October is Dyslexia Awareness Month

Each year, October is recognized worldwide as Dyslexia Awareness Month as a time to come together to raise awareness, share resources, and tell stories about dyslexia successes.



The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as “a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.”



According to the National Institute of Health, dyslexia impacts roughly 20 percent, or 1 in 5 people, with all different kinds of people experiencing it in a variety of forms from mild to severe. As a result of COVID-19 and the emergence of remote learning, concerns about how the City can best accommodate students with learning disabilities has arisen as a challenge that school districts like Boston Public Schools has had to take on.



Councilor Mejia mentioned some well-known names of people with dyslexia including Octavia Spencer, Anderson Cooper, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, and Muhammed Ali, noting that dyslexia won’t stop people from achieving greatness.