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Signs of Dyslexia in Young Children

This document provides a checklist for parents and teachers to determine if a young child may be at risk for dyslexia. It notes that approximately 1 in 20 children has dyslexia. The checklist includes background factors like family history of literacy problems and speech/language delays. It also lists common difficulties dyslexic children experience in pre-literacy skills like phonological awareness, memory, and speech. While levels of development vary, displaying many of these difficulties could indicate risk for dyslexia. The document recommends comprehensive assessment by an educational psychologist to identify strengths and weaknesses and provide recommendations.

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Aya Lagang
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86 views1 page

Signs of Dyslexia in Young Children

This document provides a checklist for parents and teachers to determine if a young child may be at risk for dyslexia. It notes that approximately 1 in 20 children has dyslexia. The checklist includes background factors like family history of literacy problems and speech/language delays. It also lists common difficulties dyslexic children experience in pre-literacy skills like phonological awareness, memory, and speech. While levels of development vary, displaying many of these difficulties could indicate risk for dyslexia. The document recommends comprehensive assessment by an educational psychologist to identify strengths and weaknesses and provide recommendations.

Uploaded by

Aya Lagang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

How to Tell if a Young Child may be At-Risk of Dyslexia

(suitable for Kindergarten, Reception and Year 1 children)


Research tells us that approximately 1 child in 20 has dyslexia. This means that there is likely to be at
least one child in every class who displays the pattern of strengths and weaknesses characteristic of
dyslexia. Do you have a young child who puzzles you, displaying well-developed skills and abilities in
some areas and unexpected difficulties in others? Complete this checklist to determine if that child could
be at-risk of dyslexia.

BACKGROUND DIFFICULTIES IN ACQUIRING PRE-LITERACY


SKILLS
 family history of literacy learning problems
 has unexpected difficulty developing reading
 delay in the onset and/or the development of
and spelling skills
speech and language
 enjoys listening to stories read aloud but shows
 seems bright and capable but not making
little interest in letters or words
expected progress
 has trouble learning and remembering the
 is unhappy soon after starting school
sounds corresponding to the letters of the
Compared to their age peers dyslexic children often alphabet
display difficulties in the following areas:  has trouble learning and remembering common

SPEECH DIFFICULTIES sight words (e.g., you, have, like, come, etc.)

Dyslexic children typically have well-developed oral  cannot write own name correctly from memory

language skills but display specific speech problems, by age 5

such as:  has difficulty recognising numbers after


considerable exposure at pre-school/school
 gets sounds in words muddled up
PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSING DIFFICULTIES
(e.g., says ‘flutterby’ for butterfly’)
 displays poor phonological awareness skills
 mixes up words (e.g., says ‘jungled’ for ‘jumbled’)
(i.e., finds it hard to reflect upon the sound
 displays word finding difficulties (e.g., calls a
structure of spoken words)
‘stamp’ a ‘sticker’ or often uses words like ‘thing’,
 has difficulty analysing spoken language into its
‘stuff’ or ‘junk’)
component parts (e.g., sentences, words,
MEMORY DIFFICULTIES sounds)
 finds it hard to remember the words in nursery  has trouble recognising and predicting rhyme
rhymes, songs, poems, etc. (e.g. trouble picking the odd one out of
 has a poor memory for names (of friends, sand/hand/cup)
teacher, etc.)  fails to appreciate alliteration (e.g., trouble
 difficulty remembering instructions picking the odd one out of jam/jug/bed)
 confuses similar sounding words (e.g.,
cone/comb)

A child who appears bright and capable and displays many of these difficulties may be at-risk for
dyslexia. However, it is important to remember that the levels of development and speed of learning in
early childhood differ significantly for each child. For this reason psychologists tend not to formally
diagnose dyslexia until a child is 7 years of age or older.

Nevertheless, much can be done at this young age to prevent later difficulties. A good starting point is a
comprehensive assessment by an educational psychologist who will identify cognitive strengths and
weaknesses and make recommendations to help address identified difficulties. A psychologist will also
suggest other specialists if appropriate (e.g., speech pathologists, occupational therapist, tutor, etc.).

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