All ages

• Are they bright in some ways with a 'block' in others?
• Is there anyone else in the family with similar difficulties?
• Do they have difficulty carrying out three instructions in sequence?
• Were they late in learning to talk, or with speaking clearly?

Ages 7-11

• Do they have particular difficulty with reading or spelling?
• Do they put figures or letters the wrong way e.g. 15 for 51, 6 for 9, b for d, was for saw?
• Do they read a word then fail to recognise it further down the page?
• Do they spell a word several different ways without recognising the correct version?
• Do they have a poor concentration span for reading and writing?
• Do they have difficulty understanding time and tense?
• Do they confuse left and right?
• Do they answer questions orally but have difficulty writing the answer?
• Are they unusually clumsy?
• Do they have trouble with sounds in words, e.g. poor sense of rhyme?

Ages 12 - adult

• Are they sometimes inaccurate in reading?
• Is spelling poor?
• Do they have difficulty taking notes or copying?
• Do they have difficulty with planning and writing essays, letters or reports?

Some common problems

You may think that they are not listening, but….

• they may have difficulty in remembering a list of instructions
• they may have problems getting thoughts together coherently for stories, essay writing or report writing
• they may have sequencing problems and may need to be taught strategies to cope/alternative ways of remembering.

You may think that they are lazy, but…

• they may have difficulty in organising work and need specific teaching to help them
• they may be able to answer the questions orally but can't write them down
• they may have found that the less they write, the less trouble they get into for making mistakes

You may think that they are not concentrating, but…

• they may have difficulty in copying accurately. This is often because  they cannot remember chunks but need to look at each letter, write it, then look at the word again, find the place, and so on...

You may think that they are careless, but…

• they may have very poor handwriting as they haven’t sufficient hand skills to control the pencil.

You may think that they are not checking work, but…

• they may spell the same word several different ways if they don't have the visual memory to know what is right or the kinaesthetic memory for it to feel right as they are writing.

You may think that they don't look carefully, but…

• they may have a visual memory deficiency and therefore experience difficulty when interpreting symbols.

You may think that they are being awkward / impossible on purpose, but…  

• they may be able to produce very good work one day and the next ‘trip up over every word’. ‘Off days’ are quite common and require extra encouragement and understanding.

Some common strengths that you may be surprised at:

• they have a good visual eye
• they may be able to arrange the furniture very effectively
• they are very imaginative and skilful with their hands
• they may be able to make the best models
• they are practical
• they may be able to work the computer before the others - even perhaps repair it.
• They may be able to start the car when others have failed
• they are mad on sport and may excel at individual sports
• they have a fantastic imagination
• they may be able to tell wonderful stories if their long-term memory is good.

General comments
The main problems are:

• poor sequencing skills
• poor auditory discrimination and memory
• poor visual discrimination and memory
• poor short term memory
• poor self-confidence

Summary

There are many types of learning disability of which dyslexia is only one. In some cases of disability, diagnosis can be difficult. Only a full diagnostic assessment will determine if any child or adult is dyslexic - but there are pointers.

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