The most frequently asked questions and answers about dyslexia and reading disorders
Why does my child have such problems reading a text correctly?
Why does he always leave out the endings of words?
How is it possible that whole words are missed out?
Why doesn’t he read what is written on the paper?
We have summarised and answered these and many other questions that parents often ask themselves here.
Causes:
If word endings are omitted when reading, this has the following possible causes:
The reader tries to read the word at once. If the word is too long for this, the ends of the words are typically not physically seen.
Example:
The reader wants to read the word “master”. However, it can only read a maximum of 5 letters at a glance and is highly unlikely to recognise the last letter. So he reads “maste“.
Remedy:
This reader must divide the word werden into two segments and read mast-er in order to recognise all the letters with certainty.
Sequence of eye movements:
When reading, the eyes move in a fixed sequence:
Fixation – gaze jump (saccade) – fixation – saccade – etc.
Reason:
The human eye is too slow to “scan” the text; it can actually only see static images clearly. Only our brain puts these individual images together to form what we perceive as our surroundings.
Can incorrect eye movements lead to dyslexia?
Absolutely. Controlled, regular eye movements are essential for error-free reading.
Typical errors are:
- Too wide gaze jumps.
Letters are omitted. - Too short gaze jumps.
The word segments overlap, the reader could actually read faster. - The eyes jump back and forth irregularly.
The reader tries to read the text in an unsystematic way, it is hardly possible to read in an organised way. The content of the text often cannot be understood.
Factors that limit the maximum size of a word segment
The maximum size of a word segment is approx. 6-7 letters. The following factors limit this ability.
Our eye
Our eyes can only recognise letters sharply enough in the area of sharpest vision. This range is sufficient for 6 to 7 letters (in a normal font size).
This ability cannot be trained.
The field of attention
We consciously perceive something in this area of our field of vision. The size and shape are constantly changing and ensure, among other things, that unimportant things are hidden in the field of vision. If we try very hard to read, the field of attention shrinks and only a few letters fit into it.
This ability can be trained.
Detect symbols
Our brain can only recognise a limited number of symbols at the same time. This value also depends on age.
This ability can be trained.
No standard values
There are no standards for the time required to reliably recognise a word segment.
This value is individual and varies between 50 and 500 milliseconds.
Trainable
This ability is one of the decisive factors for the reading speed that a reader can achieve. It can be improved very well through simple training.
Common error
Too short fixation intervals are one of the most common causes of reading disorders. As a result, the segments are not fully recognised and the reader fills in the missing information by guessing.
Eye movements are unsystematic
Often the eyes are not moved systematically over the text, making fluent reading impossible.
List of the most important causes
If the eyes are moved regularly, the most common causes of reading disorders are:
- The text segments are not grasped as a whole The reader spells out the word (segment), often even from visual memory
- Fixation phases are too short: The reader does not look long enough As a result, the individual letters are not fully grasped
- The reader tries to grasp segments that are too large As a result, parts of the word are not perceived
- The eyes jump too far There are gaps
- The reader speaks too early. The processing of what has been seen is not yet complete.
Seeing correctly is crucial
In order to be able to read correctly, it must always be ensured that the pupil can see properly. Therefore, always have your child’s vision checked by an ophthalmologist. Even in families without a single person who wears glasses, your child may have problems with their vision.
There is no reading centre
Humans do not have a “reading centre” in their brain equivalent to the auditory centre, as there has been no corresponding evolution. Reading is purely a cultural activity that we have to learn. We have to make do with our natural abilities.
What we have to learn to read
The human brain is very powerful. We are therefore able to learn complex activities that do not occur in nature, so-called cultural activities. Well-known examples are writing, driving or painting.
What we need
Reading is a complex activity in which we utilise free areas of our brain. We use large parts of our brain, e.g. the entire visual system, the language centre and much more.
Causes of gaps in reading:
If gaps are left when reading, this has the following possible causes:
The reader is strongly attracted to the future text. As a result, the reader’s gaze jumps too far. This creates gaps in the sequence of letters.
Example:
The reader can recognise 4 letters at a glance. He wants to read the word “Masterpiece” and correctly fixates the a in Masterpiece. He can now recognise the sequence of letters “Mast”. As the text on the right (i.e. the future text) has a strong distracting effect on him and he cannot control this completely, his gase jump goese too far when he now moves his eyes and lands on the i in Masterpiece. He simply omits the sequence of letters er in Masterpiece and ends up reading e.g. “Mastpiece”.
Remedy:
The future text must be completely faded out or made paler in order to weaken the distracting stimulus. By successively moving in the faded text, the pupil trains himself to ignore it.
Our eye is not a scanner
Our eyes are simply too slow. For example, when we look out of a moving train onto the neighbouring track, we see everything very blurred. We have to focus on a specific point in order to get a sharp image.
This results in correct eye movements when reading.
Syllables
The syllable is a “word building block” defined by the structure and grammar of the language, which can be pronounced on its own. It is therefore often used to naturally divide words when learning to read.
Word segment
A word segment is also a pronounceable word module. It often consists of one syllable, but does not have to. The maximum length of a word segment is determined by the number of letters that a reader can recognise at a glance. This is therefore an individual value.
