Signs of Dyslexia in Children and Adults
Dyslexia affects about 20% of the population and is a very common learning difficulty (a condition that impacts an individual’s ability to gain knowledge and skills at the same rate as their age group). It involves challenges with language. This means that people with dyslexia may struggle with reading, spelling, speaking, or writing. They may also have difficulty in coordination, organization, or memory.
In this section, you will find an age-by-age guide to the signs of dyslexia in children. Identifying dyslexia as early as possible is important because it means you can get the help and support you need.
Pre-School Aged Children
Difficulties
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Time Management and Organization
- Difficulty remembering and carrying out tasks that have multiple steps.
- Difficulty remembering the order or sequence of things, e.g. the alphabet.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Reading
- Cannot sound out simple 1-syllable (the units of sound that come together to make words, e.g. “cat” is one syllable because it is one unbroken sound. “Happy” is two syllables: “hap” + “py”, etc.) words like cat, mat, or hat.
- Does not seem to grasp the concept that words can be broken down into syllables (the units of sound that come together to make words, e.g. “cat” is one syllable because it is one unbroken sound. “Happy” is two syllables: “hap” + “py”, etc.).
- Does not understand that letters stand for sounds, for instance they might not associate the b sound (“buh”) with the letter b.
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Relies on imagery in books to understand what is happening. For instance, they may say the word “kitten” instead of reading the word “cat” on the page (i.e. displays no connection to the actual letters on the page).
- Difficulty reading or singing nursery rhymes. Confuses similar sounding words.
- Dislikes reading or finds reading-time stressful and anxiety-inducing.
- Difficulty in reading and writing seems to run in the family.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Speaking
- Mispronouncing words, like saying “beddy tear” instead of “teddy bear”.
- Struggles to name familiar objects and uses general words like “thing” instead.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
Strengths
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Behaviour and Personality
- Has a vivid imagination and is deeply curious.
- Understands the main idea of things.
- Has a good understanding of new concepts and ideas.
- Mature for their age.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Logic-based Thinking
- Good at solving puzzles and building models.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Reading
- Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to them.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Speaking
- Have a larger vocabulary than is typical of their age group.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
Primary School Aged Children
Difficulties
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Time Management and Organization
- Difficulty remembering and carrying out tasks that have multiple steps.
- Difficulty remembering the order or sequence of things, e.g. basic tasks like putting away their things, the order of the alphabet, etc.
- Gets overwhelmed when told to carry out complicated tasks if not shown how to break them down into simpler tasks.
- peats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Reading
- Has trouble learning letter names and the sounds associated with each letter.
- Confuses letters that either look similar (like b and d, or p and q) or make similar sounds (like d and t, or b and p).
- Struggles to read words that should be familiar by this stage (like “cat” or “the”) especially if there are no visuals.
- Relies on imagery in books to understand what is happening. For instance, they may substitute the word “kitten” instead of reading the word “cat” on the page. Displays no connection to the actual letters on the page.
- Might skip over small words like “of”, “at”, or “for” when reading aloud.
- Gets frustrated with reading and tries to avoid the exercise altogether.
- Repeats the same kinds of reading mistakes over and over.
- Has difficulty sounding out words and breaking complex words down into syllables (the units of sound that come together to make words, e.g. “cat” is one syllable because it is one unbroken sound. “Happy” is two syllables: “hap” + “py”, etc.).
- Struggles to explain what happened in a story they read or answer questions about key details.
- Reads very slowly and needs lots of extra time to complete reading assignments.
- Difficulty in reading and writing seems to run in the family.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Writing and Spelling
- Difficulty spelling. Might spell the same word correctly and incorrectly in the same exercise.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Speaking
- Might mumble slightly while speaking, because of hesitation.
- Has difficulty using concise (clear and to the point) language. Struggles to express their thoughts properly. May use vague language or use a lot of filler words (words spoken to fill gaps or pauses in conversation) like “umm’s” and “ah’s”.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
Strengths
-
Behaviour and Personality
- Has a vivid imagination and is deeply curious.
