Helping our children succeed in education

Symptoms of Dyslexia

DISCLAIMER: No two people with dyslexia are exactly alike because dyslexia ranges from mild to moderate to severe to profound. Some people with dyslexia also have AD/HD.
Therefore, someone with dyslexia may not have every single symptom listed below. But they will have many of them. Professional testers look for a "constellation" or cluster of symptoms in the different areas.

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Common Signs of Dyslexia: K - 4th Grade Students
•May be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds.	•Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation).
•Has difficulty spelling phonetically.	•May confuse small words - "at" for "to," "said" for "and," "does" for "goes."
•Makes consistent reading and spelling errors such as; Letter reversals - "d" for "b" as in: "dog" for "bog" Word reversals - "tip" for "pit" Inversions - "m" for "w," "u" for "n" Transpositions - "felt" for "left" Substitutions - "house" for "home"	•Relies on guessing and context.
	•May have difficulty learning new vocabulary.
	•May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs (+ - x / =).
	•May have trouble remembering facts.
	•May be slow to learn new skills; relies heavily on memorizing without understanding.
	•Often uses an awkward pencil grip (fist, thumb hooked over fingers, etc.).
• May have poor "fine motor" coordination.	•May have difficulty planning, organizing and managing time, materials and tasks.

Back to top Common Signs of Dyslexia: 5th - 8th Grade Students
•Is usually reading below grade level.	•May reverse letter sequences - "soiled" for "solid," "left" for "felt."
•May have difficulty spelling; spells same word differently on the same page.	•May avoid reading aloud.
•May have trouble with word problems in math.	•May write with difficulty with illegible handwriting; pencil grip is awkward, fist-like or tight.
•May avoid writing.	•May have difficulty with written composition.
•May have slow or poor recall of facts.	•May have difficulty with comprehension.
•May have trouble with non-literal language (idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang).	•May have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time, materials and tasks.
•May be slow to discern and to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other reading and spelling strategies

Back to top Common Signs of Dyslexia: High School and College Students
•May read very slowly with many inaccuracies.	•Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing.
•May avoid reading and writing tasks.	•May have trouble summarizing and outlining.
•May have trouble answering open-ended questions on tests.	•May have difficulty learning a foreign language.
•May have poor memory skills.	•May work slowly.
•May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them.	•May misread information.
•May have an inadequate vocabulary.	•May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading.
•May have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time, materials and tasks. Back to top