Does My Child Have Dyslexia?

If you have a struggling reader, you may have asked yourself this worrisome question – “Does My Child Have Dyslexia?” Dyslexia is an inherited neurological condition that makes it difficult to read, write and spell, despite having average intelligence overall.

It takes a licensed educational psychologist or a neurologist to formally diagnose dyslexia. However, and fortunately, parents and teachers can certainly be on the lookout for valuable warning signs of dyslexia in children. If your child demonstrates three or more of the following behaviors, consider more thoroughly researching dyslexia and what can be done to treat it.

The following information regarding dyslexia warning signs is excerpted from Bright Solutions, a fantastic dyslexia resource for families and teachers.

Signs of Dyslexia in Preschoolers

delayed speech
mixing up the sounds and syllables in long words
chronic ear infections
stuttering
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

Dyslexia Warning Signs 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
guesses based on shape or context
guesses based on shape or context
skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of)
ignores suffixes
can’t sound out unknown words
very poor spelling
often can’t remember sight words (they, were, does) or homonyms (their, they’re and there)
difficulty telling time with a clock with hands
trouble with math
difficulty memorizing multiplication tables
trouble memorizing a sequence of steps
confusion about directionality
when speaking, has difficulty finding the correct word
extremely messy bedroom, backpack and desk
dreads going to school

Dyslexia Warning Signs in High School

Consider 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

Signs of Dyslexia in Adults

Education history similar to above, plus:

slow reader
may have to read a page two or three times to understand it
very poor speller
difficulty putting thoughts onto paper
dreads writing memos or letters
still has difficulty with right versus left
often gets lost, even in a familiar city
sometimes confuses b and d, especially when tired or sick

If your child shows three or more of the warning signs above, consider digging in and doing some research. Fortunately, plenty of information about dyslexia and how to treat it is readily available.

To learn more about dyslexia in general, visit these links:

To learn more about how to help your child with dyslexia learn to read, visit this link: