When a major organization like the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) updates its definition of dyslexia for the first time in over 20 years, it’s not a minor edit. It’s a signal that the science has moved forward, and our approach to helping kids needs to move with it.
In October 2025, IDA released a new, research-aligned definition of dyslexia that reflects what many of us working with children have seen for years: dyslexia is more than “trouble sounding out words,” and it doesn’t sit neatly inside a single test score or label.
In this article, I’ll walk through what’s changed, why it matters, and how programs like Brain Balance can help address underlying developmental gaps that often travel alongside dyslexia — while still emphasizing the critical role of evidence-based reading instruction.
IDA’s new definition is carefully worded, but here’s the core idea in everyday terms:
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that shows up as persistent difficulties with word reading and/or spelling — in accuracy, speed, or both — even when instruction is effective for the child’s peers. Its causes are complex, involving genetic, brain-based, and environmental influences over time, and it can affect much more than just reading.
Let’s unpack the most important shifts.
The definition centers dyslexia on word reading and spelling: decoding, recognizing, and writing words accurately and efficiently. Those difficulties may involve accuracy, speed, or both, and they can look a bit different depending on the language and writing system a child is learning.
Crucially, IDA emphasizes that these difficulties exist along a continuum of severity, not as a simple “you have it or you don’t.” There isn’t a magical cutoff line in the brain or in the data. That opens the door for support earlier and for more students, not just those with the most extreme scores.
The new definition keeps one of the most important ideas: if everyone received no reading instruction, nearly everyone would struggle.
Dyslexia is defined in part by persistence: difficulties that persist even when the child receives instruction that works for their classmates.
That’s different from “we tried one program for six weeks, and it didn’t work.” It means we must look at both:
The new language also explicitly warns against a “wait to fail” approach. You don’t have to wait until third or fourth grade to take concerns seriously. Early signs — and a child’s response to short-term support—matter.
The storage, retrieval, and awareness of speech sounds depend on auditory processing, which allows a listener to hear and filter out background sounds while quickly and accurately interpreting the information. This ability underlies phonics - the ability to decode a word to read or spell. Auditory and visual processing work together to provide the sounds you hear when you read. Immaturity in either or both of these foundational abilities interferes with reading fluency and comprehension.
IDA is clear: there’s no single gene, no single brain structure, and no single environmental factor that “causes” dyslexia. Instead, multiple genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences interact over the course of development.
They specifically call out factors like:
That doesn’t mean environment alone causes dyslexia, but it does mean environment can intensify or buffer risk. For parents, this is actually hopeful: if environment can shape risk, it can also shape resilience.
The new definition acknowledges that difficulties with phonological and morphological processing (working with sounds and meaningful word parts) are common in dyslexia, but not universal.
It also notes that other areas often show up in the picture:
In other words, many children with dyslexia have a broader neurodevelopmental profile, not a single isolated reading glitch. That aligns closely with what we see in the Brain Balance assessments every day.
IDA expands its description of “secondary consequences” to include:
This is sobering and honest. When a child spends years feeling like the “slow reader” or “bad speller,” it doesn’t stay on the page. It shapes identity.
The new definition ends with a strong statement: language and literacy support before and during the early years of education is particularly effective, though targeted support matters at any age. Translation:
Emphasizing a student falling behind their peers can lead to earlier identification and intervention. Today, children often face two to three years of challenge prior to identification and support, resulting in a larger gap in learning than if the need for intervention was identified. sooner.
Taken together, the 2025 definition nudges us toward a different mindset:
For schools, this aligns with what many states are already moving toward: universal screening, structured literacy, and more intentional dyslexia support from early grades onward.
For families, it validates what you already know in your gut: if reading and spelling have been a struggle for years, despite effort and decent instruction, your child’s brain is not “lazy.” It’s wired differently, and that wiring can be supported.
One of the most important lines in the IDA explanation is easy to miss. Beyond phonological skills, they note that children with dyslexia may also experience challenges with:
From a brain-development perspective, that matters. Reading doesn’t happen in isolation; it rides on top of:
In my work, I often meet children with dyslexia who also:
Those aren’t separate stories. They’re part of the same nervous system.
When we talk about “underlying development gaps,” we’re talking about these foundational systems—attention, sensory integration, motor control, timing, emotional regulation—that support higher-level skills like reading and written expression.
First, an important clarification:
Brain Balance is not a replacement for structured literacy or school-based dyslexia services. Children with dyslexia still need explicit, systematic instruction in phonics, decoding, spelling, and comprehension.
What we do focus on is strengthening the brain connections that underpin those academic skills — the same domains IDA highlights as commonly affected alongside dyslexia.
Here’s how that works in practice.
At Brain Balance, we begin by looking beyond reading scores. Our assessment may explore:
The goal is to map where a child’s development is strong, where it’s lagging, and how those patterns may be contributing to their struggles with reading, writing, and day-to-day function.
Based on that profile, we design a program that combines:
The big idea is simple: if the underlying networks that support attention, timing, and multi-sensory processing become more efficient, the brain has more capacity for complex tasks like reading, and the child has more bandwidth emotionally to persist when something is hard.
For a child with dyslexia, an ideal plan often looks like:
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In this model, Brain Balance is not “the reading program.” It’s the readiness and resilience program that allows the curriculum to be more effective. We’re helping build the systems that make high-quality reading instruction more accessible and sustainable for your child.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “This sounds like my child,” here are practical next steps:
Use the new IDA definition as a reference point when you’re advocating for your child’s needs.
Confirm that any reading intervention:
You do not need to choose between structured literacy and brain-based development work. Your child deserves both.
Pay attention to:
If you’re seeing challenges in multiple areas, that’s a sign to consider a more integrated approach.
If you’re curious whether Brain Balance might be a fit, you can:
Whether you work with us or with other professionals, the key is the same: don’t treat reading struggles in isolation from the rest of the child’s development.
The 2025 IDA definition doesn’t magically make dyslexia easier. But it does do something important: it catches up to what families and many professionals already know.
At Brain Balance, our role is to meet that new definition with a broader, more integrated response, one that respects the science of reading and the science of brain development.
Your child’s brain is not stuck. It is still growing, still organizing, still capable of change. The new definition is our reminder to respond to that potential with the same nuance and urgency that the science now demands.