Learning the Clues
Indicators of Dyslexia
There are several clues that indicate a young child may be at risk for dyslexia. Many young children may exhibit one or two of these behaviors; however, consistent problems with a group of behaviors are a good indicator your child may be at risk. Call Prentice for additional information.
- My child was a late talker (first words not spoken until about 15 months; phrases not spoken until after 2).
- There is a history of language learning difficulties in the family---reading, writing, spelling, handwriting.
- My child has difficulty pronouncing words correctly---by 5 or 6, a child should have little difficulty saying most words correctly.
- My child has difficulty playing sound games and with rhyming words (most 3 and 4-year olds enjoy hearing and repeating sounds such Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater, Jack and Jill.
- My child has difficulty learning new vocabulary and is often unable to find the right word to use (not using same number of words as same age friends, resorts to words like “stuff” or uses series of “um..,um..,um, I forget”).
- My child has difficulty following directions or routines (not able to following more that one direction at a time; follows the first or last direction given but not all).
- My child has difficulty interacting with peers (does not appear to know how to join in a game or talk with other children).
- My child has difficulty learning and remembering names, numbers (ability to remember varies from day to day).
In addition to the above, these are common indicators for older children:
- My child may be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds (alphabetic principle).
- My child confuses basic words (run, want, etc.)
- My child makes consistent reading and spelling errors including reversals (b, d), inversions (u, n), transpositions (cat, tac), and substitutions (house, home).
- My child transposes number sequences (67, 76) and confuses arithmetic signs (+, -, x, =)
- My child has difficulty learning basic facts.
- Strong indicators of difficulty learning to read.
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