While previous research has documented the unique aspects of Chinese dyslexia as compared to dyslexia in alphabetic scripts, it remains unclear whether the difference in Chinese literacy experiences influences the manifestation of Chinese dyslexia. The present article first reviews the characteristics of Chinese languages and scripts, including important cognitive-linguistic correlates (rapid automatized naming, phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness) of Chinese reading development and impairment. The diversity in Chinese literacy experiences of scripts, languages, and instructional practices, and consequently their impact on Chinese literacy acquisition across different Chinese societies are also reviewed. Using an equivalent Chinese assessment battery administered to 91 children with dyslexia from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Taipei, we examined the subtypes of Chinese dyslexia across these three societies concurrently. With the four cognitive-linguistic skills included as the clustering variable, the hierarchical cluster analysis revealed four cognitive subtypes of dyslexia: 38% mild orthographic deficit subtype (OD), 33% phonological deficit subtype (PD), 18% morphological deficit subtype (MD), and 11% global deficit subtype (GD)--each with their own set of cognitive-linguistic deficit profiles. Interestingly, all four subtypes of dyslexia manifested poorer orthographic skills as compared to the control group. Bayesian Analysis of Contingency Table further showed that the distribution of dyslexia subtypes remains similar across the three Chinese societies, suggesting invariance of the Chinese dyslexia construct. Findings highlight the importance of assessment in orthographic processing, rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness in order to understand Chinese dyslexia, both in a within and cross-cultural Chinese perspective. Copyright ©2025 International Literacy Association.

While extensive quantitative research has shed light on the cognitive mechanisms of dyslexia, few mixed-methods studies have been conducted to examine the perceptions of and attitudes towards learning in children with dyslexia, especially in Hong Kong, a bilingual context. In addition, the validity of the metaphor elicitation technique, which was adopted in previous interview studies, has not yet been examined in children. Therefore, 30 children with dyslexia (age range: 8–13; 10 females) in Hong Kong were interviewed for metaphors regarding six domains: Chinese reading, Chinese writing, having Chinese lessons, English reading, solving maths problems, and dyslexia. Word reading fluency and parent-rated learning interest and confidence were measured to validate the use of the metaphor elicitation method in assessing children’s reading attitudes in both Chinese and English using correlation analyses. Perceptions were examined by way of qualitative analyses based on the metaphor entailments. Results showed that children who expressed more positive attitudes towards English reading performed better in English reading. Moreover, the attitudes also positively correlated with the corresponding parents’ ratings. These findings suggested that the metaphor elicitation technique is a valid method for assessing attitudes towards English reading in children with dyslexia. Furthermore, their perceptions of dyslexia and learning generally corresponded to those from previous interview studies despite differences in languages and contexts. Importantly, descriptions related to multiple themes, including metalinguistic awareness, cognitive skills, coping strategies, and dyslexia, were well-aligned with scientific findings, demonstrating that children already have a good understanding of dyslexia and various learning domains. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.