Signs of Dyslexia

Preschool

  • Delayed or problematic speech
  • Poor expressive language
  • Poor rhyming skills
  • Little interest or difficulty in learning letters

Early school years

  • Poor letter-sound knowledge
  • Poor phoneme awareness
  • Poor word attack skills
  • Idiosyncratic spelling
  • Problems copying

Middle school years

  • Slow reading
  • Poor decoding skills
  • Poor spelling

Adolescence and adulthood

  • Poor reading fluency
  • Slow speed of writing
  • Poor expression in written work
  • Poor organisation

From ‘Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties’ (Rose report 2009)

Strengths

People with dyslexia may show strengths in the following areas:

  • Creativity
  • Visual skills (Being able to form mental images)
  • Practical and problem solving skills
  • Global thinking for strategies and problem solving (Being able to see the big picture)
  • Lateral thinking skills (Solving problems by creative or indirect thinking)
  • Visual-spatial awareness (An awareness of where objects are in space including in relation to their own body)
  • Verbal communication skills
  • High levels of motivation and persistence.

A more detailed list of the signs of Dyslexia can be found on the Dyslexia Action Website

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