Warning Signs of Dyslexia

If your child has 3 or more of these warning signs, I encourage you to do more research on dyslexia.

In Pre School

  • Delayed speech
  • Mixing up the sounds and syllables in long words
  • Chronic ear infections
  • Severe reactions to childhood illnesses
  • Constant confusion of left versus right
  • Late establishing a dominant hand
  • Difficulty learning to tie shoes
  • Trouble memorizing their address, phone number, or the alphabet
  • Can’t create words that rhyme
  • A close relative with dyslexia

In Elementary School

  • Dysgraphia (slow, non-automatic handwriting that is difficult to read)
  • Letter or number reversals continuing past the end of first grade
  • Extreme difficulty learning cursive
  • Slow, choppy, inaccurate reading:
    1. Guesses based on shape or context
    2. Skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of)
    3. Ignores suffixes
    4. Can’t sound out unknown words
  • Terrible spelling
  • Often can’t remember sight words (they, were, does) or homonyms (their, they’re and there)
  • Trouble with math
    1. Memorizing multiplication tables
    2. Memorizing a sequence of steps
    3. Directionality 
  • When speaking, difficulty finding the correct word 
    1. Lots of “whatyamacallits” and “thingies”
    2. Common sayings come out slightly twisted
  • Extremely messy bedroom, backpack, and desk
  • Dreads going to school

In High School

All of the above symptoms, plus:

  • Limited vocabulary
  • Extremely poor written expression
  • Large discrepancy between verbal skills and written compositions
  • Unable to master a foreign language
  • Difficulty reading printed music
  • Poor grades in many classes
  • May drop out of high school