General Indicators of Dyslexia

Other Age Groups

Signs of Dyslexia in the 7-13 Age Group

If several of these "Symptoms" occur together, further advice should be sought.

1.

Unable to read, or reading age well below chronological age.

2.

Still having difficulty with sounds of letters.

3.

Poor, immature handwriting.

4.

Poor spelling in written work, with a preference for using short familiar words: phonetic spelling of complicated words.

5.

Confusion among groups of letters such as b/d, p/q, w/m, u/n, f/t, v/f, still exists. Letter combinations like 'str' can still cause problems.

6.

No idea of punctuation when reading or writing a story.

7.

Essays/Stories are often brief, with little description or charter/story development.

8.

Difficulty in 'hearing' the story or the information in their minds. The words may be read accurately, but the story or the information is not absorbed, so reading seems to be a waste of time. A slow reading rate has the same effect.

9.

The story may be told easily verbally, but writing it down on paper is a struggle.

10.

Copying from the blackboard or from a textbook is a problem. Lines are missed, letters and numbers are transposed.

11.

They may still reverse numbers, e.g. writing 24 for 42 when doing complex arithmetic.

12.

Problems in remembering multiplication tables, particularly their sequence. Also, the order of the days of the week, months of the year and the alphabet.

13.

Musical notation can prove problematical, and a poor sense of timing can occur. A string, brass or wind instrument is preferable to the piano.

14.

Clumsiness and lack of co-ordination are still present.

15.

Some dyslexic children may have difficulty in processing what is said to them and there is a time-lag before they answer.

16.

At this stage, frustration, withdrawal and behaviour problems seem to be increasing.

17.

Extreme reluctance to go to school may cause problems for all the family.