Persisting factors

There are many persisting factors in dyslexia, which can appear from an early age.  They will still be noticeable when the dyslexic child leaves school.  These include:

►      Obvious 'good' and 'bad' days, for no apparent reason,

►      Confusion between directional words, e.g. up/down, in/out,

►      Difficulty with sequence, e.g. coloured bead sequence, later with days of the week or numbers,

A family history of dyslexia/reading difficulties.

         Pre-school Children                                                                            

►      Has persistent jumbled phrases, e.g. 'cobbler's club' for 'toddler's club'

►      Use of substitute words e.g. 'lampshade' for 'lamppost'.

►      Inability to remember the label for known objects, e.g. 'table, chair'.

►      Difficulty learning nursery rhymes and rhyming words, e.g. 'cat, mat, sat'.

►      Later than expected speech development.

Non-language indicators

►      May have walked early but did not crawl.

►      Persistent difficulties in getting dressed efficiently and putting shoes on the correct feet.

►      Enjoys being read to but shows no interest in letters or words.

►      Is often accused of not listening or paying attention.

►      Excessive tripping, bumping into things, and falling over.

►      Difficulty with catching, kicking, or throwing a ball; with hopping and/or skipping.

►      Difficulty with clapping a simple rhythm.

      Primary School Pupil

►      Has particular difficulty with reading and spelling.

►      Puts letters and figures the wrong way round.

►      Has difficulty remembering tables, alphabet, formulae etc.

►      Leaves letters out of words or puts them in the wrong order.

►      Still occasionally confuses 'b' and 'd' and words such as 'no/on'.

►      Still needs to use fingers or marks on paper to make simple calculations.

►      Poor concentration.

►      Has problems understanding what he/she has read.

►      Takes longer than average to do written work.

►      Problems processing language at speed.

Non-language indicators

►      Has difficulty with tying shoe laces, tie, dressing.

►      Has difficulty telling left from right, order of days of the week, months of the year etc.

►      Surprises you because in other ways he/she is bright and alert.

►      Has a poor sense of direction and still confuses left and right.

►      Lacks confidence and has a poor self image.

Information from: British Dyslexia Association