Dyslexia means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by difficulty learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity.  Texas Education Code (TEC) 38.003

Primary reading and spelling characteristics:

• Difficulty reading words in isolation
• Difficulty accurately decoding unfamiliar words
• Difficulty with oral reading (slow, inaccurate, or labored without prosody)
• Difficulty spelling

Primary reading and spelling characteristics are often the result of difficulty with the following:

• Segmenting, blending, and manipulating sounds in words (phonemic awareness)
• Learning the names of letters and their associated sounds
• Holding information about sounds and words in memory (phonological memory)
• Rapidly recalling the names of familiar objects, colors, or letters of the alphabet (rapid naming) 

Consequences of dyslexia may include the following:

• Variable difficulty with aspects of reading comprehension
• Variable difficulty with aspects of written language
• Limited vocabulary growth due to reduced reading experience