What are the signs of dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a common reading disability that is language-based and impacts a student’s ability to decode words accurately and fluently. Dyslexia symptoms can look different across ages and grades. This is not an exhaustive list but includes some common signs. Please contact us to discuss your concerns.

Preschool:

• Was considered a “late talker” or has trouble saying words accurately

• Often tells stories that are hard to follow or has trouble sequencing events in a logical order

• Has trouble learning a new word, even it was taught many times

• Has difficulty learning and remembering the letters in the alphabet

• Has difficulty recognizing rhyming patterns or learning nursery rhymes

• Unable to recognize the letters of their own name

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Kindergarten-Second Grade:

• Has difficulty learning letter names and remembering the sounds they make.

• Struggles to read familiar words (e.g. the, cat), especially when there are no pictures or other context clues; often skips over or confuses small words like “to” and “of” when reading aloud. 

• Often substitutes words when reading aloud, like saying the word “house” when the story uses the word “home”.

• Doesn’t seem to know how to approach unfamiliar words, such as focusing on the sound of the first letter or looking at the vowels for clues to pronunciation.

• Has trouble hearing the individual sounds in words and/or blending sounds to make a word. 

• Has trouble remembering how words are spelled and applying spelling rules in writing. 

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Third-Fifth Grade:

• Often confuses or omits small words like for and of when reading aloud.

• Frequently identifies a word incorrectly, even after having just read the same word correctly earlier in the same text. 

• Has trouble sounding out new words; if a long word comes up when reading, often omits part of it or skips over it. 

• Has trouble with spelling, such as quickly forgetting how to spell many of the words he studies or spelling the same word correctly and incorrectly in the same exercise. 

• Avoids reading whenever possible or gets frustrated or agitated when reading. 

• Takes a very long time to complete reading assignments.

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Middle School-High School:

• Often reads slowly, omitting small words and leaving out parts of longer words when reading aloud. 

• Makes lots of spelling errors, sometimes misspelling words in ways that a computer spellchecker doesn’t know how to correct.

• Has trouble expressing ideas in an organized way or supporting an argument when doing writing assignments.

• Avoids reading whenever possible or gets frustrated or agitated when reading. 

• Takes a very long time to complete reading assignments. 

• Seems to read at a lower academic level than the one at which they speak; may have a smaller vocabulary than other kids their age because they don’t like to read.