Symptoms in: Pre-Schoolers and Elementary Kids

While people with dyslexia do not exhibit ALL symptoms of dyslexia, they usually have more than one of the following.

OBSERVABLE IN PRE-SCHOOLERS:

- difficulty distinguishing between similar things/people (i.e., confusing bearded people even though one is blond and one is brunette)

- difficulty with puzzles (i.e., understanding that one side is straight and goes on the outside)

- slow to respond to questions (may use fillers such as What? to gain time to process the question)

- difficulty remembering a series of items or instructions (go put your trucks and books away, wash your hands and come eat lunch)

- difficulty remembering/recognizing letters and their sounds even after repeated exposure

- difficulty finding the right word especially in speech

- difficulty hearing the difference in similar words; easily mixes up words (i.e., map/nap, basgetti/spaghetti, samwich/sandwich, saw/sawl)

- confuses "up/down", "right/left", "under/over"

ELEMENTARY KIDS: (please note that some traits such as reversing letters such as "b" and "d", or writing numbers backwards is common among kids and usually is corrected by 3rd grade)

- unusually disorganized in both home and school work

- slow to get through school work (spelling takes 2 hours instead of 30 minutes)

- writes and/or forms letters slowly or awkwardly

- poor handwriting

- confuses similar letters such as "b" and "d," or "p" and "q" in reading and spelling

- reverses letters, numbers (i.e., "silde" instead of "slide", "48" instead of "84")

- uses mirror writing (i.e., the writing is correct when it is held in front of a mirror)

- reverses common words such as "was" for "saw" or "left" for "felt" when reading or writing

- adds or deletes words during reading

- difficulty copying accurately from blackboards or books

- has difficulty memorizing formulas and mathematical facts (multiplication table)

Dyslexia seems to be hereditary in many cases. Dad, mom, aunt, uncle or cousins may have similar symptoms. Dyslexia can be mild or nearly incapacitating. This, too, seems to run in families. For example, dyslexics may learn to read well around fourth or fifth grade in one family while another family's members may learn to read only with difficulty. Some families may have trouble only with letters while another family has trouble with numbers.

Research also indicates that when reading problems are addressed early (by second grade), 82% of the children show improvement. However, if the child is allowed to flounder and to become frustrated until fifth grade, only 15% show significant improvement.