Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder which affects both children and adults causing problems with reading, writing, and spelling. People with dyslexia find it difficult to break down words into simple sounds resulting in slow reading. It’s important to know that it’s not a problem of intelligence. Kids with dyslexia are just as smart as other children. Its symptoms and severity change at different ages of life. Keep reading to know dyslexia symptoms by age.

Pre-School years

• Speech delay. They take longer to speak and write than other children of the same age
• Unable to learn or remember the letters of the alphabet
• Mispronounce words frequently e.g. aminal instead of animal
• Unable to understand or learn rhyming patterns like cat, sat, mat or nursery rhymes
• Unable to recognize their name
• Struggle to follow the instructions

Grade-School years

• Reads and writes more slowly than other kids of their age
• Unable to differentiate between certain letters or words
• Can’t associate letters with the sounds they make — “em” for “m”
• Write letters or numbers wrong way, such as “b” instead of “d”
• Mispronounce even simple words such as dog, cat, etc.
• Words appear to blur or jump around while reading
• Unable to follow a series of instructions
• Doesn’t seems interested in books
• Makes errors in speaking and pronunciation

Middle- School years

• Have difficulty writing assignments with proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation
• Takes much longer to finish their homework especially that requires reading
• Avoid or dislikes reading aloud in class as he does not want to get embarrassed
• Uses similar sounding words with different meaning “furnish” for “finish” or “lotion” instead of “ocean”
• Uses a lot of ums during conversations as he can’t find the right word
• Speaks slowly and awkwardly
• Struggles with new words and sounding them out
• Misspell words that are long, unknown, or complicated
• Have trouble to fit in the class and to participate in group activities

High school and college years

• Unable to get jokes, puns, or turns of phrase, need someone to make them understand the punch lines
• Stammers and can’t find the right words during a conversation
• Difficulty in expressing his ideas, in sharing his views, in getting to the point or to support an argument
• Lacks a sense of direction confuses right and left
• Struggles in reading graphs and charts
• Unable to learn foreign languages
• Avoid reading out loud in front of coworkers, friends, and children
• Pause and hesitate often while speaking
• Poor pronunciation and limited vocabulary
• Have a difficulty in remembering names, places, and telephone numbers
• Don’t give quick responses during a conversation
• Difficulty with tasks involving memorization and repetition
• Time management issues, things take much longer than they will
• Trouble summarizing things they read
• Trouble doing the math

If your child has these symptoms, talk to your child’s doctor. And if dyslexia is the cause, your doctor may refer you to a specialist for more tests and treatment. The earlier your child gets diagnosed, the sooner treatment get started to bring his/her language and writing skills speed up.

For more information, you can visit MedicineNet and dyslexia.com.