Is My Child Dyslexic?

Individuals with dyslexia have trouble with reading, writing, spelling and/or math even though they have the ability and have had opportunities to learn. Individuals with dyslexia can learn, but they often need specialized instruction to overcome the problem. Often these individuals, who have talented and productive minds, are said to have a language learning difference.

Common characteristics of dyslexia

Most of us have one or two of these characteristics. That does not mean that everyone has dyslexia. A person with dyslexia usually has several of these characteristics that persist over time and interfere with his or her learning.

Oral Language

• Late learning to talk
• Difficulty pronouncing words
• Difficulty acquiring vocabulary or using age appropriate grammar
• Difficulty following directions
• Confusion with before/after, right/left, and so on
• Difficulty learning the alphabet, nursery rhymes, or songs
• Difficulty understanding concepts and relationships
• Difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems
• Reading
• Difficulty learning to read
• Difficulty identifying or generating rhyming words, or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness)
• Difficulty with hearing and manipulating sounds in words (phonemic awareness)
• Difficulty distinguishing different sounds in words (phonological processing)
• Difficulty in learning the sounds of letters (phonics)
• Difficulty remembering names and shapes of letters, or naming letters rapidly
• Transposing the order of letters when reading or spelling