Signs of Dyslexia and First Steps

When your child begins to learn how to read, write, and count you get exited, but when you compare him with the other peers you start noticing some differences, mistakes he is making, names he is forgetting, frustration he is building up. Even when you support him there is not a big progress in the outcome. He is athletic, social, bright, analytical and creative but reading, writing, or counting becomes challenging. What is that? Dyslexia is what your child might be exhibiting. Dyslexia can affect reading, writing, spelling, and math. There are some common symptoms of Dyslexia, however every dyslextic is different. Many of the areas individuals are struggling with diverse from each other and they can range from mild to extreme.

These are general signs of Dyslexia:

• writing letters and numbers backwards, reversing words;
• presenting poor fine motor coordination, awkward pencil grip, clumsy cutting;
• struggling with recognizing phonemes and putting them together;
• experiencing difficulties with processing information, organizing and communicating thoughts;
• indicating difficulties to memorize lyrics, names or directions.

Here is an example.

Michael is 6 years old bilingual boy; fluent in his mother tongue; English is his second language, but reads and writes only in that language; presents as a very creative, artistic soul; with good fine motor skills; gets pleasure from solving mathematic problems; curves for writing down own thoughts, likes physical activities, acrobatics and swimming; loves listening to live stories or audio books; recognized by most people as a quiet, focused, and well behaved child; determined to accomplish own goal; chooses not to compete if not sure about winning; gets motivated from verbal price; prefers small groups; shy to speak or perform in public. 

In reading:

• Jumps on different word, line, or page.
• Confuses or skips over small words - at, to, said.
• Reads already known words following phonological rules, e.g. door/dur.
• Reverses letters: b/d, p/q, l/i, z/s, words: on/no, was/saw, own/won/one, big/dig, bed/deb and numbers: 5, 7, 3, 5, 17/71, etc. when reading or writing.

In writing:

• Shows size or shape letter inconstancy, e.g. house – Haws, houSe, good – gooD, have – HavE, sleeping – SlePing, disappear - DisiPer.
• Presents with luck of punctuation, e.g. ferst Plan is going todrow it wil be a Parot and his name is going to Be  rabaw andorched
• Spells the same word differently, e.g. home - hoem, hame, castle – kastle, kasoll, casul, casol, come – kam, came, care – kar, car, because – becos, becose, bekus.
• Squeezes text in the upper left corner.

He demonstrates confusion with directional discrimination (right/left, front/back) or visual trucking fast moving objects, letters or numbers.

He doesn’t mind disorganization in his surrounding, e.g. room, working place, table, etc.

He needs support with organization when working on project, a help to make a plan, e.g. that’s what he wrote down:

• wate to Drow
• wate toDrow with
• Pick your klowting
• getting good luk
• names caracter

He needs an extra time to follow multi-step directions or routines.

He faces difficulties with memorizing lyrics, rhyming patterns.

He has difficulties to evoke the right word or friends’ names.

He gets frustrated when fails in reading or writing, or when can’t recall a name or place.

He makes more mistakes when people are watching.

He shows little interest in learning how to bike or scooter.

The questions are rising. What to do? Where to start?

Step 1: Assess whether the child displays any, all or several of the common problem areas of Dyslexia.

Preschool age children:

• May have difficulty pronouncing words;
• May talk later than most children;
• May be unable to recall the right word;
• May have difficulty with rhyming;
• May be unable to follow multi-step directions or routines;
• Fine motor skills may develop more slowly than other children;
• May have difficulty with sequencing;
• Often has difficulty separating sounds in words and blending sounds to make words.

Grades K-4:

• Has difficulty decoding single words in isolation;
• May confuse or skip over small words -at, to, said, and;
• Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals, word reversals;
• May have trouble remembering math facts;
• May have trouble telling time;
• May have poor fine motor coordination (trouble tying shoes).

Grades 5-8:

• Is usually reading below grade level;
• May reverse letter sequences-soiled for solid;
• May have difficulty with spelling, spells same word differently on the same page;
• May struggle with long division;
• Poor organization skills;
• May have behavior issues due to frustration and failure.

Step 2: Have your child go through a diagnostic assessment.

This can be done by a clinical or educational psychologist, school psychologist, learning disabilities psychologist or a medical doctor provided they have special training and experience in assessment of learning disabilities.

If you choose to have a school psychologist test your child, beware that most public schools do not specifically test for Dyslexia. Rather, they are testing to see if you child would qualify for special education services. This is not the same as testing specifically for Dyslexia or another learning disability.

The earlier your child is diagnosed, the more prepared you and your child can be to deal
with the challenges that will arise from Dyslexia. 

Dyslexia is Correctable! Turn Learning Problems into Learning Solutions!

Check my other post for intervention and tips or mirror writing

http://slpzone.blogspot.com/2013/10/dyslexia-intervention-and-tips.html

http://slpzone.blogspot.com/2012/11/backward-or-mirror-writing-in-young.html

Read “When Bright Kids Can't Learn” by John Heath. The book presents an exciting and fundamentally different approach that can help many children and adults who struggle with learning. http://www.learningtechnics.com/ The book is available free for a limited time. Click on the link, fill out the form you’re your name, address and telephone number. This will automatically make you eligible for a free e-copy of "When Bright Kids Can't Learn".