Why is my child struggling to read?  Do they have signs of dyslexia?

Are you wondering if your child is showing signs of dyslexia?  Are you asking some of these questions?

• Is my child dyslexic?
• Will they ever learn to read?
• Why does my child hate reading so much and how come they still don’t know how to correctly spell a certain word after 2 years at school and lots of practice??

Or you’re a teacher and feel unprepared or don’t know where to start with those struggling readers, let me tell you…

You are not alone!! 

Read on, to find out more about the common signs of dyslexia and what you can do to help!!

First of all, a bit about me.  I started my teaching journey as a primary school teacher here in NZ.  I love teaching children and seeing their zest for life and learning in the classroom.  One of my all-time passions is helping children learn to read and write.  It is so amazing to see young children going from their preschool skills to being able to pick up a book and read it or write a sentence.

I came across a wee girl named Molly a few years into my teaching experience.  She was a bright and inquisitive girl with an amazing personality.  She lit up the room with her bright smile. However, when it came to writing time, she just couldn’t grasp it, no matter how many of my teaching skills I tried with her.  Whenever she had to read or write, I started to notice her bright spark leave and it broke my heart.

This is where my learning journey began!

I trained as a specialist teacher for children with specific learning disabilities and now have the privilege of helping these amazing kids in a 1-1 situation.

So where to from here for your struggling reader and what are these common signs of dyslexia?

⇒  First things first!  I always ask if a child has had their vision and hearing checked.  If a child has a physical problem with their eyes or ears, this could be the cause of their learning difficulty.  Rule this out first!

Secondly, it is important to note that a learning disability such as dyslexia has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence!!  Dyslexia has to do with the brain’s ability to process information, especially in regard to sounds and symbols.  Dyslexia is sometimes referred to as a learning difference!!  Simply put, a child with dyslexia learns differently.

It is very important to understand and be aware that being dyslexic does not have to impact a child’s future success!  They can, like many other famous dyslexics, absolutely succeed in life and fulfill their dreams!!

When asking the question, ‘Is my child dyslexic?’, it is good to know some of the common signs of dyslexia so that you can keep an eye out and pick it up early.  It has been scientifically proven that if a child’s learning difficulty is picked up early and they get the right help, then they can make significant improvements.

7 common signs of Dyslexia…

1 – Letter and/or number reversals – that persist beyond 7yrs old.

You may see the reversal of letters b and d, p and q, and reversals of numbers like 5 or 3.

⇒  To note: – This is quite common when children first start to learn to write, however, it usually corrects itself in the first year or so.  If it continues beyond this time frame it may be something to watch.

You can find my best-selling resource to help with these reversals here.  These reversal activities help to give children memory strategies to get their letters and numbers the right way around.

2 – Confusion with similar-looking letters or words.

Children may get mixed up with words that look similar like was/saw, left/felt, and dad/bad.  They may also get confused with similar-looking letters such as n/m or h/n.  We call this visual discrimination.  I have made some fun activities to help your child increase their ability to see these differences.  Find them here!

3 – Unable to hear the difference between similar sounds.

Some sounds are very similar such as b/p, f/v, and t/d.  The only difference may be that one is voiced and the other is not.  To see this in action, put your hand on your throat as you say those letter sounds and you will feel the difference.  Your child may not be able to hear and associate these sounds with the correct letters.

4 – Difficulty hearing sounds within words.

Phonemic Awareness is a term that describes the ability to hear individual sounds within words.  For example: – if you ask a child, what sounds can you hear in the word ‘cat’.  They should be able to hear that it is made up of 3 sounds – /c/  /a/  /t/.  A child with dyslexia may find this extremely difficult.

5 – Unable to hear rhyming words.

This could very well be one of the earliest signs you may see.  Children with dyslexia may find it very hard to hear and identify rhyming words.  Understanding that ‘house’ and ‘mouse’ have the same rhyming sound will need to be taught for a dyslexic child and may not be picked up naturally.

6 – Difficulties with sequencing.

A child with dyslexia may have difficulty remembering things in a sequence.  They may struggle to remember the sequence of the alphabet, the days of the week and the months of the year.

7 – Confusion with the orientation of things in space and time.

There may be confusion with left and right, front and back, up and down, or before and after.  This spatial orientation difficulty can also show up with handwriting difficulties such as, not being able to space letters out or know how to write from left to right.  Their handwriting may be cramped or too big.

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These 7 common signs are by no means an exhaustive list.  There are others that I haven’t mentioned like hand-eye coordination,  poor organisation skills, visual and auditory memory difficulties, and handwriting difficulties to name just a few.   It is also very common to see dyslexia run in the family.  I was much more aware of my daughter’s problems because I knew that my husband had been diagnosed with dyslexia as a child.  This may be something you can look into.

One more important thing to remember is that no two children are alike.  Our struggling learners are all unique!

What now?

• Reach out to your child’s school or teacher and tell them what you have noticed.  They may have a special test they can give your child to look further into it.
• Look into getting your child an independent assessment such as one from an educational psychologist.
• Find out as much information as you can from blogs like this or other online communities.  I will be sharing websites with you that I think are great for this in future blogs.
• Check out my resources for literacy on my TPT store or Shop.  These are resources I use with my students and have found very successful.
• Here in NZ, you can go to SPELD for advice, testing, and referral.  In the United States, you can find great information on testing here at the International Dyslexia Association.
• Look at ways you can help from home-
  • Keep reading stories to your child.
  • Play games together that involve reading.  Here’s a free game that I created to use with my daughter and students.  It’s a card game that’s super fun – Short Vowel Sounds Card Game.
  • Find some audiobooks from the local library.  This is a great way to increase your child’s vocabulary and interest.
  • Celebrate the small successes.  For me, this means, celebrating being able to get ready for school and remembering what that involves.
  • Be your child’s biggest cheerleader and remember that when they come home from school, they have most likely worked 100% harder than other children just to make it through the day.  Home needs to be a safe space!!
  • Check out my blog post that outlines ways to support your struggling reader at home for some great tips.

You are going to get through this!! I would love to be there to help you on your journey.

I look forward to hearing from you and would love to hear how this blog post has helped you. Feel free to reach out to me or you can connect with me in my Instagram dm’s @kidequipnz

Don’t forget, you can grab my FREE GUIDE to help you navigate the journey with your child or students. Pop your details in and it will get sent straight to your inbox (no spam – promise!)