#Equity In Education
The Signs
If you know a person with 3 or more of these signs and symptoms, we encourage you to learn more about dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.
IN PRESCHOOL
- Delayed speech
- Difficulty rhyming and learning nursery rhymes
- Unable to recognize letters in his/her name
- Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
- Difficulty remembering the names of the letters
- Confusion between left & right
- Difficulty learning to tie shoes
- Close relative with dyslexia
EARLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- Slow, choppy, inaccurate reading (frequent guessing at words; skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of );
- unable to sound out even simple words like cat, nap, or map
- Complains that reading is hard, that s/he hates reading, and acts out when it is time to read or do homework
- Difficulty finding the correct word when speaking
- Does not understand that words can be broken apart
- Does not associate letters with letter sounds
- History of reading difficulties in siblings or parents
- Letter or number reversals continuing beyond 1st grade
LATE ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOL
- Very slow at acquiring reading skills
- Reading is slow and awkward
- Trouble reading unfamiliar words; guesses at long or unfamiliar words
- Has no attack plan for new words; unable to sound out
- Avoids reading out loud
- Dreads going to school; complains of stomach aches or headaches
- Slow, non-automatic handwriting
- Extreme difficulty learning cursive writing
- Trouble with rote memorization (multiplication tables, sight words, dates, phone numbers, etc.)
- Terrible spelling
- Mispronunciation of unfamiliar words
- Difficulty finding the right word when speaking; says words like “stuff” and “thing” instead; misspeaks using similar sounding words, e.g. “lotion” for “ocean”, “tornado” for “volcano”
- Low self-esteem
HIGH SCHOOL
- All of the above symptoms
- Struggles to finish tests on time
- Extreme difficulty learning foreign languages
- Needs extra time to respond to questions; hesitates before speaking; uses lots of “um’s”
- Poor handwriting
- Big discrepancy between verbal and written skills
- Poor grades
- Talks of dropping out of school
BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL
- Childhood history of reading and spelling difficulties
- Reading is slow and requires great effort
- Rarely reads for pleasure
- Avoids reading out loud
- Must re-read materials 2-3 times to understand
- Terrible spelling
- Confusion with directions
