Dyslexia Characteristics
Would it surprise you to know that these familiar faces have dyslexia?
To learn more about these famous faces and their personal story with dyslexia, please visit www.xtraordinarypeople.com.
If you can identify 3 or more of the following characteristics in your child, then it is strongly recommended to have your child formally evaluated.
It is important to keep in mind that a dyslexic person will NOT have all of the characteristics and tendencies, however a parent will notice a cluster of signs -- at least 3 or more.
In Adults
- Education history similar to above, plus:
- Slow reader
- May have to read a page 2 or 3 times to understand it
- Terrible Speller
- Difficulty putting thoughts onto paper
- Dreads writing memos or letters
- Still has difficulty with right versus left
- Often gets lost, even in a familiar city
- Sometimes confuses b and d, especially when tired or sick
In High School
- All of the symptoms plus:
- Limited vocabulary
- Extremely poor written expression
- Large discrepancy between verbal skills and written compositions
- Unable to master a foreign language
- Difficulty reading printed music
- Poor grades in many classes
- May drop out of high school
In Preschool
- Delayed speech
- Mixing up of sounds and syllables in long words
- Chronic ear infections
- Severe reactions to childhood illnesses
- Constant confusion to left verses right
- Late establishing a dominate hand
- Difficulty learning to tie shoes
- Trouble memorizing their address, phone number, or the alphabet
- Difficulty creating words that rhyme
- A close relative with dyslexia
In Elementary School
- Dysgraphia (slow, non automatic handwriting that is difficult to read)
- Letter or number reversals continuing past the end of first grade.
- Extreme difficulty learning cursive
- Slow, choppy, inaccurate reading
- Guesses based on shape or context
- Skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of)
- Ignores suffixes
- Can't sound out unknown words
- Poor spelling
- Often can't remember sight words (they, were, does, what) or homonyms (their, they're, and there)
- Difficulty telling time with a clock with hands
- Trouble with multiplication tables
- When speaking, difficulty finding the correct word: lots of "whatyamacalits" and "thingies"
- Common sayings come out slightly twisted
- Extremely messy bedroom, backpack, and desk
- May dread going to school