This research analyses possible advantages of using schematic drawings with dyslexic readers in a transparent orthography (i.e. Spanish language). To assess the usefulness of such drawings, the procedure consisted of comparing latency times (LT) for familiar words and pseudo words in a naming task. The experimental group was formed by dyslexic readers who were aided by the image support of schematic drawings made with shorthand elements. After comparing LT, it was observed that the dyslexic readers identified the stenographs (syllables) not as abstract signs, but rather as an integral part of the person-characters represented in the figures themselves. It is deduced that the difficulty which syllables present to dyslexic persons could be linked to their dissociation of syllables from the image corresponding to the whole word. (Contains 20 figures, 6 graphs and 6 tables.)