Based on statements in the British Dyslexia Association Publication
Preschool Stage (under 5 years)
- Persistent jumbled phrases. eg. ‘cobblers club’ for ‘toddler’s club’.
- Use of substitute words. eg. ‘lampshade’ for ‘lamppost’.
- Inability to remember the label for known objects. eg. ‘chair’, ‘car’, ‘table’.
- Difficulty learning nursery rhymes and rhyming words. eg. ‘cat, hat, sat, mat’.
- Later than expected speech development.
- May have walked early, but did not crawl – was a ‘bottom shuffler’ or ‘tummy wriggler’.
- Persistent difficulties in getting dressed efficiently and putting shoes on the correct feet.
- Enjoys being read to but shows no interest in letters or words.
- Is often accused of not listening or paying attention.
- Excessive tripping, bumping into things, falling over.
- Difficulty with catching, kicking or throwing a ball; with hopping and/or skipping.
- Difficulty with clapping a simple rhythm, and ‘hearing’ the rhythm in language.
Primary School / Intermediate Stage (5-11 years)
- Difficulty with reading and spelling.
- Puts letters and figures around the wrong way.
- Leaves letters out of words or puts them in the wrong order.
- Still occasionally confuses ‘b’ and ‘d’ and words such as ‘no’ ‘on’, ‘saw’ ‘was’.
- Still has difficulty with rhyme.
- Lack of phonological awareness – cannot ‘hear’ sounds in letters / words.
- Still needs fingers or marks to make simple calculations.
- Difficulty learning timetables and basic number facts.
- Poor concentration, forgetful, poor organisation.
- Has difficulty understanding what he/she has read.
- Takes a long time to complete written work.
- Slow at processing language – when listening, writing, reading.
- Difficulty with dressing, tying shoe laces and other things involving coordination.
- Surprises you because in other ways he/she is bright / alert.
- Has very good oral comprehension – can show good knowledge when talking about some things.
- Has a poor sense of direction and still confuses left and right.
- Has difficulty learning analogue time.
Intermediate / College (12 years +)
- Same as primary school, plus;
- Still reads slowly and has difficulty with reading.
- Still has difficulty with spelling.
- Needs to have instructions and telephone numbers repeated.
- Difficulty with pronouncing long words.
- Disorganised, confuses places, times, dates.
- Has difficulty understanding (processing) complex language or long instructions / explanations.
- Has difficulty understanding and meeting the requirements of assignments.
- Has areas of strength as well as weaknesses.