Signs of Dyslexia in Children: What Parents Should Watch For
Parents often know that something isn't quite clicking with reading long before they know why.
Maybe your child is bright, curious, and great at explaining ideas out loud—but reading is exhausting. Maybe spelling words disappear from memory almost as quickly as they were learned. Or perhaps your child has had plenty of phonics instruction but still struggles to sound out an unfamiliar word.
These can be signs that a child needs additional reading support. In some cases, they may also be warning signs of dyslexia.
Understanding what to look for can help parents ask better questions and find the right kind of support for their child.
What Is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects word reading and/or spelling, particularly reading and spelling accuracy, speed, or both. Difficulties can range from mild to severe, and phonological processing difficulties are common, although they are not present in every person with dyslexia.
Most importantly, dyslexia is not a reflection of a child's intelligence.
A child can be bright, creative, articulate, and capable while having significant difficulty learning to read and spell.
Early Signs of Dyslexia in Preschool and Kindergarten
Dyslexia can show warning signs before a child becomes an established reader.
According to resources from the Barton Reading & Spelling System, some early warning signs parents may notice include:
Difficulty learning or producing rhymes
Trouble remembering the alphabet
Difficulty remembering information such as an address or phone number
Mixing up sounds or syllables in longer words
Difficulty learning tasks involving sequences or direction
A family history of dyslexia
At this age, one difficulty by itself doesn't necessarily indicate dyslexia. Children develop at different rates. However, a pattern of difficulties is worth paying attention to—especially when reading difficulties run in the family.
Signs of Dyslexia in Elementary School
Once children begin receiving formal reading instruction, dyslexia often becomes easier to recognize.
A child may:
Read slowly or inaccurately
Guess at unfamiliar words instead of sounding them out
Have difficulty sounding out new words
Skip or misread small words
Have significant difficulty with spelling
Learn spelling words for a test but struggle to remember them later
Have difficulty remembering common words
Struggle with reading fluency
Avoid reading or become frustrated during reading activities
One of the patterns I pay particular attention to is a child who has received phonics instruction but still cannot consistently use those skills to decode unfamiliar words.
The Barton Reading & Spelling System identifies slow or inaccurate reading, poor spelling, difficulty retaining spelling words, and an inability to easily sound out unfamiliar words despite previous phonics instruction as classic warning signs.
What About Letter Reversals?
Parents frequently associate dyslexia with reversing letters such as b and d.
Reversals can occur, but dyslexia is much more complex than seeing or writing letters backward. Young children who do not have dyslexia may reverse letters while they are learning to read and write.
Rather than focusing on a single reversal, look at your child's overall pattern of reading and spelling development.
Are they able to hear and manipulate sounds in words? Can they connect sounds with letters? Can they decode an unfamiliar word? Are reading and spelling becoming more automatic with instruction?
Those patterns tell us much more than an occasional reversed letter.
Signs of Dyslexia in Older Students
Dyslexia doesn't disappear when a child reaches middle or high school.
Older students may have learned ways to compensate for their difficulties, making the signs less obvious. They may understand sophisticated ideas when listening but struggle significantly when expected to access the same information through print.
You might notice:
Slow or effortful reading
Needing to reread material several times
Persistent spelling difficulties
Difficulty getting ideas onto paper
Avoiding reading or writing whenever possible
Difficulty reading unfamiliar or longer words
A noticeable difference between verbal ability and written work
Sometimes an older student has spent years believing they simply aren't a "good reader." In reality, they may never have received instruction that directly addressed the foundational skills they were missing.
My Child Has Several Signs. Does That Mean They Have Dyslexia?
Not necessarily.
A list of warning signs cannot diagnose dyslexia, and there are other reasons a child may struggle with reading.
However, persistent difficulty with reading, decoding, and spelling shouldn't simply be ignored in hopes that a child will eventually catch up.
If you're noticing a pattern, gathering more information is a good next step.
That may include talking with your child's teacher, reviewing reading assessment data, completing additional screening, or seeking a comprehensive evaluation when appropriate.
A formal dyslexia diagnosis is also not required before a student can receive targeted reading intervention. For example, the Barton Reading & Spelling System does not require a formal dyslexia diagnosis, although students must meet the program's screening requirements before beginning.
Why the Right Kind of Reading Instruction Matters
When a child struggles with reading, simply asking them to read more isn't always enough.
A student who cannot reliably decode unfamiliar words needs instruction that teaches them how written language works.
Structured Literacy instruction explicitly and systematically teaches the skills involved in reading and writing. Instruction builds from foundational skills and progresses in a logical sequence, with plenty of practice and review.
For students with dyslexia, this kind of instruction can be particularly important.
How Dyslexia Tutoring Can Help
Specialized dyslexia tutoring is different from simply helping a student complete reading homework.
The goal is to identify the skills creating difficulty and teach those skills directly.
Depending on the student, tutoring may address:
Phonemic awareness
Decoding
Sound-symbol relationships
Spelling
Syllable patterns
Reading fluency
Morphology
Written language skills
I use the Barton Reading & Spelling System with many of my students who have dyslexia or significant difficulty with reading and spelling. Barton is an Orton-Gillingham influenced program that provides explicit, systematic, multisensory reading and spelling instruction.
The program is designed as an intensive intervention rather than a general classroom reading curriculum.
Your Child Is More Than Their Reading Struggles
One of the most important things I want parents—and struggling readers themselves—to understand is that difficulty learning to read does not tell us how intelligent or capable a child is.
I've worked with students who have spent years thinking they weren't good at school because reading and spelling were so difficult for them.
Finding the right instruction can change more than reading skills.
It can change how a child sees themselves as a learner.
Looking for Dyslexia or Reading Tutoring?
If your child is struggling with reading, spelling, or sounding out unfamiliar words, individualized reading intervention may help determine where the difficulty is occurring and what skills need additional instruction.
Tutoring with Cassi Riggs offers individualized online dyslexia tutoring, Barton Reading & Spelling instruction, structured literacy intervention, and reading support for struggling readers.
If you're wondering whether specialized reading tutoring may be appropriate for your child, I'd be happy to talk with you about their needs and help you determine the next step.
