Please note that for convenience the student is referred to as 'he' throughout this website.

All ages

• Is he bright in some ways with a 'block' in others?
• Is there anyone else in the family with similar difficulties?
• Does he have difficulty carrying out three instructions in sequence?
• Was he late in learning to talk, or with speaking clearly?

 

Ages 7-11

• Does he have particular difficulty with reading or spelling?
• Does he put figures or letters the wrong way e.g. 15 for 51, 6 for 9, b for d, was for saw?
• Does he read a word then fail to recognise it further down the page?
• Does he spell a word several different ways without recognising the correct version?
• Does he have a poor concentration span for reading and writing?
• Does he have difficulty understanding time and tense?
• Does he confuse left and right?
• Does he answer questions orally but have difficulty writing the answer?
• Is he unusually clumsy?
• Does he have trouble with sounds in words, e.g. poor sense of rhyme?

 

Ages 12 - adult

• Is he sometimes inaccurate in reading?
• Is spelling poor?
• Does he have difficulty taking notes or copying?
• Does he have difficulty with planning and writing essays, letters or reports?

 

Some common problems

You may think that he is not listening, but….

• he may have difficulty in remembering a list of instructions
• he may have problems getting thoughts together coherently for story or essay writing
• he may have sequencing problems and may need to be taught strategies to cope/alternative ways of remembering.

 

You may think that he is lazy, but…

• he may have difficulty in organising work and need specific teaching to help him
• he may be able to answer the questions orally but can't write the answers down
• he may have found that the less he writes, the less trouble he gets into for making mistakes

 

You may think that he is not concentrating, but…

• he may have difficulty in copying accurately. This is often because he cannot remember chunks but needs to look at each letter, write it, then look at the word again, find the place, and so on...

 

You may think that he is careless, but…

• he may have very poor handwriting as dyslexic people often haven’t sufficient hand skills to control the pencil.

 

You may think that he is not checking work, but…

• he may spell the same word several different ways if he doesn't have the visual memory to know what is right or the kinaesthetic memory for it to feel right as he is writing.

 

You may think that he doesn't look carefully, but… 

• he may have a visual memory deficiency and therefore experience difficulty when interpreting symbols.  

 

You may think that he is being awkward / impossible on purpose, but…

• he may be able to produce very good work one day and the next ‘trip up over every word’. ‘Off days’ are quite common and require extra encouragement and understanding.

 

Some common strengths

You may be surprised that:

• he has a good visual eye
• he may be able to arrange the furniture in the classroom very effectively
• he is very imaginative and skilful with his hands
• he may be able to make the best models
• he is practical
• he may be able to work the computer before the others - even perhaps repair it. 
• He may be able to start the car when others have failed
• he is mad on sport and may excel at individual sports
• he has a fantastic imagination
• he may be able to tell wonderful stories if his long-term memory is good.

 

General comments

The main problems are:

• poor sequencing skills
• poor auditory discrimination and memory
• poor visual discrimination and memory
• poor short term memory
• poor self-confidence

 

Summary

There are many types of learning disability of which dyslexia is only one. In some cases of disability, diagnosis can be difficult. Only a full diagnostic assessment will determine if any child or adult is dyslexic - but there are pointers.