For years, dyslexia intervention has clung to one core assumption: phonemic awareness—the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words—is the cornerstone of reading success. This belief has shaped entire curricula, spawned decades of phonemic awareness training and phonics programs, and placed Orton-Gillingham (OG)-style instruction at the center of dyslexia support.
But what if that assumption is too narrow—or even wrong for many students?
The limitations of phonemic awareness
While phonemic awareness plays a role in early reading, it’s not the root cause of dyslexia for all children. Research now shows:
- Some dyslexic learners have intact phonemic awareness but can’t read fluently (Jabbour-Danial et al., 2024).
- Others make gains in phonemic tasks but show no transfer to reading fluency or comprehension (Rehfeld et al., 2022).
- Years of OG instruction often lead to plateaus, especially in children with co-occurring challenges like processing disorders or attention difficulties (Stevens et al., 2021).
A growing body of evidence suggests that the true barriers to reading for many children lie deeper—in the cognitive systems that govern memory, attention, sequencing, and processing speed.
Dyslexia as a cognitive and linguistic disorder
Dyslexia is more than a phonological deficit; it’s a cognitive-linguistic disorder. Many students struggle not only with sound manipulation but with:
- Working memory: They can’t hold sounds in mind long enough to process them.
- Visual and auditory sequencing: They reverse letters, mix sounds, or lose their place.
- Processing speed: Reading is slow, effortful, and exhausting.
- Attention: They can’t sustain focus long enough to decode meaningfully.
These aren’t just side issues. They are core obstacles to reading. And no amount of phonemic awareness training or phonics instruction will resolve them if these cognitive weaknesses are left unaddressed.
Mutualism: The interlocking growth model
Many traditional models treat dyslexia intervention like a staircase: first, phonemic awareness, then decoding, then fluency, then comprehension.
But real learning doesn’t work that way. In truth, the components of reading interact dynamically. Strengthening one supports the others. This is the principle of mutualism.
Mutualism suggests that different cognitive abilities, like memory and reasoning, develop together by positively influencing each other. As one ability improves, it supports the growth of others, leading to a network of interrelated skills. This interconnected development results in the positive correlations observed among various cognitive tasks.
Several studies (e.g., van der Maas et al., 2006; Kovacs & Conway, 2016) have shown that working memory helps kids learn to read. Reading practice, in turn, improves working memory by constantly exercising it (e.g., remembering plot details, decoding text, understanding context).
Likewise, better reasoning skills allow individuals to improve their vocabulary more quickly, and better vocabulary is associated with faster improvement in reasoning ability (Kievit et al., 2017).
The pyramid of repetition
To support mutualism, we need structure. That’s where the pyramid of repetition comes in.
This concept, championed by the Edublox method and echoed in Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s Nurtured by Love, is simple but powerful: repetition is not just practice; it’s developmental.
In Suzuki’s story, a parakeet named Peeko learned to say “Peeko” after around 3,000 repetitions. The next word came faster. Why? Because learning had primed the brain.
With each layer of the pyramid, foundational skills become more automatic, allowing the learner to move on to more complex tasks with fewer repetitions. This is how the brain wires itself for fluency and mastery.
For dyslexia:
- Initial cognitive tasks may require 50+ repetitions.
- As memory and processing improve, fewer exposures are needed.
- Layered repetition fosters automaticity, confidence, and retention.
Emotional support is not optional
Repetition and instruction only thrive in the right environment. That’s why emotional support must be integrated, not added on:
- Confidence fuels effort.
- Emotional safety reduces anxiety and cognitive overload.
- Celebrating small wins builds resilience.
Children with dyslexia are not just slow readers; they are often discouraged learners. Without encouragement, repetition becomes punishment. With love, it becomes transformation.
An integrated approach
The most effective dyslexia intervention isn’t phonemic awareness and phonics-only. It’s a three-legged stool:
- Cognitive training: Strengthen the brain’s capacity to learn.
- Structured literacy: Build reading skills with explicit, multisensory instruction.
- Emotional support: Nurture persistence, hope, and self-belief.
But don’t teach them in isolation. Teach them together. Let mutualism and repetition build the foundation. Let love and challenge coexist.
Final thought
It’s time to move beyond phonemic awareness and see dyslexia for what it truly is: a multi-faceted learning challenge that requires whole-child intervention.
If we want to raise fluent, confident readers, we must stop teaching reading as a series of disconnected skills. Instead, we must train cognition, teach literacy, and inspire belief—at the same time, in the same room, for the same child.
That’s not just intervention. That’s transformation.
Edublox offers cognitive training and live online tutoring to students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other learning disabilities. Our students are in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Book a free consultation to discuss your child’s learning needs.
References for Beyond Phonemic Awareness: Rethinking Dyslexia Intervention Through Cognitive Training and Mutualism:
- Jabbour-Danial, M., Share, D. L., & Shalhoub-Awwad, Y. (2024). Not just phonology: A longitudinal study of dyslexia subtypes based on the distinction between reading accuracy and reading rate. Frontiers in Language Sciences, 3, Article 1390391.
- Kievit, R. A., Fuhrmann, D., Borgeest, G. S., Simpson-Kent, I. L., & Henson, R. N. (2017). Mutualistic coupling between vocabulary and reasoning supports cognitive development during late adolescence and early adulthood. Psychological Science, 28(10), 1419–1431.
- Kovacs, K., & Conway, A. R. A. (2016). Process overlap theory: A unified account of the general factor of intelligence. Psychological Inquiry, 27(3), 151–177.
- Rehfeld, D. M., Kirkpatrick, M., O’Guinn, N., & Renbarger, R. (2022). A meta-analysis of phonemic awareness instruction provided to children suspected of having a reading disability. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(4), 1177–1201.
- Stevens, E. A., Austin, C. R., Moore, C., Scammacca, N., Boucher, A. N., & Vaughn, S. (2021). Current state of the evidence: Examining the effects of Orton-Gillingham reading interventions for students with or at risk for word-level reading disabilities. Exceptional Children, 87(4), 397–417.
- Van der Maas, H. L. J., Dolan, C. V., Grasman, R. P. P. P., Wicherts, J. M., Huizenga, H. M., & Raijmakers, M. E. J. (2006). A dynamical model of general intelligence: The positive manifold of intelligence by mutualism. Psychological Review, 113(4), 842–861.
Beyond Phonemic Awareness: Rethinking Dyslexia Intervention Through Cognitive Training and Mutualism was authored by Sue du Plessis (B.A. Hons Psychology; B.D.), an educational and reading specialist with 30+ years of experience in the learning disabilities field.
