Dyslexia is a learning difference that mainly affects reading. It creates difficulty identifying speech sounds and decoding how they relate to letters and words. Dyslexia affects the area of the brain that processes language.
Children with dyslexia will usually have normal intelligence and have typical eye sight(they often complain that letters are moving around on a page). There is no cure for dyslexia, however, an early assessment and intervention can allow for the possibility of the best outcome. Children with dyslexia will usually be able to succeed in school with additional tutoring or support. Dyslexia often goes undiagnosed until adulthood.
Signs of dyslexia may not be easily recognisable before a child starts school, but some pre-school indicators that a child may have dyslexia can include:
- Delayed talking
- Difficulty correctly forming words, including reversing word sounds or muddling similar-sounding words
- Inability to remember or designate letters and numbers
- Taking longer to learn new words
- Difficulty learning nursery rhymes
Once a child starts school, the teacher may be the first person to notice any difficulties. Often, this will only become apparent when a child is learning to read. School Age indicators that a child may have dyslexia can include:
- Inability to identify similarity and difference with letters and words
- Difficulty processing and understanding what they hear
- Issues recalling sequencing
- Lack of ability to sound out and pronounce an unfamiliar word
- Problems finding appropriate words or establishing answers
- Difficulty spelling words
- Taking a long time to finish tasks that involve reading or writing
- Task-avoidance of activities that include reading
- Reading ability that is well below the expected age-appropriate level
Teenage and Adult indicators that a child may have dyslexia can include:
- Very slow and deliberate reading and writing, taking an inordinately long time to complete reading or writing activities
- Mispronouncing words and difficulty reading out loud
- Trouble understanding jokes or terms that have an abstract meaning that are not easily understood from the words used
- Avoiding tasks that involve reading or writing
- Trouble spelling
- Difficulty remembering and summarising
- Trouble learning a foreign language
- Difficulty with maths