The Preschool Years

• Trouble learning common nursery rhymes, such as “Jack and Jill”
• Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet
• Seems unable to recognize letters in his/her own name
• Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
• Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat
• A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties (dyslexia often runs in families)

 Kindergarten & First Grade

                        Difficulties

• Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on an illustrated page with a picture of a dog
• Does not understand that words come apart
• Complains about how hard reading is; “disappears” when it is time to read
• A history of reading problems in parents or siblings
• Cannot sound out even simple words like cat, map, nap
• Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound

      Strengths

• Curiosity
• Great imagination
• Ability to figure things out; gets the gist of things
• Eager embrace of new ideas
• A good understanding of new concepts
• Surprising maturity
• A larger vocabulary than typical for age group
• Enjoys solving puzzles
• Talent for building models
• Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him

Is it a disease or just a disability?

• description
• charactteristics
• advice

Dyslexia is a general term for disabilities that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters and other symbols. It is a language-based learning difference that affects the organisation in the brain that controls the ability to process the way language is read, heard, spoken or spelled. It is not an illness, nor a disorder. It is not laziness, nor something rare.

Dyslexic children do not lack in motivation or intelligence. They appear bright, highly intelligent and emotionally sensitive since they constantly strive for perfection and undoubtedly work harder to accomplish less than their classmates. They are very creative with vivid imagination and innovative ideas. They have an excellent picture memory and are very good at art, sports, technology and maths. However, they may get easily distracted and become mentally more tired than their peers or encounter problems with their short-term memory or time management and organisation of materials. They may have a low self-esteem and find it difficult to believe in themselves. They may also have problems with their classmates and experience stressful and unpleasant situations.

It is advisable to continuously encourage and praise dyslexic children, remind them of their strengths and give them lots of positive feedback so as to easily integrate in the school environment and boost their general performance.

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