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
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:
- The Dyslexia Training Institute
- International Dyslexia Association
- Mayo Clinic
- Orton Gillingham Online Academy
- Learning Disabilities Association of America
To learn more about how to help your child with dyslexia learn to read, visit this link:
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