Trafford Dyslexia
Dyslexia Checklist
There are many indicators of dyslexia in children, but as a parent, you may simply have a gut feeling that something isn't quite right about the way your child is progressing.
Some common indicators are below:
Background
- A family history of literacy difficulties (whether diagnosed or not)
- Not making expected progress despite seeming verbally able and 'bright'
Reading
- Mixes up sounds in words, for example 'flutterby' instead of 'butterfly'
- Difficulty learning and remembering letter sounds and names
- Confuses words that look alike, or individual letters that look similar
- Mixes up word endings (-ing, -ed, -ly) or skips small words (for, of, he, with, an, the)
- Relies on context or pictures for clues
- Reads slowly, reluctantly, or is hesitant to read
Writing
- Has good ideas but struggles to get them on paper
- Written work does not match oral ability - uses simpler words in written work
- Unusual spellings, misses letters out, or writes letters in a word in the wrong sequence
- Spells the same word in different ways (eg sed, siad, sede) in the same piece of work
- Difficulty copying, especially from the board
- Slow speed of writing
- Difficulty reading back own work
Memory
- Difficulty following instructions, especially when only given verbally
- Struggles to remember months of the year, days of the week
- Difficulty with times tables or recalling maths facts
- Gets lost easily, struggles with 'left' or 'right'
- Difficulty telling the time
Speech
- Difficulty pronouncing some words, eg 'flutterby', 'callapitter', 'snatue'
- Speech errors, eg 'pacific' instead of 'specific'
- Word finding problems, may replace target word with 'thingy' 'stuff' etc
- Confused by tongue twisters
Attention and behaviour
- Either poorly organised or overly organised
- Gets tired easily due to the effort required to concentrate
- Trouble maintaining attention on schoolwork
- Offers to 'help' to avoid doing schoolwork (sharpening pencils, giving out work etc)
- May become withdrawn and quiet at school
- May become the class clown or disruptive to mask difficulties with schoolwork
- May be tearful or frustrated
"Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed."Rose (2009)"It is important to remember that there are positives to thinking differently. Many dyslexic people show strengths in areas such as reasoning and in visual and creative fields."British Dyslexia Association
