6. How to recognise dyslexia in children.

Pre-school.

At primary school.

At secondary school.

Site contents.

6. How to recognise dyslexia in children.

First of all, it is important to exclude a range of other reasons why a child is having great difficulty in learning to read and write. These include poor eyesight, hearing difficulties, absence from school through ill health, inadequate or very interrupted schooling or emotional stress at home.

Hearing problems are particularly important. Many young children suffer ear infections and for a minority this is followed by a condition called glue ear. This can significantly reduce a child's hearing ability for a time.

Researchers have found that if children suffer from this condition around the age of two (when they are acquiring spoken language very rapidly) or around five (when they are beginning to learn the skills needed for reading), they are more likely to experience difficulties in learning to read. If they are dyslexic, these difficulties will certainly compound the problem.

Once these reasons have been ruled out, most experts would agree that there are signs even before children start school which indicate that they might be dyslexic. However, young children develop at different rates and it is important to remember this and allow for normal variation.

It is useful to question whether there is a history of reading or spelling difficulties in the family, although a family history does not mean that every child in the family will have dyslexia.

Parents who are concerned should also be aware of other problems that may arise. Some dyslexic children have difficulties finding the appropriate words to express themselves and may be slow to process information. Many such children may become isolated socially and find friendships difficult.

Other children may have motor difficulties. If they are generally clumsy or bad at sport they are often teased and excluded from playground games. Bullying can then be a problem.

It's always worth remembering that suitable help from a young age may prevent children from falling behind.

Other pointers are included in the checklists below.

Experts disagree about which are the most important. However, the following are generally accepted as causes of concern.

Pre-school.

Does your child:

• have a relatively short attention span?
  
  
• find it hard to remember nursery rhymes and rhyming words, like 'cat' and 'hat'?
  
  
• find it difficult to do 'odd one out' games with words?
  
  
• show little interest in words and letters even if he or she enjoys stories?
  
  
• mix up directional words like 'up' and 'down', 'in' and 'out'?
  
  
• have difficulty putting objects into a sequence, such as coloured beads?
  
  
• jumble up letters or whole words in speech, such as saying 'beddy tear' for 'teddy bear'?
  
  
• have difficulties with physical skills like catching, throwing and kicking a ball, skipping, hopping, jumping and balancing?
  

At primary school.

Watch out for a child who:

• is doing much less well than expected
  
  
• has marked and persistent difficulties with reading and spelling
  
  
• enjoys the content of stories and information read to him or her, but when attempting to read, over-uses the content to 'guess' at words
  
  
• writes letters and/or numbers the wrong way round
  
  
• takes a long time to complete any written work
  
  
• leaves letters out of words or puts them in the wrong order
  
  
• has difficulty remembering times tables or the alphabet, or putting things like the days of the week in order
  
  
• needs to use fingers or written marks to do simple calculations when other children are easily able to do them in their heads
  
  
• confuses left and right
  
  
• appears careless and inattentive
  
  
• has unusual difficulties in dressing or tying shoe-laces.

At secondary school.

Is he or she:

• still reading unusually slowly or inaccurately?
  
  
• still having marked difficulties with spelling and legible handwriting?
  
  
• confusing places, times and dates?
  
  
• needing to have instructions and telephone numbers, etc, repeated?
  
  
• finding great difficulty in planning work and writing essays?
  
  
• taking much longer than other pupils over written assignments?
  
  
• having problems with note taking?
  
  
• producing disappointing results in exams?
  
  
• working inconsistently with marked 'on' and 'off' days?

Contents of this site.

1. Introduction.

2. What is dyslexia?

3. Who is dyslexic?

4. Scientific findings.

5. Dyslexia and the education system.

6. How to recognise dyslexia in children.

7. Dyslexia in adults.

8. How to help.

9. External tests and examinations.

10. The way forward.

11. Finding out more.

12. Credits.