Most people with Dyslexia exhibit many different traits and behaviors. They can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute. The most consistent about dyslexia is their inconsistency. Symptoms will increase with confusion, emotional behavior or time pressure constraints.
General:
- Appears grade and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level
- Various labels: Lazy, dumb, immature, "not trying hard enough"
- Isn't behind or bad enough to be helped
- High IQ but poor testing academically; Good with oral tests, not with written
- Poor self esteem; Frustrated and emotional about school reading & testing
- Talented in other areas: Art, drama, sports, designing, building, etc.
- Loses focus and daydreams
- Difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactive
- Learns best through hands on experience and visual aids
Vision, Reading, Spelling:
- Complains of dizziness, headache or stomach aches while reading
- Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences or verbal explanations
- Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions and reversals in letters, numbers and words.
- Complaints of feeling & seeing nonexistent movement while reading or writing
- Seems to have difficulty with seeing, despite positive eye exam results
- Lacks depth perception & peripheral vision
- Reads a passage multiple times with little comprehension
- Spells phonetically & inconsistently
Hearing and Speech:
- Has extended hearing; easily distract by sounds
- Difficulty with putting thoughts to words; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, syllables and words while speaking
Writing & Motor Skills:
- Trouble writing & copying; illegible handwriting; unusual pencil grip
- Clumsy unable to compete in athletic events; prone to motion sickness; Poor with fine and gross motor skills
- Confuses left with right and over with under
Math & Time Management:
- Difficulty telling and managing time and being on time
- Uses finger counting for math equations; Knows answer but can't do it on paper
- Can count but has difficulty with counting objects and managing money
- Can do arthrimitic, but has problems with word problems; Trouble grasping algebra & higher math
Memory & Cognition:
- Excellent long term memory with experiences, locations, faces and events
- Poor memory with sequences, facts & information that hasn't been experienced
- Thinks with feelings & images, not sounds or words
Behavior, Health, Development & Personality:
- Disorderly or compulsively orderly
- Can be class clown, or overly quiet
- Unusually late development (talking, walking, crawling, tying shoes)
- Prone to ear infections, sensitive to foods and chemical products
- Extra deep or light sleeper; bed wetting beyond appropriate age
- Very high or low tolerance for pain
- Emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection