Characteristics and Signs of Dyslexia

Dyslexia has three central features: difficulty with word reading, spelling, and/or reading fluency. Students with dyslexia will have trouble in one or more of these areas, but the degree of expression will vary from person to person, from mild to severe. Dyslexia can be more or less impactful at different stages in a person’s life.

Dyslexia can also be present with other disorders. Another way to say this is that they are concomitant, co-existing, or comorbid. These other conditions can make dyslexia more complicated and impactful on learning. Learn more in the section entitled, “Dyslexia and Coexisting Conditions”.

Dyslexia is Linked to Challenges in:

Phonological awareness, including segmenting, blending, and manipulating the spoken syllables and sounds in words
Phonics skills, learning letters and sounds, and being able to see letters and letter patterns in print and recall and say the correct sounds
Poor phonological memory or working memory, challenges in remembering the sounds and patterns and using them to read or spell
Difficulty with rapid naming of familiar objects, colors, numbers, or letters of the alphabet

Common Characteristics of Dyslexia:

Poor decoding: difficulty reading (or sounding out) familiar and/or unfamiliar words, sometimes substituting a word that looks similar but doesn’t make sense in context, and/or skipping words that are too difficult
Poor fluency: slow, inaccurate, or effortful oral reading (slow reading rate) as well as slow and effortful silent reading
Poor spelling: trouble learning to spell, difficulty spelling words correctly, spelling errors are inconsistent, and sounds may be left out or poorly articulated
Poor reading comprehension: trouble with decoding and fluency can impact overall comprehension, especially in cases where a reader is working slowly and laboriously, or where time is a factor

Signs of Dyslexia

Depending on the age and educational demands present, and the particular strengths and challenges of a person, signs of dyslexia may be more or less obvious. In some cases, it may remain hidden until adolescence, and in others it may be easily noticed at a young age. People with dyslexia, like all people, have other strengths, and in many cases this serves to mask their struggles.

Signs of Dyslexia in Preschool

Mispronounces words, like saying “beddy tear” instead of “teddy bear”
Struggles to name familiar objects and uses general words like and instead in substitution
Has a hard time learning nursery rhymes or song lyrics that rhyme
Has trouble remembering sequences, like singing the letters of the alphabet
Tells stories that are hard to follow; has trouble talking about an event in a logical order
Has difficulty remembering and following directions with multiple steps

Signs of Dyslexia in Grades K–2

Has trouble learning letter names and remembering the sounds they make
Often confuses letters that look similar and letters with similar sounds
Struggles to read familiar words (like, can), especially if there aren’t pictures
Substitutes words when reading aloud, for example, hops for hopes or said for answered
Has trouble hearing the individual sounds in words and blending sounds to make a word
Has trouble remembering how words are spelled and applying spelling rules in writing

Signs of Dyslexia in Grades 3–5

Confuses or skips small words when reading aloud
Has trouble sounding out new words and quickly recognizing common ones
Struggles to explain what happened in a story or answer questions about key details
Frequently makes the same kinds of mistakes, like reversing letters
Has poor spelling; may spell the same word correctly and incorrectly in the same exercise
Avoids reading whenever possible or gets frustrated or upset when reading

Signs of Dyslexia in Teens and Tweens

Reads slowly, leaving out small words and parts of longer words when reading aloud
Struggles to remember common abbreviations, including ones on social media
Often seems to be searching for words; may use substitutes
Often does not “get” the joke; has trouble understanding idioms and puns
Has an easier time answering questions about a page of text if it’s read aloud
Takes a very long time to complete reading assignments

Myths or Common Misconceptions about Dyslexia

Dyslexia, from its earliest history, has been misunderstood, and many myths grew out of misunderstanding. Knowing what these are helps families and educators to be able to notice when dyslexia may be present.

Some myths:

If you have dyslexia you will not learn to read
Dyslexia is related to intellectual ability
A person’s gender determines whether they are more likely to have dyslexia
A person can outgrow dyslexia
It is an oral language disorder
Dyslexia is writing words or letters backward
Any reading difficulty is dyslexia
Dyslexia is uncommon
Is it caused by a lack of instruction
People with dyslexia need to try harder
There is only one evidence-based program that successfully helps with dyslexia

Logo Image

Logo Title

In This Section