- Understands the main idea of things.
- Has a good understanding of new concepts and ideas.
- Mature for their age.
- Has a larger listening vocabulary (this refers to the words we need to be familiar with to understand what we hear and are commonly used in conversation and speech) than is typical of their age group.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Logic-based Thinking
- Good at solving puzzles and building models.
- May find subjects like Math easier than language classes.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Reading
- Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to them.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
O Level and Matric / High School and Older
Difficulties
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Behaviour and Personality
- Doesn’t understand jokes or witty humour very easily. They might also not understand idioms (figures of speech, e.g. “over the moon” means being very happy), sarcasm (the use of irony to tease, mock, or in humour), or metaphor (a figure of speech used to compare two things, e.g. “the curtain of darkness fell at night” does not mean an actual curtain was drawn, but is used to paint a picture in the audience’s mind).
- A less obvious sign of dyslexia in teenagers might be hidden low self-esteem (a person’s value of their own worth as a person) caused by feeling behind or less intelligent than their peers.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Navigation
- Difficulty with spatial awareness (the ability to be aware of objects in space and your body’s position in relation to them) might cause difficulty with things like driving and navigation. Might confuse left and right or have trouble reading charts and graphs. Might also be clumsy and constantly tripping over things.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Reading
- May or may not have trouble learning to read and write in another language since dyslexia is a language-specific condition (i.e. just because your child is with dyslexia in one language does not mean they necessarily will be in another).
- Reads very slowly and needs a long time to finish reading assignments. Might also leave out small words or parts of long words while reading aloud.
- Comprehends text and concepts more easily if it is read aloud to them.
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Struggles to remember abbreviations and their meanings, even social media text abbreviations that their age group pick up easily (e.g. LOL standing for “laugh out loud”).
Avoids reading.
- Difficulty in reading and writing seems to run in the family.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Writing and Spelling
- Poor spelling and/or messy handwriting.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Speaking
- Might not have the right words to develop or communicate their thoughts and ideas in a logical manner. Might stammer and have difficulty presenting points or arguments in class.
- Confuses words that sound alike, like saying “lotion” instead of “ocean”.
- Cannot name specific things and uses vague language instead like “thing” or “stuff”.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
Strengths
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Behaviour and Personality
- Very good at seeing the “big picture”.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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School
- Excellent thinking skills: grasps abstract concepts (something that exists in thought or as and idea but not in the physical world, e.g. the idea of love is an abstract concept but giving someone flowers is a physical action) very well, has vivid imagination, good conceptualization and reasoning.
- Since they face difficulty in rote learning, they learn through meaning and conceptual understanding instead.
- A very sophisticated listening vocabulary (this refers to the words we need to be familiar with to understand what we hear and are commonly used in conversation and speech).
- Improvement in reading and writing as the subject matter becomes more specialized and focused
- Excels in areas not dependent on reading, e.g. math, computers, visual arts, OR in fields of study that are more conceptual (instead of fact-based) like philosophy or social studies.
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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Reading
- Can read and understand words used frequently in an area of high interest. For instance, if they love to cook, they will be able to read food magazines and cookbooks with much less difficulty.
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
- Repeats the same sounds
Key Takeaways
- Dyslexia is a common language-based condition. It may affect reading, writing, spelling, speaking, organization, coordination, and/or memory.
- Dyslexia has many similar symptoms in all age groups that show up differently based on the developmental milestones of the child’s age.
- Although dyslexia can cause many difficulties, it also gives your child several strengths and these can be played to the child’s advantage with the correct support.
- Does not smile or is not expressive by 6 months
- Does not smile or is not expressive by 6 months
- Does not smile or is not expressive by 6 months
- Does not smile or is not expressive by 6 months
- Does not smile or is not expressive by 6 months
- Does not smile or is not expressive by 6 months