The characteristics listed are often associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual's age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. However, a qualified diagnostician should test the individual to determine if he or she is truly dyslexic.

First we list the academic signs and non-academic signs. Then we show the signs that are likely to occur at predictable stages in a person's life. Contact us if you have questions: information@nhida.org.

Also see the International Dyslexia Association Fact Sheet - Dyslexia and Related Disorders.

Pre-Academic and Non-Academic Signs of Dyslexia

  • The child or someone in his immediate family is ambidextrous or left-handed.
  • The child confuses the concepts of right and left.
  • The child is disorganized.
  • The child lacks structure in his approach to a task.
  • The child has a poor concept of time.
  • The child has a difficult time sequencing tasks.
  • There is a high incidence of auto-immune disease in the child's family, such as thyroid and skin conditions, asthma, allergies, migraines.
  • The child has difficulty pronouncing words (aminal for animal).
  • The child has a slow an unusual development of language.
  • The child has difficulty rhyming words, and remembering the words to songs.

Academic Signs

  • Inductive reading approaches (whole language) are not successful.
  • The child reads below his grade level.
  • The child makes many errors in oral reading.
  • The child makes many spelling errors.
  • Spelling errors occur frequently even when copying.
  • The child makes many reversals (b/d, u/n, p/q), omissions, additions, substitutions.
  • The child transposes letters and words (was/saw, on/no) (auction/caution, soiled/solid,).
  • The child has difficulty remembering the sequence of the alphabet, months of the year, number pattern, etc.).
  • The child may have poor handwriting.
  • The child has difficulty with word retrieval (finding the word he wants to say).
  • The child confuses small words (of, for, from).
  • The child has difficulty blending sounds together to make words,breaking words in to component sounds, manipulating sounds in words.
  • The child has difficulty learning a foreign language.
  • The child repeats words, phrases, or lines when reading.
  • The child's comprehension improves when the story is read aloud by an adult.

Common Signs of Dyslexia: Preschool Children

  • 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 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.

Common Signs of Dyslexia: K - 4th Grade Students

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

Common Signs of Dyslexia: 5th - 8th Grade Students

  • 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 difficulty with written composition.
  • May have slow or poor recall of facts.
  • May have difficulty with comprehension.
  • May have trouble with non-literal language (idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang).
  • May have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time, materials and tasks.

Common Signs of Dyslexia: High School and College Students

  • May read very slowly with many inaccuracies.
  • Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing.
  • May avoid reading and writing tasks.
  • May have trouble summarizing and outlining.
  • May have trouble answering open-ended questions on tests.
  • May have difficulty learning a foreign language.
  • May have poor memory skills.
  • May work slowly.
  • May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them.
  • May misread information.
  • May have an inadequate vocabulary.
  • May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading.
  • May have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time, materials and tasks.

Common Signs of Dyslexia: Adults

  • May hide reading problems.
  • May spell poorly; relies on others to correct spelling.
  • Avoids writing; may not be able to write.
  • Often very competent in oral language.
  • Relies on memory; may have an excellent memory.
  • Often has good "people" skills.
  • Often is spatially talented; professions include, but are not limited to, engineers, architects, designers, artists and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians (esp. surgeons and orthopedists), and dentists.
  • May be very good at "reading" people (intuitive).
  • In jobs is often working well below their intellectual capacity.
  • May have difficulty with planning, organization and management of time, materials and tasks.
  • Often entrepreneurs.


Sources:
Basic Facts about Dyslexia: What Every Layperson Ought to Know - © Copyright 1993, 2nd ed. 1998. The International Dyslexia Association, Baltimore, MD.

Learning Disabilities: Information, Strategies, Resources - © Copyright 2000. Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities, a collaboration of leading U.S. non-profit learning disabilities organizations.