If a child  has 3 or more of the warning signs below; you may want to learn more about dyslexia.

In Preschool, Kindergarten

• Delayed speech
• Mixing up the sounds and syllables in long words
• Chronic ear infections
• Severe reactions to childhood illnesses
• Constant confusion of left versus right
• Late establishing dominant hand
• Difficulty learning to tie shoes
• Trouble memorizing their address, phone number or the alphabet
• Can’t create words that rhyme
• A close relative with dyslexia

Elementary School Signs of Dyslexia 
If a child has 3 or more of the following warning signs, that child’s parents and teachers may want to learn more about dyslexia.

• 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
• Terrible spelling
• Often can’t remember sight words (they, were, does) or homonyms (their, there, they’re)
• Difficulty telling time with a clock with hands
• Trouble with math
  – memorizing multiplication tables
  – memorizing a sequence of steps
  – directionality
• When speaking, difficulty finding the correct word
  – lots of “whatyamacallits” and “thingies”
  – common sayings come out slightly twisted
• Extremely messy bedroom, backpack and desk
• Dreads going to school
  – complains of stomach aches or headaches
  – may have nightmares about school
• Giftedness in “right brain” area such as art, music, athletics, mechanical abilities, intuition, business/people skills, ability to think “outside the box,” problems solving, logic.

High School and Adult Signs of Dyslexia

In High School

All of the symptoms of Preschool and Elementary Age plus:

• Limited vocabulary
• Poor grades in many classes
• Difficulty reading music
• Extremely poor written expression:
  – large discrepancy between verbal skills and written compositions
• May drop out of high school
• Great difficulty learning a foreign language

In Adults

• Education history similar to younger ages, 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

Signs of Dyslexia check list courtesy of www.bartonreading.com