Signs of dyslexia

Most experienced teachers of students with dyslexia will tell you that dyslexia looks different in every single student they meet. However, there is a general agreement about the signs to look out for.

Primary aged children

Good oral language skills compared to the quality of their writing and their reading skills
When writing there are words tried several times, e.g. wippe, wype, wiep, wipe
Confused by letters which look similar, particularly b/d, p/g, p/q, n/u, m/w
Handwriting that is tricky to read
Spells a word several different ways in one piece of writing
Confuses similar looking words e.g. tired for tried, bread for beard
An unusual pencil grip
Produces phonetic and bizarre spelling: not age/ability appropriate
Uses unusual sequencing of letters or words
Makes unexpectedly slow progress in reading despite good teaching
Reading aloud is hesitant and effortful
Poor understanding of what has been read

Secondary aged children

Some of the features listed above may still remain
Accurate reading but this is still effortful and lacking in fluency
Being able to write spellings accurately on their own but the young person can struggle to do this when writing much longer pieces of text
Difficulty working and processing information quickly and efficiently
Has difficulty multi tasking e.g taking accurate notes in class
Can spend a lot of time revising but this does not translate into good exam or test results
Difficulty learning foreign languages, especially those with sounds that can be represented by many different letter strings
Can struggle to stay organised and meet deadlines
Can find holding information in their head difficult, but copes better when instructions are given one at a time