ABC’s of Dyslexia, Common Signs Preschool through College

Preschool: The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual's age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• May talk later than most children
• May have difficulty pronouncing words, i.e., busgetti for spaghetti, mawn lower for lawn mower
• May be slow to add new vocabulary words
• May be unable to recall the right word
• May have difficulty with rhyming
• May have trouble learning the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, how to spell and write his or her name
• May have trouble interacting with peers\
• May be unable to follow multi-step directions or routines
• Fine motor skills may develop more slowly than in other children
• May have difficulty telling and/or retelling a story in the correct sequence
• Often has difficulty separating sounds in words and blending sounds to make words

Grades K-4: The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual's age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation)
• May be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
• May confuse small words - at - to, said - and, does - goes
• Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including:
  
  1. Letter reversals - d for b as in, dog for bog
  2. Word reversals - tip for pit
  3. Inversions - m and w, u and n
  4. Transpositions - felt and left
  5. Substitutions - house and home
  6. May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs (+ - x / =)
  7. May have trouble remembering facts
  • May be slow to learn new skills; relies heavily on memorizing without understanding
  • May be impulsive and prone to accidents
  • May have difficulty planning
  • Often uses an awkward pencil grip (fist, thumb hooked over fingers, etc.)
  • May have trouble learning to tell time
  • May have poor fine motor coordination

Grades 5-8: The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual's age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• Is usually reading below grade level
• May reverse letter sequences - soiled for solid, left for felt
• May be slow to discern and to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other reading and spelling strategies
• May have difficulty spelling, spells same word differently on the same page
• May avoid reading aloud
• May have trouble with word problems in math
• May write with difficulty with illegible handwriting; pencil grip is awkward, fist-like or tight
• May avoid writing
• May have slow or poor recall of facts
• May have difficulty with comprehension
• May have difficulty making friends
• May not understand body language and facial expressions of others
• May have trouble with non-literal language (idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang)
• May forget to hand in homework or to bring in homework
• May have difficulty with planning and time management

High School-College Graduates: The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual's age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• May read very slowly with many inaccuracies
• Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing
• May procrastinate reading and writing tasks
• May avoid writing
• May have trouble summarizing and outlining
• May have trouble answering open-ended questions on tests
• May have poor memory skills
• May not adjust well to new settings or to change
• May work slowly
• May have poor grasp of abstract concepts
• May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them
• May misread information
• May not complete assignments; may complete them and not hand them in
• May have an inadequate vocabulary
• May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading
• May have difficulty with planning and time management

Source: “Basic Facts about Dyslexia: What Every Layperson Ought to Know” – © Copyright 1993, 2nd edition 1998 - The International Dyslexia Association. Copyright