Dyslexia Symptoms. Know the Warning Signs of Dyslexia (2024)

Quick Facts about Dyslexia Symptoms

• Classic dyslexia symptoms include: slow reading, very poorspelling and weak phonemic awareness resulting in great difficulty sounding out words, especially unfamiliar ones
• Pre-school warning signs include: delayed speech,difficulty learning the alphabet, inability to rhyme words, confusion of left& right, before and after and other directional or relational words, poorpencil grip and messy writing
• Symptoms can be seen as early as the first sixmonths of age
• Difficulty tying shoe laces and reading a clockwith hands are reliable indicators of dyslexia
• Reading problems are often unexpected relative toother cognitive abilities or skills
• Dyslexia varies from mild to severe, with symptomsvarying in degree and number accordingly
• Often co-exists with ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia

Overview

The symptomsof dyslexia may surprise you. They include difficulty reading but alsodifficulty tying shoe laces, difficulty making rhymes and being late inestablishing a dominant hand. Though these are mostly indirect indicators ofdyslexia, they are also among most reliable.

Still, oneshould always proceed cautiously in trying to identify dyslexia because itranges in strength from mild to severe and symptoms can vary significantly fromperson to person. Further, a lack of exposure to reading and words can mimicdyslexia.

The first indicators of dyslexia usually appearlong before the first lesson on the ABCs. Our list of dyslexia warning signsbelow are arranged by the developmental age at which they can first be seen.Yes, you can know very early—so don't let anyone tell you to delay testing.

Dyslexia Symptoms by Age

This short video from Streamingwell is a very good
summary of the dyslexia symptoms outlined below

Preschool Dyslexia Symptoms (0~4 years)

• Family history of reading difficulty

  Dyslexia may skip a generation and neverhave been diagnosed but it remains highly heritable. If you have it,there is approximately a 50% chance your child will.

  Digcarefully through your family tree before concluding it's not there.Many adults hide their reading difficulty or chose careers that did notrequire reading—something increasingly difficult to do.

• Early childhood ear infections

  Did your child suffer from recurring earinfections as an infant or when they were very young. The ear infectionsthemselves may not be the cause, but they may relate to whydyslexia is an auditory disability more than a visual one. Learning ofthis odd indicator was an eye opener for us because my stepson had ahistory ofear infections as a baby - just another warning sign of which we werenot aware.

  Note that some research in this area has found no correlation between the infections and dyslexia, but study continues.

• Delayed speech

  Distinguishing and manipulating the fundamental sounds of language is very difficult for dyslexics, so it's no surprise they may be late in developing speech. Everychild learns at his or her own pace, so don't jump to conclusionsif your child is behind "the norm". According to the MayoClinic:

  By 3 months: your child might make"cooing" sounds, seem to recognize your voice and cry differently fordifferent needs.
  By 6 months: babble and make avariety of sounds, use his or her voice to express pleasure anddispleasure and pay attention to music.
  By 12 months:imitating words, say a few words, such as "yes", "no", "mama" and"uh-oh", recognize words for common items, such as shoe.
  By 18months: may identify familiar objects and people.
  By 24 months: may have a vocabulary of about 15 words and use two word sentences.

• Difficulty memorizing the alphabet

  Children typically learn the alphabetbetween 3-5 years of age, but a child with dyslexia may struggle well beyondthose ages to achieve mastery and even then may forget thesequence from lack of practice. Extra repetitions alone may not be enough—alternative multisensory methods of teaching the ABCs may be required.

• Delayed establishing of a dominant hand

  For most kids, a hand preference emerges between 2-4 years of age and is established by age 5. Dyslexics usually take longer.Note that dyslexics are more likely to be left handed thanthose in the general population, but being left handed does not causedyslexia.

• Difficulty with sound pronunciation

  Here we are talking not about words but the 44 specific phonemes (sounds) of the English language. For example, difficulty with the /th/ and /r/ sounds is very common. This problem is normal for all younger children, but is more pronounced in dyslexics.

  If weak pronunciation persists it can reflect an auditory processing problem wherein some sounds are simply not being distinguished properly by the brain. If you suspect problems consider asking your school for support from a speech-language pathologist. In Canada, if the school doesn't provide such a service, check with SAC Canada.

Difficulty telling time on a clock with hands is a tell tale sign of dyslexia for elementary school age children.

Elementary School Dyslexia Symptoms (5~12 years)

• Difficulty pronouncing multi-syllable words

  Difficulty with the basic sounds (phonemes) of language is the signature difficulty of the dyslexic. Very simply, the more sounds and syllables in a word, the more likely a dyslexic will have trouble pronouncingit. Theorder of the sounds tends to get jumbled, thus "pasghetti" (spaghetti) and "Kershmal"(commercial).

  Be careful with this symptom of dyslexia though because it's quite normal for kids to mash up words when first learning them. Thedyslexic simply has a more acute problem and it doesn't resolve as easily. Infact, it will never completely go away.

• Dysgraphia

  Children with dyslexia often have dysgraphia, which means difficulty writing. It is not simply messyhandwriting, although messy writing and difficulty staying between lines are typical.

  The problem is rooted in weak fine motor skills combined with difficulty memorizing sequences, since drawing each letter is a sequence ofpencil strokes. Signs to watch for include poor pencil grip and moving the wrist or arm (gross motor skill) instead of the fingers (fine motor skill).Read more on our dysgraphia page.

• Letter and word reversals in writing

  Yes,the stereotype contains a kernal of truth. For those with dyslexia, 'pat' may become 'tap' or 'bat' may become 'pat'. All kids will occasionally reverse letters as they learn to write,and everyone makes mistakes when they are tired or not focusing. Thedifference with dyslexia is that the problem may be more persistent andcontinue beyond grade two or three.