Examples:
Person A can recognise 4 letters at a glance, person B can recognise 6 letters at once.
Example 1:
Word consisting of 2 short syllables
The word “segment” is read by person A: seg-ment, i.e. in 2 segments, which also correspond to the syllables. Person B reads “segment” all at once, so the segment here consists of 2 syllables.
Example 2:
Word from a long syllable
The word “sound” is read by person A: sou-nd, i.e. in 2 segments. The syllable is therefore divided into 2 speakable units in order to fulfil the fixed condition “no more than 4 letters at a time”.
Important:
In English, a syllable can often only be pronounced correctly once it has been read completely. This special feature of English languages is taken into account in the software with a optional “focus frame”.
Person B can already read as a whole and does not have to divide the syllable.
Causes of reading disorders
In addition to the causes of reading disorders mentioned above, there are other performance deficits that can be the cause of reading disorders or reading weaknesses. In addition to severe visual disorders, hearing disorders and speech disorders, the following 14 disorders caused reading disorders in our controlled studies (Werth 2007, 2018, Klische 2007):
List of all known causes
- The word or word segment to be read is not fixed in the correct place.
- The word or word segment to be read is fixed too short.
- The individual letters of the word or word segment to be read are recognised. However, the child takes too long or is unable to recall the sound sequence associated with the letter sequence.
- Only small word segments can be recognised because the field of attention cannot be extended any further. However, the child tries to read larger word segments.
- Only small word segments can be read because the ability to recognise several letters simultaneously is too weak. However, the field of attention can be extended sufficiently.
- Too large jumps in gaze are made when reading. As a result, letters, word segments or whole words are often overlooked. The child often guesses the word to be read because it has only partially recognised the word or has not recognised it at all.
- The visual performance inhibited during the gaze jump recovers too slowly after the gaze jump to read the now fixated word or word segment.
- The child cannot concentrate its attention sufficiently on reading a word or word segment. They are too distracted by the text around the word or word segment they are reading.
- The child compulsively keeps looking at words or word segments that have already been read correctly to check whether they have read correctly. This prevents fluent reading.
- The child can read, but cannot grasp the content of what they have read. They have to focus all their attention on the reading process and can therefore no longer pay attention to the content.
- The child can read, but cannot memorise the meaning of the words read for long enough. As a result, they are unable to grasp the content of a text. This performance weakness is caused by a reduced memory for the words read.
- Words read cannot be linked to a meaning or the meaning cannot be recalled quickly enough from memory. This almost exclusively affects children who read a text that is not written in their native language.
- Pronounceable pseudo-words can be read correctly. However, words in an existing language are often read incorrectly because the child cannot recall the pronunciation rules quickly enough from memory and/or apply them to the pronunciation of the word seen. This almost exclusively affects children who read a text that is not written in their native language.
- Although words are correctly analysed by the visual system, the sounds of the individual letters are correctly recalled from memory and the word can be pronounced correctly, the sound sequence of the entire word cannot be formed correctly when the word is presented visually.
The most frequently asked questions about technology
You can find answers to simple yet important questions about the demo version, technical requirements etc. here. You can also contact our technical support team here.
System requirements for the Home Edition
- Runs on all common PCs
- The following Windows versions are supported:
-
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 10
- Windows 11
- Legacy-Support für veraltete Windows-Versionen
Wir unterstützen auch alte Computer mit folgenden Betriebssystemen und halten die passende Software für Sie bereit:
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Es werden sowohl die 32-Bit als auch die 64-Bit Version der o.g. Windows-Versionen unterstützt
- 123 MB freier Festplattenspeicher
- Die Software kann auch mit Hilfe von Parallels-Desktop auf einem MAC betrieben werden
Floating licences
Floating licences (“floating licences”) refer to the dynamic use of available licences for software. These licences must be stored in a central location (server).
Example:
There are 20 licences stored on a server. This software can be called up simultaneously from 40 PCs. It is now possible to start this software on any 20 PCs at the same time. If you try to use the licence on another PC, you will be notified that no licence is currently available. The software must first be closed on any other computer in order to release a licence.
Advantages:
This form of licence management offers the following advantages:
- Any number of workstations can be equipped with software without having to purchase a licence for each workstation.
- The licences are installed at a central location. It is therefore not necessary to licence each workstation separately.
- A new installation or the permanent failure of a workstation does not result in the loss of the licence data.
Possible installation variants
This version is suitable for installation on individual PCs as well as for installation in a network. A combination of both versions is also possible.
The technical requirements for a standalone installation can be found here for
- The exercise set
- The professional set
Requirements for a server-based installation
- Windows servers from Server 2003 are supported as servers.
- A classic client-server solution is possible, but terminal servers with thin clients are also supported.
- Required hard disc space: approx. 390 MB
Free trial version
Learn reading tie right way can be tested free of charge and without obligation.
We recommend that you test this highly effective software with the person concerned (child or adult).
You can download the trial version here:
Runs on all common PCs
The following Windows versions are supported:
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Windows 10
Windows 11
Both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the above Windows versions are supported
185 MB free hard disk space
The software can also be run on a MAC using Parallels Desktop
A headset with microphone is recommended to use the audio recording function (optional)