Dyslexics will often show difficulties with
- Phonological Awareness – this is a difficulty manipulating sounds within words and linking the idea of spoken word into text; either reading or writing. It is also a difficulty recognising rhyme, breaking down words into individual sounds and link written letters with the sound they make. It is also an inability to recognise blends (individual letters blended together, for example: ‘cl’, ‘pr’, ‘spl’, ‘str’) and digraphs (letters put together that make one sound, for example: ‘ai’, ‘oa’, ‘sh’, ‘th’) and the inability to break words down into syllables.
- Poor Auditory Short-term Memory: Dyslexics typically struggle to retain any amount of information that has been delivered verbally; especially long lists. Learning times tables and to tell the time may present a difficulty;
- Processing and Production Speed: Speed of thinking, processing information and producing answers quickly; whether verbally or written. They may have difficulties understanding what you say and following more complex instructions. Often lengthy exam questions can be misinterpreted or simply not understood.
- Poor co-ordination and fine motor skills – dyslexics often have very poor handwriting.
- May also show confusion between left and right.
- Organisational and Sequencing Difficulties: The typical brain is like a well organised library where information is neatly filed, any new information is automatically stored and information that needs retrieving is quickly accessible. Someone with dyslexia will generally struggle with retrieving information quickly as their brain will lack an organised ‘filing system’.
- Dyslexics often experience difficulties with visual processing.
- Difficulties learning a foreign language.
- Dyslexic readers can show a combination of difficulties that affect the learning process.
Reading Difficulties
- Reading age is significantly lower than chronological age.
- Poor sight recognition;
- Phonic difficulties; finds it difficult to decipher unfamiliar words;
- Reads slowly, in a laboured way, with little or no expression, without acknowledging punctuation;
- Omits or adds in words;
- Regularly loses his/her place on the page, reading the same line twice or missing a line out;
- Poor comprehension – sometimes losing the point of a passage or story; struggles to identify the main points.
Writing Difficulties
- Poor written work compared with oral ability;
- Untidy, badly displayed writing with poorly formed letters;
- Confuses letters which look similar: b/d, p/g, n/u, p/q (often capitalising these letters to reduce confusion);
- Several attempts at spelling the same word throughout in the same piece of work: abal, abel, aible;
- Uses letters in the wrong order: tired for tried, shear for share;
- May produce bizarre spellings that are very difficult to decipher;
- Confuses homophones: too/to/two; their/there/they’re.
- Poor structure and sequencing;
- Difficulty understanding and using correct punctuation and grammar;
- Struggles to get thoughts onto paper;
- Writes slower than peers and struggles to complete written tasks in timed conditions.
