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How dyslexic is my child?

Do any of these common symptoms sound familiar? Some or all of these symptoms may be present.  Click here to download a printable version of this list.

In nursery school

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  • Has trouble recognising whether two words rhyme

  • Struggles with taking away the beginning sound from a word

  • Struggles with learning new words

  • Has trouble recognising letters and matching them to sounds

 

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In primary school

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  • Has trouble taking away the middle sound from a word

  • Has trouble blending several sounds to make a word

  • Often can’t recognize common sight words

  • Quickly forgets how to spell many of the words they have studied

  • Gets confused by wordy maths problems

  • Makes many spelling errors

  • Frequently has to re-read sentences and passages

  • Reads at a lower academic level than how they speak

  • Avoids reading aloud in class

  • Has difficulty saying the right word e.g. ‘except’ for ‘exempt’

  • Spells the same word differently in the same piece of work

  • Difficulty expressing ideas in an organised way with the right spelling, grammar and punctuation

 

In secondary school

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  • Often skips over small words when reading aloud

  • Doesn’t read at the expected level according to their overall ability

  • Strongly prefers multiple-choice questions over fill-in-the-blank or short                                          answer questions

  • Has trouble understanding joke punchlines, puns, proverbs and idioms

  • Has difficulty supporting an argument or getting to the point

  • Has trouble reading charts and graphs

  • Struggles to learn a foreign language

How dyspraxic is my child?

Do any of these common symptoms sound familiar? Some or all of these symptoms may be present.  Click here to download a printable version of this list.

In nursery school

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  • Often bumps into people and things

  • Has trouble learning to jump and skip

  • Is slow to develop left or right-hand dominance

  • Often drops objects or has difficulty holding them

  • Has trouble grasping pencils and writing or drawing

  • Has difficulty negotiating buttons, press studs, laces and zips

  • Speaks slowly or doesn’t enunciate words

  • Has trouble speaking at the right speed, volume and pitch

  • Struggles to play and interact with other children

In primary school

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  • Tries to avoid sports or gym

  • Takes a long time to write, due to difficulty gripping pencil and forming letters

  • Has trouble moving objects from one place to another, e.g. pieces on a game board

  • Struggles with games and activities that require hand-eye coordination

  • Has trouble following instructions and remembering them

  • Finds it difficult to stand for a long time because of weak muscle tone

In secondary school

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  • Has trouble with sports that involve jumping and cycling

  • Tends to fall and trip; bumps into things and people

  • May talk continuously and repeat things

  • May forget and lose things

  • Has trouble picking up on nonverbal signals from others

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