I had a gut feeling that my little girl was dyslexic when she was just 2 years old. I am dyslexic and how she acted reminded me of myself as a child.
All children are different and learn at different rates. Yet parents/carers can be the first to spot that their child is struggling and that they need extra help.
Read below the top 10 signs of dyslexia that parents/carers spotted in their child. Based on real stories, with real quotes.
"Nursery - refused to take part in any mark making activities. Most children come home with paint pictures and he didn’t. He had no interest in trying to write or learn the letters of his name."
Some parents noticed the signs of dyslexia as early as preschool or nursery. Their child may have struggled with writing letters. formation, resist writing activities, or confuse similar-looking letters.
"He didn’t seem to understand instructions. Couldn’t distinguish phonemes at age 5, did it in a very strange way. ie: what does “snake” start with? “snay-k”. Always seemed to be with his head in the clouds. I couldn’t find a way to explain things to him".
A common sign of dyslexia is difficulty with phonics. The connection between letters and sounds. The child might struggle to sound out words or have trouble learning sight words.
"My daughter couldn’t remember letter names and any sequences (days of week, months of year, phone number). Her level of frustration in pre school was so much higher than her peers. She did everything so much slower than her peers. I think it was more of a gut feeling than something concrete".
Parents often describe a bright child who struggles with reading, writing, or spelling despite their intelligence. This can be confusing and lead to frustration for both child and parent.
"When she was 2, started writing her name and I have to put it in-front of the mirror for me to read it. When she was 3, I kept on teaching but she said, "I don't understand".
Some children with dyslexia write letters or numbers backwards, or may mirror-image words or sentences.
"My daughter was struggling learning to read. She consistently flipped numbers in math. After much frustration it dawned on me that she could have the Dyslexic gene that runs in my side of the family. My brother has it and I believe my Uncle did too."
Dyslexia runs in the family, parents might be more attuned to the signs and suspect it early on.
"When he was 2 his Teacher said he didn't know his colours...He did he just called them different names. He loved transformers so red was heatwave, yellow was bumble bee etc. I knew he was so smart figuring out a way to learn his colours".
Sometimes teachers are the first to identify potential dyslexia, noticing difficulties in the classroom setting.
"He couldn’t remember the sounds a letter was supposed to make, and couldn’t quickly name many of the letters, towards the end of 1st grade (so he was 7)".
A child might have a strong vocabulary and understand stories when read to them, but struggle with decoding written text themselves.
"Year 1 (age 5) when wasn't retaining phonics learnt and struggled to read. my child just wasn't progressing same as everyone else and it was at odds with how clever I knew she was. struggled with sequences like days of week, months of year, telling the time, number bonds, times tables, counting backwards".
Children with dyslexia may struggle with memorising sequences like days of the week or months of the year.
"My daughter isn’t diagnosed but I have suspected that she is ever since she hid under the dining table when I asked her to spell or read her book for school (age 4.5). She is now nearly 6 and her reading is improving but spelling is still so hard for her and she reads certain words backwards no matter how many times we correct it with her".
Children with dyslexia may avoid doing school work and home work. They may not be motivated or misbehave to avoid learning.
"I knew my daughter was dyslexic aged 4/5, phonics just wasn’t working like it had with my son. She was quick to pick up other things, early walker, very articulate, bright in all other respects, but some things were just too much of a struggle to be anything other than dyslexia. Paid for private diagnosis age 8".
Sometimes parents/carers just know their is something different about their child. That they are struggling more then they should and need extra help.
Try this 10 min course, "spot common signs of dyslexia". Includes how to spot dyslexic writing and behaviour. Find out how to get help you think a child is dyslexic.
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