Dyslexia and Comprehension: When the Words Don’t Stick

When I was first found to have dyslexia, I was about ten years old.
It wasn’t because I told my mum that words were moving on the page and in fact, that was never really my issue.

It was because I couldn’t copy words down off the blackboard and onto a piece of paper without getting a splitting headache.
I’d look up, then down, and the letters just wouldn’t stay still long enough to make sense.
It was exhausting.

That was the big sign for me that something wasn’t quite right.
Sure, I had spelling challenges too, but back then it was often brushed off as being “lazy” or “not trying hard enough.”
Luckily, someone saw past that and got me tested.

And that’s what’s wild  because for so many of us, dyslexia doesn’t show up in just one way.
It’s not as simple as letters moving on a page.

The truth is, the visual side of dyslexia that most people think about, the swirling text, the jumping words and that’s only a small part of the story.
What often goes unseen is how dyslexia affects comprehension.

The hidden side of dyslexia

If you’ve ever read the same page three times and still couldn’t tell someone what it said, you’ll get this.
It’s like the words go in, but they don’t stick.

You might even start blaming yourself and thinking you’re lazy, distracted, or not focusing enough.
But you are focusing. Your brain’s just working differently.

People with dyslexia often think in pictures and stories, not words.
When we read, we don’t automatically “hear” the words in our heads like others do.
Instead, we translate them into visuals and into little movies.

That translation takes mental energy.
And by the time we’ve converted the words into meaning, we’re already tired.
So when someone asks, “What did that paragraph mean?” we draw a blank.
Not because we didn’t read it,  but because our brain was busy doing the hard work behind the scenes just to make sense of it.

Why comprehension drains dyslexic brains

Reading isn’t something our brains evolved to do naturally and it’s a learned skill.
Most people’s brains eventually automate that decoding process.
But for many dyslexics, reading and comprehension use different neural pathways that take more effort to fire up.

It’s like running a race with a backpack full of bricks – you still finish, but it takes way more energy.

By the time you’ve decoded the words, you’ve got less energy left for understanding them.
That’s why it’s easy to reach the end of a page and realise you have no idea what you just read.

And it’s not just reading.
The same thing can happen when we listen.

When listening feels like reading

Ever listened to a podcast or an audiobook and found your mind wandering halfway through?

Then you suddenly realise you’ve missed ten minutes  but can’t remember zoning out?

That’s the comprehension gap at work.

We hear the words, but they don’t all connect.
Our brains crave context think images, emotion, and stories to anchor the meaning.

That’s why dyslexic minds remember stories perfectly, but not the fine details.
Ask us what a book was about, and we might struggle.
Ask us what the main character went through, or what the scene looked like, we can tell you in vivid colour.

We don’t just remember information.
We remember experiences.

The cost of constant confusion

This comprehension challenge doesn’t just live in classrooms.
It follows us into adult life and into work meetings, emails, conversations, and relationships.

It can make you doubt yourself.
One moment you feel sharp, the next you’re lost.
And when you can’t quite grasp what’s being said, you start compensating, nodding along, pretending to understand, then piecing it together later.

That takes a huge emotional toll.

It’s why so many dyslexic adults describe feeling like they’re always behind and not because they can’t keep up, but because their brains are working twice as hard just to stay level.

But once you understand that comprehension is part of your dyslexia and not a personal flaw, you can start to work with it, not against it.

Three things that help when comprehension is the struggle

1. Use your picture brain on purpose

If your mind thinks in pictures, use it.
When you read something important, pause and see it.
Create a mini movie in your head.
The Davis Dyslexia approach actually teaches this how to turn abstract words into real mental models so you understand what you read, not just recognise the words.

2. Slow down – speed isn’t understanding

We’ve been trained to read fast, as if speed equals intelligence.
But for dyslexic thinkers, comprehension lives in the pauses.
Slow reading lets your brain catch up and connect the visuals and that’s where meaning sticks.

3. Re-tell what you’ve read or heard

After reading or listening, try explaining it in your own words.
You don’t need to repeat it perfectly, just tell it like a story.
That act of storytelling helps your brain connect the language to your natural way of thinking – through pictures, emotion, and flow.

The bigger picture

Dyslexia isn’t just about reading and spelling.
It’s about how we make sense of the world.

We might not remember every sentence, but we see the big picture faster than most.
We connect patterns. We sense emotion. We understand people.

That’s comprehension too, just a different kind.

So if you’ve ever read a book and thought, “None of that stuck,” or listened to a talk and wondered where your brain went – take a breath.
You’re not broken.
Your brain just processes meaning in a way schools were never designed to measure.

And when you learn to work with that wiring – to use pictures, stories, and your natural way of thinking – comprehension finally starts to click.