Dyslexia Indications Sheet This is not a checklist. The characteristics listed are often associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual’s age, education level, or cognitive abilities. However, a qualified diagnostician should test the individual to determine if he or she is truly dyslexic. If a child has several of these indications and they are unexpected for their age, educational level, and cognitive abilities/ potential, then learn about Dyslexia, and talk with your best resource, a Neuro Psychologist who can lead you in the right direction for diagnosing your child’s learning issues. 1. Persisting Factors: There are many persisting factors in dyslexia, which can appear from an early age. They will still e noticeable when the dyslexic child leaves school. These include: Confusion between directional words (up/down, in/out) Difficulty with sequence (colored bead sequence, days of the week, numbers) A family history of dyslexia/ reading difficulties 2. Preschool: • May have had later than expected speech development • May have persistent jumbled phrases (“cobbler’s club” for “toddler’s club”) • May substitute words (“lampshade” for “lamp post”) • May be unable to recall the right word or unable to remember the label for well known objects/ nouns ( table/ chair) • May have difficulty pronouncing words (“busgetti” for “spaghetti” or “mawn lower” for “lawn mower”) • May be slow to add new vocabulary words • May be unable to follow multi-­‐step directions or routines • May have difficulty learning nursery rhymes and rhyming words (cat, mat, sat) • May have trouble learning the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, how to spell, and write their name • May have difficulty telling and/or retelling a story in the correct sequence • Often have difficulty separating sounds in words and blending sounds to make words •
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May have walked early but did not crawl ( a bottom shuffler or tummy wriggler) May have persistent difficulties in getting dressed efficiently and putting shoes on the correct feet May enjoy being read to but shows no interest in letters or words Often is accused of not listening or paying attention May show excessive tripping, bumping into things, and falling over May have difficulty with catching, kicking or throwing a ball; with hopping and/or skipping • May have difficulty with clapping a simple rhythm • May have had chronic ear infections • Fine mortor skills may develop more slowly than in other children • May be late in establishing a dominant hand 3. Primary School Age • Complains about going to school (complaining of stomachaches or headaches, nightmares about school.) • May be slow to learn the connections between letters and sounds • Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation) • Has particular difficulty with reading and spelling • Has difficulty spelling phonetically • Relies on guessing and context for reading and meaning of words • Makes consistent reading and spelling errors and could be slow and choppy o Leaves letters out of words or puts them in the wrong order. o Examples:  Letter reversals past the first grade – “d” for “b” as in: “dog” for “bog”  Word reversals-­‐ “tip” for “pit”  Inversions-­‐ “m” for “w” or “u” for “n”  Transpositions-­‐ “felt” for “left”  Substitutions-­‐ “house” for “home” • Puts letters and figures the wrong way around  Difficulty with and might guess at multiple syllable words, sight word (they, were, does) and homonyms (their, they’re, there)  Guesses based on shape or context  Skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of…) or seemingly small words-­‐ “for” for “from, “said” for “and” • May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs ( “+” , “-­‐“ , “=”) • May have difficulty remembering facts • May have memory difficulties, relying heavily on memorizing shapes of words rather than sounding them out • May have problems understanding what he/ she has read • May take longer than average to do written work • May have difficulty with telling time with a clock with hands • May use “you know” or “whatchamacallit” in place of noun/ object name • Common sayings or things like book or movie titles don’t get expressed verbatim “gorillas in the midst” is stated as “monkey’s in the fog” •
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May have immature fine motor coordination: fingers (handwriting), eyes (visual efficiency), tongue (articulation) Non language indicators: • May have difficulty with tying shoe laces, dressing • May have difficulty telling left from right, order of days of the week, months of the year, hands on a clock etc… • May have a poor sense of direction; confuses left and right, on/under, over, through before, after, etc… • May have low self esteem often starting 3rd -­‐5th grade • May show signs of dysgraphia: slow, non0automatic handwriting that is difficult to read and perhaps difficulty learning cursive 4. Middle school and older: • Is usually reading below grade level and having difficulty with comprehension • May have poor grades in many classes • May have difficulties with oral or written expression o Write with difficulty with illegible handwriting; pencil grip is awkward, fist-­‐like or tight o Written composition o Planning and writing essays o Avoid writing o Slow to discern and learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other reading and spelling strategies o May reverse letter sequences-­‐ “soiled” for “solid,” left for “felt” o May spell same word differently on the same page o May avoid reading aloud o May get tounge “tied up” using long words-­‐ “preliminary”, “philosophical” o May have difficulty processing complex language or long series of instructions at speed o May have slow or poor recall of facts o May have trouble with non-­‐literal language (idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang) • Could show large discrepancy between verbal skills and written expression with the former being easier • May have trouble with word problems in math • May need to have instructions and telephone numbers repeated • May confuse places, times, dates • Printed music may be difficult • Learning a foreign language may be difficult Non language indicators: Has poor confidence and self-­‐esteem that might manifest in defiance and defensiveness • Has many areas of strength, especially nonverbal and visual • Could be a nontraditional, broad, global thinker 5. High school and college: • May read very slowly with many inaccuracies • Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing • May avoid reading and writing tasks • May have trouble summarizing and outlining • May have trouble answering open ended questions on tests • May have difficulty learning a foreign language • May have poor memory skills • May work slowly • May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them • May misread information • May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading • May have difficulty with planning, organizing, managing time, and tasks •
6. Adult indicators: • May hide reading problems • May get lost a lot , even in a familiar city • May still confuse left and right • may spell poorly; relies on others to correct spelling • avoids writing may not be able to write • often very competent in oral language • some rely on memory; may have an excellent memory, although for many, memory is a challenge • Often has good people skills • Often is specially talented; o Professions include but not limited to: engineers, architects, designers, artists, craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians, and dentists • May be very good at “reading” people (intuitive) • In jobs often working well below their intellectual capacity • Often entrepreneurs • Could be a nontrational, broad, global thinker _________________________________________________________________________________________________
This sheet has been compiled from these sources: The British Dyslexia Association, Adult Checklist and Students Indications of Dyslexia list; International Dyslexia Association; BrightSolutions’ Warning Signs of Dyslexia