This resource centre contains lots of useful information on various aspects of dyslexia and learning difficulties. Click on an item in the menu to the right to display the information for that item in the page area below.
If there is anything you want to know and are unable to find it here then please feel free to contact Dyslexikit.
What are the Signs of Dyslexia?
All children are different, but there will be significant clusters of the following:
Signs of dyslexia before school:
- Possible history of slow speech development
- Difficulty learning nursery rhymes
- Difficulty hearing the odd-one-out, e.g. cat, mat, pig, fat
- Slow in name finding (thinking of the word you want to say)
- Little early interest in letters and words
- Often accused of not listening or paying attention
- Difficulty following more than two instructions at a time
- Difficulty keeping a simple rhythm
- May not crawl, but may walk early / late milestones
- Finds buttons, laces, zips a problem
- Sometimes clumsy or disoriented
- Obvious ‘good’ and ‘bad’ days for no apparent reason
Signs of dyslexia in school age
- Poor personal organization
- Poor time keeping and awareness
- Difficulty telling the time
- Difficulty remembering what day it is, own birthday, days of the week,alphabet, tables and other things in sequential order
- Poor reading progress
- Reads a word on one page, forgets it on the next
- Poor ability in blending letter sounds together
- Difficulty establishing beginnings and endings of words, synthesis and analysis of words
- Hesitant or laboured reading, often missing out words or word parts, adding or substituting words
- Makes anagrams of words, e.g. tried for tired; bread for beard
- Muddles words in sentences – ‘can’t get it down on paper’
- Poor handwriting with reversals and badly formed letters
- Messy work with many crossings out and several attempts at spellings
- Work badly set out on the page
- Written expression not compatible with oral ability / work often not finished
- May lose the point of a story
- Very poor spelling
- Confusion with number order, e.g. hundreds, tens and units
- Confusion with number symbols
- Seems to ‘dream’ or ‘switch off; is easily distracted; may be regarded as lazy
- May become the class clown, disruptive or withdrawn (cries for help)
- Throws tantrums or else cries easily (frustration or tiredness)
- Low self-esteem / confidence
- Employs avoidance tactics (sharpening pencils, looking for books etc)
- Performs unevenly or inconsistently day to day
- Sometimes excessively tired
- Surprises you because in some ways s/he is bright and alert
