Signs Of Dyslexia
Signs And Symptoms Of Dyslexia In Children
The main dyslexia symptoms in children are trouble linking letters to their sounds, slow and effortful reading, and spelling that will not stick. They matter most in a child who has been taught well and is still not catching up. The difficulty underneath stays the same while the demands of school change, so the signs at four look very different from the signs at fourteen.
In plain terms
What Makes Something A Sign Of Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a lasting difficulty learning to read and spell words accurately and fluently. It affects about 1 in 10 people, often runs in families, and is not caused by eyesight or low intelligence, as healthdirect explains. Underneath most of it is one difficulty: hearing and handling the separate sounds inside spoken words, the sounds that letters stand for.
A sign of dyslexia is anything that follows from that difficulty. That is why the signs of childhood dyslexia change with age: what shows depends on what is being asked of the child at the time, from rhyme games before school to sounding out in the first years of school and long, timed texts in senior school.
By Age
Signs Of Dyslexia By Age
The same difficulty looks different at each stage of school. These are the common signs and indicators of dyslexia in kids at each stage, with a full dyslexia checklist for parents on each stage’s own page.
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Before school (about 3 to 5)
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Talked late, or speech is still hard to understand
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Does not hear or enjoy rhyme
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Jumbles the sounds in long words (“aminal”, “hostipal”)
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Letter names do not stick, even in their own name
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Family history: a parent, brother or sister had lasting trouble with reading
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First year of school to Year 2
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Slow to learn which sound goes with each letter
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Cannot sound out short words such as “map” or “sun”
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Can read “cat” but not a made-up word such as “vop”
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Reads “because” fluently in one sentence and stalls on it in the next
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The Year 1 Phonics Check, where schools use it, comes back below the expected level
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Years 3 to 6
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Reading aloud is slow, halting and hard work
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Spelling changes from line to line: “becos”, “becuz”, “because”
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Writes far less than they can say
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Avoids reading, or is tired and upset by homework
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NAPLAN reading or spelling in Years 3 and 5 is below the rest of their results
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High school
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Reading is still slow, so tests and novels take far longer
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Stumbles over long subject words met for the first time
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Runs out of time in tests, NAPLAN in Years 7 and 9 included, even when the work is known
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Finds another language unusually hard
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An essay plan full of ideas becomes a few short sentences on the page
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By Cause
Why Do The Signs Of Dyslexia Cluster Together?
The signs of dyslexia come in groups because a few underlying skills each cause several of them. Seeing them by cause helps a parent tell a real pattern from a stray habit.
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Hearing the sounds inside words (phonological awareness)
Rhyme, clapping syllables and picking the first sound of a word are the earliest signs, because they show whether a child can listen to how a word sounds rather than what it means. Later the same weakness shows as spelling that leaves sounds out and long words said in a jumbled order.
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Linking letters to sounds
Once teaching starts, the central sign is difficulty learning and keeping the link between a letter or letter pair and its sound. The child cannot sound out a short new word and guesses instead. Made-up words, such as those in the Year 1 Phonics Check, are especially hard, because a made-up word cannot be remembered, only sounded out.
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Holding on to words once learned
Most children store a word after reading it correctly a few times. A child with dyslexia often does not. Common words such as “said” and “they” have to be worked out again and again, and a spelling test word that was right on Friday is wrong in Monday’s story.
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Speed and fluency
Naming familiar things quickly, recalling a word on demand and reading smoothly all depend on fast recall of words and their sounds. When it is slow, reading stays slow and effortful even once words are read correctly, which is why older students with dyslexia often read accurately but run out of time.
What Is Not A Sign Of Dyslexia On Its Own?
Some things worry parents but tell you little on their own. Each one counts only alongside the signs above.
- Writing b and d, or numbers, backwards before about seven. Reversals are common in young children, and most children who reverse do not have dyslexia.
- A slow first term of school. Children start school at very different points. A slow start that catches up with teaching is not dyslexia.
- Disliking reading. Many good readers would rather do something else. It matters when the dislike comes from the effort reading takes.
- Messy handwriting. Handwriting is a separate skill. The guide to dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia covers trouble forming letters.
- Letters seeming to move, or eye strain. Dyslexia is not a problem with eyesight. A vision problem needs an optometrist, and it is still worth having vision checked.
- Losing focus in class. Attention difficulties can look like reading difficulties and can sit alongside them; see ADHD and dyslexia.
The Australian Dyslexia Association warns that long general checklists catch many people who do not have dyslexia. The guide to what dyslexia looks like in reading and writing shows the errors as they appear on the page.
Which Signs Matter: The Three Tests
A list of signs becomes a reason to act when three things are true.
- They come as a group. Several signs from the causes above, seen most weeks, not one sign seen once.
- They are still there after good teaching and extra help. healthdirect and AUSPELD both describe looking at how a child responds to targeted teaching over at least six months. Signs that fade with help point to a slow start; signs that stay are the ones that matter.
- The difficulty stands out. Reading and spelling lag behind what the child manages in other ways, such as following a story read aloud. The Australian Dyslexia Association describes “an unexplained difficulty in reading despite having the capabilities to learn”. A child can also have dyslexia alongside a language difficulty or another learning difficulty, so trouble in more than one area is a reason to look closer, not to rule dyslexia out.
Before reading anything into the signs, have hearing and vision checked, so neither is mistaken for a reading difficulty. If you wonder whether a language difficulty or missed teaching could explain the signs instead, what else can look like dyslexia sets out each cause and who checks it.
The Next Step
Does My Child Have Dyslexia?
Whether a child is dyslexic cannot be settled by a list of signs, or by a website. A list can tell you whether a closer look is worth arranging. That is the case when your child shows a group of the signs above, they have lasted after good teaching and extra help, and they stand out against how your child manages in other ways. The free screener on this site takes you through the signs for your child’s stage and suggests a next step.
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Questions
Questions About The Signs Of Dyslexia
What are the first signs of dyslexia?
The first signs of dyslexia usually show before school, in talking rather than reading, such as trouble with rhyme and letter names that will not stick. The before-school checklist on this site lists them with the reason for each.
At what age do signs of dyslexia show?
Risk signs can show from about three, in speech and rhyme. Dyslexia itself usually becomes clear in the first years of school, once a child has been taught to read. AUSPELD notes it is unlikely to be confidently diagnosed before mid to late Year 1. Some students read accurately but slowly, which can hold up until timed tests and longer texts arrive in high school.
Is dyslexia a form of ADHD?
No. Dyslexia is a difficulty with reading and spelling words; ADHD is a difficulty with attention and activity. They are separate conditions that often occur together, and each can make the other look worse. The guide to ADHD and dyslexia on this site explains how to tell them apart.
Can a bright child have dyslexia?
Yes. Dyslexia is not related to intelligence, and capable children often hide it for years by memorising words, guessing well from context and avoiding reading aloud. A large gap between how well a child talks and thinks and how well they read and write is one common pattern.
Do children grow out of dyslexia?
No. The Australian Dyslexia Association is plain that no one grows out of dyslexia. With the right teaching most children’s reading improves, according to healthdirect, but the underlying difficulty stays, which is why waiting to see is rarely the right advice when signs have lasted.
Can dyslexia be mild?
Yes. Psychologists describe dyslexia as mild, moderate or severe. A child with mild dyslexia may read accurately but slowly and spell poorly, and may not be noticed until the workload rises in upper primary or high school.
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