WHAT ARE THE RED FLAGS FOR DYSLEXIA?

In today’s post, we are going to look at the symptoms of dyslexia. Symptoms are tell tale signs that indicate possible issues one may be facing.

How do we pick up whether a child may be struggling with a learning issue? We look at the symptoms displayed by the child. We are all aware that humans have five basic senses: touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing. There are also two less known senses, which are vestibular and proprioception.

The way our senses operate is that they work together to send information to the brain in order to help us make sense of our environment. When there is inaccurate input, it will lead to inaccurate output.

Ron said that the symptoms of dyslexia are actually symptoms of disorientation (which I will touch on later) and affect four of our senses, namely vision, hearing, balance/coordination (which comes from the vestibular sense) and sense of time.

Below is a list of some of the more common symptoms affecting each of our four senses, but they are by no means exhaustive.

Vision:
- shapes and sequences of letters or numbers appear changed or reversed
- spelling is incorrect or inconsistent
- words or lines are skipped when reading or writing
- punctuation marks or capital letters are omitted, ignored or not seen
- words and letters are omitted, altered or substituted while reading or writing

Hearing:
- some speech sounds are difficult to make
- diagraphs such as ch, th and sh are mispronounced
- “false” sounds are perceived
- what is said does not appear to be listened to or heard

Balance/Movement:
- dizziness or nausea while reading
- poor sense of direction
- inability to sit still
- difficulty with handwriting
- problem with balance and coordination

Time:
- hyperactivity (overactive)
- hypoactivity (underactive)
- difficulty learning math concepts
- difficulty being on time or telling time
- excessive day dreaming
- frequent loss of train of thought
- trouble sequencing (putting things in the correct order)

How many symptoms on the list did you tick off that correspond with what you see in your child? What should you do next? Who should you approach for help? What is the difference between screening and assessment? Stay tuned to our next post!