such as text readers, screen reading software and written instructions, and explains disclosure. | Practical suggestion | Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Government or lawJob Accommodation Network (JAN) Government or law | Glossary |
| A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word; morphology is knowledge of meaningful word parts such as prefixes, suffixes and base words. | Established guidance | Tighe and Binder. Applied Psycholinguistics 36(2): 245-273 (doi:10.1017/S0142716413000222) (2015) Peer-reviewed researchFoorman et al., What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (2016) Government or law | Glossary |
| Orthography is knowledge of how written language connects to oral language, including spelling; orthographic knowledge is information stored in memory about how to represent spoken language in writing. | Established guidance | National Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or lawApel. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 42(4): 592-603 (doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2011/10-0085)) (2011) Peer-reviewed research | Glossary |
| Phonemes are the smallest units of spoken language; go has two; a phoneme can be a word or combine to make words; phonemic awareness is a type of phonological awareness. | Established guidance | NICHD, National Institutes of Health (NIH Pub. No. 00-4769) (2000) Government or lawNational Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or lawFoorman et al., What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (2016) Government or law | Glossary |
| Phonics instruction stresses letter-sound correspondences and spelling patterns and is often confused with phonemic awareness, which can be taught without letters. | Established guidance | NICHD, National Institutes of Health (NIH Pub. No. 00-4769) (2000) Government or lawNational Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or law | Glossary |
| Phonological awareness is an umbrella term for sensitivity to words, syllables, onsets and rimes, and phonemes in spoken language. | Established guidance | Foorman et al., What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (2016) Government or law | Glossary |
| Phonological processing is hearing, storing, recalling and making speech sounds; it is often grouped into phonological awareness, phonological memory and rapid naming; phonological processing difficulty is the most commonly observed cognitive difficulty in dyslexia but does not explain all variability. | Established guidance | National Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or lawLogan, Schatschneider and Wagner. Reading and Writing 24(1): 1-25 (doi:10.1007/s11145-009-9199-1) (2011) Peer-reviewed researchCarroll, Holden, Kirby, Thompson, Snowling and the Dyslexia Delphi Panel. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (doi:10.1111/jcpp.14123) (2025) Peer-reviewed research | Glossary |
| Rapid automatized naming tasks ask people to name grids of familiar letters, digits, colors or objects quickly and reflect processes involved in fluent reading; rapid naming is a section of the SASC test list. | Established guidance | Logan, Schatschneider and Wagner. Reading and Writing 24(1): 1-25 (doi:10.1007/s11145-009-9199-1) (2011) Peer-reviewed researchNational Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or lawNorton and Wolf. Annual Review of Psychology 63: 427-452 (2012) Peer-reviewed researchSpLD Test Evaluation Committee (STEC) of SASC (2024) Charity or professional body | Glossary |
| The duty to make reasonable adjustments covers avoiding substantial disadvantage and providing information in an accessible format; GOV.UK examples include doing things another way, changing equipment and working from another location. | Regional law or rule | legislation.gov.uk (2010) Government or lawGOV.UK Government or law | Glossary |
| Screening tests and checklists cannot provide a diagnosis. | Established guidance | British Dyslexia Association Charity or professional body | Glossary |
| Section 504 covers colleges and universities and other programs receiving federal financial assistance. | Regional law or rule | United States Code (Cornell Legal Information Institute copy) UniversityUS Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (ADA.gov) (2020) Government or law | Glossary |
| The SEND code says SpLDs affect one or more specific aspects of learning, including dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia; the BDA uses SpLD as an overarching term; DSA assessments are diagnostic assessments for SpLDs. | Regional law or rule | Department for Education and Department of Health (England) (2015) Government or lawBritish Dyslexia Association Charity or professional bodySpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) Charity or professional body | Glossary |
| Standardized tests have empirically checked content, established norms, uniform administration and objective scoring; norm-referenced tests describe performance relative to others. | Established guidance | ERIC, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education Peer-reviewed researchERIC, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education Peer-reviewed research | Glossary |
| Text-to-speech is built into iPhone (Speak Screen, Speak Selection), Android (Select to Speak), Word (Read Aloud) and Edge (Immersive Reader); a 2018 meta-analysis of 22 studies found a modest average benefit to comprehension for students with reading disabilities. | Established guidance | Apple (2026) Product documentationGoogle Accessibility Help Product documentationMicrosoft Support Product documentationMicrosoft Support Product documentationWood SG, Moxley JH, Tighe EL, Wagner RK. Journal of Learning Disabilities 51(1):73-84. doi:10.1177/0022219416688170 (2018) Peer-reviewed research | Glossary |
| Working memory is holding information in mind and working with it, providing temporary storage and manipulation for comprehension, learning and reasoning; working memory and processing speed can contribute to the impact of dyslexia. | Established guidance | Diamond. Annual Review of Psychology 64: 135-168 (doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750) (2013) Peer-reviewed researchBaddeley. Science 255(5044): 556-559 (doi:10.1126/science.1736359) (1992) Peer-reviewed researchCarroll, Holden, Kirby, Thompson, Snowling and the Dyslexia Delphi Panel. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (doi:10.1111/jcpp.14123) (2025) Peer-reviewed research | Glossary |
| NCIL defines dyscalculia as a specific learning disability in math, such as difficulty making sense of and working with numbers. | Established guidance | National Center on Improving Literacy (US Department of Education funded) Government or law | Does dyslexia affect math?Glossary |