Signs of Dyslexia: Part 1, Preschool and Elementary

Before I started my YouTube channel, I asked my Facebook friends what they would like to know about dyslexia.  The most commonly asked question was "What are the symptoms/signs/warning signs of dyslexia?"  So, I knew it had to be one of my first videos. 

When I gathered all the signs together, there were so many that I decided to make it a two-part series.  The first video is about signs in preschool and elementary school, and the second video will be about signs in high school students and adults.  Even if your child is young, you will want to learn about the signs in adults because dyslexia is hereditary.  If you are on the fence about your child, but you know that you or your spouse shows adult signs of dyslexia, there is a good chance that your child also has it. 

Dyslexia affects different people in different ways, and different ways at different ages.  Dyslexia also ranges in severity from mild to profound.  If your child has a number of these signs, you may want to seek testing. 

Signs in Preschool (You may not notice these things at the time, but looking back, you realize they were early signs.):

• Difficulty learning letter names and sounds
• Mixing up parts of words ("aminal" for "animal" or "pusketti" for "spaghetti", etc.)
• Late establishing a dominant hand
• Can't rhyme
• Trouble memorizing things, such as address and phone number

Signs in Elementary School:

• Slow, inaccurate reading
• Ignores small words (in, at, to)
• Mixes up words (for/from, what/that, where/there)
• Starts a word correctly and guesses on the rest
• Mixes up letters (b/d, b/p, p/q, n/u, m/n, e/i, etc.) after first grade
• Terrible spelling (may do OK on a spelling test, but look at something the child wrote without help)
• Hard time retrieving words they want to use
• Dysgraphia (difficulty with writing-may be messy, odd/tight pencil grip, pressing hard on the paper, odd letter formations, trouble getting thoughts down on paper)
• Difficulty reading and spelling high frequency words
• Difficulty copying (near- or far-point)
• Difficulty with math (multiplication facts, telling time, word problems, steps for solving problems, greater than/less than)
• Mixes up left and right
• Messy bedroom, bookbag, and desk
• Homework battles
• Dreads school, may even feel sick
• Child calls him/herself stupid

Everyone does these things from time to time, but if you kept shaking your head in agreement because this was describing your child, your student, or maybe even you, it could be dyslexia. 

To watch the video, click here.

For signs of dyslexia in high school and adults, click here.