37 Common Characteristics of Dyslexia

© 1992 Ronald D. Davis

Most dyslexics will exhibit about 10 of the following traits and behaviors. These characteristics can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute. The only thing consistent about dyslexia is its inconsistency.

 

•Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.
•Labelled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "behavior problem."
•Isn't "behind enough" or "bad enough" to be helped in the school setting.
•High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.
•Feels dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing.
•Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.
•Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time.
•Difficulty sustaining attention; seems "hyper" or "daydreamer."
•Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.

•Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.
•Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.
•Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
•Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying.
•Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem.
•Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
•Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
•Spells phonetically and inconsistently.

•Has extended hearing; hears things not said or apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.
•Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking.

•Trouble with writing or copying; pencil grip is unusual; handwriting varies or is illegible.
•Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks; prone to motion-sickness.
•Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right, over/under.

 

•Has difficulty telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time.
•Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks; knows answers, but can't do it on paper.
•Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money.
•Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra or higher math.

 

 

Printer friendly version in Adobe® Reader®. If you don't have Adobe Reader, download it free.