• Poor reading ability

  Reading will tend to be very slow and labored and, in some cases, you may note odd guesses at words based solely on context or word shape. Some with dyslexia tend to see words holistically and thus “witch” and “watch” become almost indistinguishable: as the beginnings and ends are the same and the words have the same number of letters. This is the reason that phonemic awareness is a prerequisite for reading. If students cannot mentally break larger words down into syllables, they can become overwhelmed when faced withmulti-syllabicwords.

• Poor spelling ability

  Spelling will be very difficult, especially words that have more syllables in them and for irregular words such as ‘yacht’ or ‘enough’. Spelling rules will need to be taught explicitly for real progress to be made. On a positive note, with spell check, speech to text technology and predictive typing, spelling is somewhat less important as a critical writing skill today.

  See Also

  Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Dyslexia - AI-Media

• Difficulty with math(see dyscalculia)

  Many people with dyslexia have difficulty with mathematics due to working memory and sequential processing weaknesses and well as difficulties with rote memorization Algebra may be challenging given its language like sequencing of letters and numbers. Similarly, word problems (e.g. sally had three times as many pens as sam....) may become opaque not because of mathematical deficiency but simply from poor comprehension of the question.

Elementary School Dyslexia Symptoms (5~12 years)
continued...

• Difficulty with cursive writing

  If your child struggled with basic letter formations (print), they will likely struggle with cursive writing. This may result from a tendency to see words as whole shapes/objects and therefore cursive text can appear visually overwhelming. Alternative teaching methods can help overcome this barrier.There are two schools of thought on teaching cursive writing to dyslexics who struggled with print. Some feel that it should be avoided, others think that it presents an excellent opportunity for developing fine motor skills, concentration, speed of writing and of course penmanship.

• Inability to rhyme

  When you first witness this, it’s completely bewildering. Rhyming seems so easy for the non-dyslexic because it simply involves swapping out one sound (phoneme) for another. But dyslexics just cannot parse (break/reassemble) words in that way. This is one of the more reliable indicators of dyslexia because it requires a very specific ability every truly dyslexic person struggles with: phoneme manipulation. If I had to chose one indicator to quickly identify dyslexia, it would be the ability (or not) to effortlessly rhyme words.

• Struggles to find the right words when speaking
  
  You may notice lots of "ums" and "ahs" and "that thing-a-ma-chig over that way" kind ofsentences. This is likely a result of difficulty with word recall and difficulty recounting events and stories,in part because sentences and stories are sequences that have to beassembled in a more or less specific order.
• Struggles with directionsLeft/right, east/west, before/after, in front of/behind, are all difficult abstractions for the dyslexic. The term directional dyslexia is sometimes used to describe this problem.
  
  
• Can't remember their phone number or addressAddressesand phone numbers seem like short and easy things to recall but theyare abstract sequences of information not used often. Without repeatedpractice, it's information easily forgotten.
• Difficulty Being OrganizedLots of kids are messy, but dyslexic children have an especially hard time keeping things tidy—from their bedrooms and closets to the their school bags and lockers.

  Be patient and try to provide helpful direction and advice. Do not say “clean up your room” because she won’t know all the steps to get there, instead try just the first step: “put all the dirty clothes in the hamper.” Provide one step at a time and reward them for every success.
  

• Lower self esteem

  Daily failurein the public eye and in the presence of your peers will quickly take atoll if not offset by a lot of encouragement and positives. Ben Fosscoined the term 'slow drip trauma' to describe the daily stress andanxiety that dyslexics often have to bear. I think it captures theseriousness of the problem.

  Be sure to recognize and celebrateevery success. Find your child's strengths and be sure they spend lots of time onthose activities. Sports, art, music, drama, dance, even video games. Everyone is good atsomething.

Young Adult Dyslexia Symptoms (13~17 years)

Many of the childhood dyslexia symptoms persist into adulthood but other signs also hint at dyslexia

• Poor grades despite considerable effort

  Obviously poor grades can result from many things, but for those who suffered from a reading deficit as a young child, academic problems begin to compound. Without the right kinds of interventions at home and in the classroom, even twice the homework and private tutoring may not turn marks around.

• Dislikes school & may drop out

  For many dyslexics, school is a place associated with failure, so by high school we should not be surprised they are looking for an exit and drop out. Dyslexics make up a disproportionate number of creative entrepreneurs who start their own companies. Richard Branson is the perfect example. Sadly, dyslexics also make up a disproportionate number of inmates who never found their place in the world.

Adult Dyslexia Symptoms (18+ years)

Many of the childhood and young adult symptoms continue but now the signs are more like consequences.

• Avoids reading or hides disability

  Without proper help, reading and writing are simply avoided as much as possible, a source of shame or embarrassment.

• Underemployed

  Adult dyslexics may be found in lower skill jobs than expected when overall intelligence and capabilities are considered. Dyslexics often thrive in “people” jobs such as sales or as artists, architects, cooks and the skilled trades.

• Reading and writing remain difficult

  Books and reading fail to become a source of joy or pleasure. If never introduced to audio books or speech to text technology, adults can remain cut off from many sources of information and entertainment that most other adults take for granted.

Final Thoughts on Dyslexia Symptoms

Many people live their entire lives never knowing they are dyslexic, slowly convinced that they are less than what that really are. If you see the signs and symptoms listed here in a child, a student or an adult friend, then please utter three little words: "Maybe it's dyslexia." It's best to say it out loud.

Good Luck and Good Reading!

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