In 1878 Adolph Kussmaul, a German neurologist, began the first recorded investigation into people that suffered with reading difficulties.  He was aiming at making a connection between adults with reading difficulties and neurological impairment.  He found that many of his patients could not properly read and often would use words in a "wrong order".  He used the term word blindness to explain their difficulties.

Dyslexia history then moves on with an 1891 report inThe Lancetmedical journal by Dr. Dejerne.  He was describing a brain injury one of his patients suffered after he was hit over the head by a crowbar.  He wrote that the patient lost several language functions, including the ability to read.  The result of this report was a general consensus that people with difficulty reading had most likely suffered brain damage or a brain injury.

By the 1930's the term dyslexia began to appear more often in professional literature and then, in 1963, the Invalid Children's Aid Association (ICAA) established the Word Blind Centre for Dyslexic Children in London. It allowed for specialized teaching for children that had been diagnosed with dyslexia. The Orton Dyslexia Society began in the US in 1967. The group's main goal was raising public and political awareness and stressing the needs of dyslexic children.

It wasn't until 1994 when the US Department of Education finally recognized dyslexia as a disorder or disability.  Even when it was finally recognized, professionals would still use the term dyslexia in the same sentence as ‘specific learning difficulties' showing that even the people that recognized it as a disability still held reservations about the designation.

In 1997 the Orton Dyslexia Society changed it's name to the International Dyslexia Association due to the influence the association had beyond the borders of the USA.

Even with advances in medicine, it still took a while for the general teaching and medical fields to accept that learning difficulties were not necessarily brought on by a medical condition.  In fact, it was not really until the 21st century that schools fully accepted the condition and began making accommodations for those that suffer from dyslexia. When you trace dyslexia history , it is easy to see that more attention and more research are still needed.