Is Your Child Dyslexic? - Dyslexia Symptoms and Signs

I came across this checklist in a 2003 issue of Time magazine that lists questions to ask yourself if you have suspicions that your child has dyslexia. I do not suggest that if you answer any of these questions in the affirmative that your child has dyslexia. I am simply passing along this information to be used as you see fit.

Is Your Child Dyslexic?
You can often spot the symptoms of this learning disability even before your child starts to read,
if you know what to look for.
From the July 28, 2003 issue of Time magazine
By Sora Song
Sources: Overcoming Dyslexia, by Sally Shaywitz, M.D.
Straight Talk About Reading, by Susan Hall and Louisa Moats

Ages 3 to 5: Does your preschooler…
1. Seem uninterested in playing games with language sounds, such as repetition and rhyming?
2. Have trouble learning nursery rhymes, such as “Humpty Dumpty” or “Jack and Jill”?
3. Frequently mispronounce words and persist in using baby talk?
4. Fail to recognize the letters in his or her name?
5. Have difficulty remembering the names of letters, numbers, or days of the week?

Ages 5 to 6: Does your kindergartner…
1. Fail to recognize and write letters, write his or her name, or use invented spelling for words?
2. Have trouble breaking spoken words into syllables, such as cowboy into cow and boy?
3. Still have trouble recognizing words that rhyme, such as cat and bat?
4. Fail to connect letters and sounds? (Ask you child: What does the letter b sound like?)
5. Fail to recognize phonemes? (Ask your child: What starts with the same sound as cat—dog, man, or car?)

Ages 6 to 7: Does your first-grader…
1. Still have difficulty recognizing and manipulating phonemes?
2. Fail to read common one-syllable words, such as mat or top?
3. Make reading errors that suggest a failure to connect sounds and letters, such as big for goat?
4. Fail to recognize common, irregularly spelled words, such as said, where, and two?
5. Complain about how hard reading is and refuse to do it?

Ages 7 and older: Does your child…
1. Mispronounce long or complicated words, saying “amulium” instead of “aluminum”?
2. Confuse words that sound alike, such as tornado for volcano, or lotion for ocean?
3. Speak haltingly and overuse vague words such as stuff or things?
4. Have trouble memorizing dates, names, and telephone numbers?
5. Have trouble reading small function words, such as that, an, and in?
6. Guess wildly when reading multisyllabic words instead of sound them out?
7. Skip parts of words, reading conible instead of convertible, for example?
8. When reading aloud often substitute easy words for hard ones, such as car for automobile?
9. Spell terribly and have messy handwriting?
10. Have trouble completing homework or finishing tests on time?
11. Have a deep fear of reading aloud?


Click for more signs and symptoms of dyslexia and dyslexia resources.