Warning Signs of Dyslexia

Parents often wonder what dyslexia looks like. There’s a lot of misinformation out there! Contrary to some opinions, it does NOT relate to letter reversals. If you’re wondering what to watch out for, here are some of the warning signs of dyslexia at various developmental stages.

Preschool

• Trouble with nursery rhymes

• Mispronunciations

• Difficulty learning and remembering names of letters (ABCs)

• Failure to know letters in his/her own name

K-1st

• Inability to break words apart (e.g. bat = “b” “aaa” “t”)

• Inability to learn sounds associated with letters

• Reading errors not connected to sounds of letters (e.g. word ”big” read as “goat”

•Guessing based on shape/context of words

•Ignores suffixes/prepositions

2nd +

• Mispronunciation/fracturing of words (aluminum becomes amulium)

• Speech is not fluent (frequent pauses, hesitations, “ums”)

• Using imprecise language (“stuff” or “things”)- word finding difficulty

• Confusing words that sound alike

• Needing extra time for verbal responses/inability to come up with verbal response

• Difficulty with isolated pieces of verbal information (rote memory), trouble with dates, phone numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, random lists

• Choppy reading/avoiding reading/avoiding school

• Spelling problems

Other Signs

•Family history of reading problems (parents/siblings)

•Ability to understand words in context, but not isolation

•Omitting parts of words

•Inability to recognize syllables or read multisyllabic words

•Trouble telling time, tying shoes, telling direction

•Dysgraphia (slow, non-automatic difficult to read handwriting)

Reading is fundamental to every other part of a child’s education. 

Dyslexia is the most common learning disorder with an estimated 1 in 5 kids affected. 
Early intervention is key.  If you suspect your child has dyslexia, give us a call.