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Signs of Dyslexia

Signs (up to 7 years)

  • Speech problems – mispronounciation of words, wrong order of words. However, some dyslexics learn to speak early and are very articulate.
  • Rhyming may be difficult. (e.g. book and look).
  • Poor sense of left & right.
  • Difficulty in hearing and pronouncing sounds such as b, p, d, m, n, u, y, l, f, v, th.
  • Attention problems – doesn’t appear to hear when given explanations.
  • Lack of progress in reading, writing and spelling, contrary to expectations built up by normal development in other areas.
  • Poor fine motor control – e.g. holding a pencil, cutting with scissors.
  • Mirror writing and difficulty in forming letters and writing them down in some reasonable state of order. Constant confusion with b, d, p, q, u, y, m, n, s, z.
  • No sense of left and right.
  • Undecided which hand to use when eating, drawing, playing, throwing balls, etc,
  • Difficulty in remembering instructions e.g. “Go upstairs and put on your socks and shoes and bring down your jumper from the wardrobe”.
  • Difficulty understanding the concept of time. May forget their birth date, their home address.
  • Difficulty counting.
  • Difficulty in playing sequencing and matching games.
  • Problems fastening buttons, zips, tying shoe laces, and with the order in which they put their clothes on.
  • Tantrums and signs of frustration at home, and at school for no apparent reason.
  • Daydreaming and switching off in class and at home.
  • Starts school happy, then becomes reluctant.
  • If any literacy problems have already occurred in the family then special attention should be given to the signs given above.

Signs in 7 – 13 years

  • Unable to read, or reading age well below chronological age.
  • Still having difficulty with sounds of letters.
  • Poor, immature handwriting.
  • Very poor spelling.
  • Letter and sound confusion persist. E.g. writes ‘v’ for ‘th’ etc.
  • No idea of punctuation when reading or writing a story.
  • Essays and stories may often be brief and to the point.
  • They know what they want to write but never know how to start and have great trouble writing their ideas down.
  • If they can read they don’t enjoy it and seem to hate books and reading aloud.
  • When reading aloud they often misread words such as saw and was and omit and insert words frequently.
  • Some children appear to read well but when they get to the end of the text they cannot remember anything they have read, and have to start again.
  • Copying from board or book is difficult and inaccurate.
  • They may still reverse numbers, e.g. writing 24 for 42 when doing complex arithmetic.
  • Great problems in remembering multiplication tables, particularly their sequence. Also, the order of the days of the week, months of the year and the alphabet.
  • Musical notation can be a problem, and a lack of feeling for timing can occur. A string, brass or wind instrument is preferable to the piano.
  • Clumsiness and lack of co-ordination are still present.
  • Some dyslexic children appear to have difficulty in understanding what is said to them and there is a time-lag before they answer. They are slow to process heard information.
  • At this stage, frustration, withdrawal and behaviour problems seem to be increasing.
  • Extreme reluctance to go to school may cause problems for all the family.

Signs 13 years – Adult

  • They have difficulty reading and writing.
  • They may have difficulty listening to a series of instructions.
  • Problems putting across their ideas to others.
  • They dread gatherings where word games are played or where reading aloud is required.
  • They may confuse and mispronounce words. e.g. say ‘cistificate’ instead of ‘certificate’ or ‘pacific’ for ‘specific’.
  • At school, college or University they may struggle with note taking and organisation of material and run out of time in exams. Writing essays will take three times as long as other students and organising a dissertation will become a mammoth task.
  • In the workplace they may be in a position of authority because they have good verbal skills and have learnt to disguise their poor spelling and/or reading but experience total panic when they have to give impromptu speeches or preside over meetings.
  • They may also experience memory problems and find it exceptionally difficult to memorise lists, facts, and long complicated names.