Common Signs and Challenges of Dyslexia
Signs of Dyslexia in Toddlers and Preschoolers:
- May talk later than most children
- May have difficulty pronouncing words such as busgetti for spaghetti, mawn lower for lawn mower, etc.
- May be slow to add new vocabulary words
- May be unable to recall the right word
- May have difficulty with rhyming
- May have trouble learning the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, months of the year, colors, shapes, how to spell and write his or her name
- May have trouble interacting with peers
- May be unable to follow multi-step directions or routines
- Fine motor skills may develop more slowly than in other children
- May have difficulty telling and/or retelling a story in the correct sequence
- Often has difficulty separating sounds in words and blending sounds to make words
Signs of Dyslexia in Kindergarten through Grade 4:
- Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation)
- May be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
- May confuse small words: at – to, said-and, does-goes.
- Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including:
- letter reversals – d for b as in dog for bog
- word reversals – tip for pit
- inversions – m and w for u and n
- transpositions – felt and left
- substitutions – house and home
- May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs
- May have trouble remembering facts
- May be slow to learn new skills; relies heavily on memorizing without understanding
- May be impulsive and prone to accidents
- May have difficulty planning
- Often uses an awkward pencil grip (fist, thumb hooked over fingers, etc.)
- May have trouble learning to tell time
- May have poor fine motor coordination
Signs of Dyslexia in Children in Grades 5-8:
- Is usually reading below grade level
- May reverse letter sequences – soiled for solid, left for felt
- May be slow to discern and to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other reading and spelling strategies
- May have difficulty spelling; spells the same word differently on the same page
- May avoid reading aloud
- May have trouble with word problems in math
- May write with difficulty with illegible handwriting; pencil grip is awkward, fist-like or tight
- May avoid writing
- May have slow or poor recall of facts
- May have difficulty with comprehension
- May have trouble with non-literal language (idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang)
- May forget to hand in homework or to bring in homework
- May have difficulty with planning and time management
Signs of Dyslexia in Teenagers (high school and college graduates but younger students also):
- May read very slowly with many inaccuracies
- Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing
- May procrastinate reading and writing tasks
- May avoid writing
- May have trouble summarizing and outlining
- May have trouble answering open-ended questions on tests
- May not adjust well to new setting or to change
- May have difficulties with foreign languages
- May work slowly
- May have poor grasp of abstract concepts
- May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them
- May misread information
- May not complete assignments; may complete them and not hand them in
- May have an inadequate vocabulary
- May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading
- May have difficulty with planning and time management
Signs of Dyslexia in Adults:
- May hide their reading problems; many subterfuges
- May spell poorly; relies on others
- Avoids writing; may not be able to write
- Often very competent in oral language
- Often has good “people” skills
- Often is spatially talented: engineers, architects, designers, artists, and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians, especially surgeons, dentists
- May be very good at “reading” people (intuitive)
- In jobs is often working well below their intellectual capacity
- May have difficulty with planning and organization
- May have difficulty with time; often too early, late, or forgets appointments.
- Relies on digital watches; cannot tell time
- Often entrepreneurs; may have lost one or more businesses they started