Recognizing Dyslexia at different life stages:

Early Childhood - when spoken language development is delayed it can be the first clue that there is a reading and language problem.

Preschool - children learn nursery rhymes, the identification of letters, and the letters that belong to their particular name. Preschoolers with dyslexia will have difficulty learning these and not appreciate learning nursery rhymes.

Kindergarten through 1st Grade - at this stage, dyslexic children are unable to associate letters with their sounds or break down compound words. They are not able to read simple words or sound them out. Reading time can be traumatic and cause dyslexic children to hide during reading time. What separates these children from others who have trouble reading is strength in higher-level thinking. They tend to be more mature than their peers, have a talent for building models, show imagination, and eagerness to embrace new concepts.  They are also able to problem solve, comprehend new ideas; and can understand stories that are told or read to them.

Second Grade and On - Sufferers of dyslexia will still experience problems with speech. Parts of words are left out, long/unfamiliar words are mispronounced, and the sequence of a word is changed. Often the person cannot speak fluently, and gives improper names to things. Verbal response is also delayed, and the person may have difficulty with remembering dates, names, and addresses. There is also trouble with reading. A dyslexic person has a slow rate of acquiring new skills and learning new words.

Symptoms of Dyslexia:

• Sounding out words; reading multi-syllable words; inability to read small function words; reading is labored
• There is an immense fear of oral reading and reading for pleasure is not enjoyable
• When reading aloud, words can be left out, substituted, and mispronounced
• Often they rely on context clues to make sense of what is read
• There is a lack of inflection
• Spelling is atrocious and their handwriting is messy
• Learning a foreign language is hard
• As accuracy improves, fluency lacks and reading is still arduous
• Thinking skills are still excellent. Dyslexic individuals are able to reason and conceptualize. Computers, visual arts, math, philosophy, biology, social sciences, neuroscience, and creative writing are some of the subjects in which dyslexics tend to excel.

Young Adult/Adulthood - spoken language problems are persistent. Names of places and people are difficult to learn and to remember. When put on the spot, dyslexic individuals are not very articulate, listening vocabulary is stronger spoken language. Words are mispronounced and they may hesitate to say a word when they are unsure of its pronunciation. Dyslexic adults still have trouble with reading and spelling. Again, there are strengths that suggest a high learning capability. Exams that do not have a time pressure usually show good results. If spelling is not an issue, their writing skills can be good. People with dyslexia have original insight, can articulate feelings and ideas very well, and they possess exceptional warmth and empathy for others.

In all Sufferers - An individual may speak and listen well, but will possess poor reading and spelling skills. Directions (east/west) are complicated, and dyslexic sufferers trouble with telling their right from left.  They have difficulty with mathematics, namely sequencing and ordering.  Instructions of 2 or more steps can be frustrating and quickly forgotten.  They may write letters or numbers backward because of the poor visual memory.  The ability to organize is lacking in a dyslexic individual. When spelling a word, the correct letters may be present, but in the wrong order. If one is not able to read at their age appropriate level, the delay can be an indicator of dyslexia.