Dyslexia is a disorder of learning to read and write that has a neurobiological origin. It is a condition whose main characteristic is a significant difficulty in developing reading skills and does not have any other cause such as vision problems, age or poor schooling. Children who suffer from this type of disorder have difficulties understanding what they read, recognizing words, expressing written texts verbally, and completing tasks. The detection of this type of condition must be done as quickly as possible to begin treating it so that it does not continue to develop.
If you are worried about your child because you suspect that he or she may have this type of disorder but you are not entirely sure, there are things that you can take into account to help with early detection. This is why in this Psychology-Online article: how to know if my child has dyslexiawe are going to give you a series of tips so that you can detect it as soon as possible.
How do I know if my child has dyslexia? Guidelines to follow
Although disorders such as dyslexia cannot be diagnosed at an early age, because to do so, the child’s reading level must be compared at least from one year to the next, normally between first and second grade. , you can always help prevent when certain symptoms are detected. Below we show you some clues that can help you know if your child is suffering from dyslexia.
- Educate yourself well about this disorder. The first and most important thing is to inform yourself exhaustively about dyslexia. This includes knowing exactly what it is, what its causes are, what its symptoms are, how it should be treated, etc.
- Know well what the symptoms of dyslexia are. Above all, be clear about the specific symptoms of dyslexia so that you do not confuse them with another type of condition and so that you can better detect the problem that your child presents.
- Pay attention to your child’s behavior. Dedicate a certain amount of time every day to observing your child very carefully and take note of the attitudes that catch your attention and that are cause for alarm. Keep in mind that dyslexia may not only be causing problems with reading and writing, but also other problems associated with it, such as poor spelling, speech, difficulty following instructions, as well as directly affecting interaction with other children.
Symptoms of dyslexia in children
As I mentioned before, it is necessary that you know what the specific symptoms of dyslexia so you can detect it. Pay attention to them because if you notice that your child is showing them, you can help prevent them early. How do I know if my child has dyslexia? Below we show you which are the main ones symptoms of a child with dyslexia.
Suspected factors before school age: first symptoms
- They start to talk late
- They get confused when verbally expressing words that have a similar pronunciation.
- Difficulty learning new words
- Difficulty expressing oneself
- Difficulty identify the letters
- When literacy problems have existed in the family history
- Confusion when distinguishing one’s own body parts
- Problems orienting yourself correctly in time and/or confusion in distinguishing the left side from the right.
- Delay in learning to memorize numbers, learn colors, days of the week, among other things.
- Difficulty learning new routines and following instructions given.
- They have a great lack of concentration and begin to increase their activity as well as their level of impulsivity.
- Trouble maintaining balance
- Difficulty holding the pencil correctly
- Problems regarding your
How to detect dyslexia during school age
At these ages, which are between 7 and 11 years old, it should already be known whether the child is dyslexic or not. The main and most obvious symptoms it presents are the following:
A. Reading problems
- His reading level is very poor compared to his age.
- He has many errors when reading and it is difficult for him to do so.
- It has a great difficulty associating letters with their respective sounds and to learn to pronounce new words.
- Problems decoding words that are in isolation
- Difficulty reading rare words or any meaningless text
- It usually changes the order of letters, as well as the order of numbers
- His reading is very slow and deliberate
- He obtains poor results in phonological tests
- Difficulty learning other languages
B. Writing problems
- Write in mirror since he usually confuses left and right
- Frequently reverses the order of numbers, letters and words
- It has very bad spelling
- Fails to adequately structure and organize thoughts so your grammar is poor
- He has poor handwriting and writes in a disorderly manner, that is, he does not follow the lines properly in the notebook or respect the margins.
C. Speech problems
Although dyslexic children generally express themselves better orally than in writing, they often have these types of difficulties:
- They find it difficult to change words that they pronounce incorrectly for the correct ones. That is to say, they get so used to the incorrect ones that when you want to correct them so that they get used to pronouncing the others, it is very difficult for them to do so.
- At the time of pronounce wordsthey usually invert them by changing, for example, syllables or substituting them
- They have some difficulty name the figures
- Sometimes it is difficult for them to find the right word according to the context, so they look for synonyms and do not always do it correctly.
D. Problems with mathematics and time compression
- It is difficult for him to carry out certain mathematical operations
- He cannot understand mathematical problems even though he can perform arithmetic operations
- Does not handle money properly
- He has great difficulty making proper use of the clock as well as having problems learning to control his time and carry out tasks that require a temporal sequence.
- It costs him a lot of work learn multiplication tablesas well as making use of them in your daily life.
- It’s hard for him to work locate in timethat is, knowing what time it is, what day it is, year, month, etc.
E. Problems with coordination
Not all children with dyslexia may present these types of problems, however it is common for them to occur on most occasions. Some of them are the following:
- Difficulty holding properly the pencil or scissors
- He is clumsy in terms of his motor coordination, which is why he tends to have several accidents.
- Has bad handwriting due to poor motor coordination
- He cannot carry out certain movements such as riding a bicycle, jumping, playing ball, etc.
If you think you have these symptoms, we recommend you take note of these
Late detection of dyslexia in adolescents
If at the age of 12 he has not yet been diagnosed with dyslexia, the adolescent will have serious problems that will be very difficult to eradicate. This is why a Early detection of this problem is extremely important even if we are not totally sure that it is a disorder like this.
The symptoms that the adolescent would present at this age or at older ages would be the following:
- Big trouble concentrating when reading or writing
- Due to reading compression problemsyou will have difficulties with your immediate memory as you cannot remember that what you just read
- Problems appropriately interpreting what you have read
- Difficulty organizing your thoughts when speaking or writing
- Difficulty organizing your workspace as well as the materials you are going to use for it
- Inability to organize your time, have your homework ready, and plan to study for exams
- Usually carries out schoolwork or class work slowly
- Has a hard time adapting to new environments
- Low self-esteem due to the learning difficulties it presents, among other associated difficulties
- His social skills are not well developed
- Blocks when trying to read or do a math problem for fear of making a mistake
- You present your first symptoms of anxiety or depression.
If you detect that a teenager has these symptoms, we recommend the following article for you.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Andalusian Dyslexia Association. (sf). General guide to dyslexia. Retrieved November 28, 2018, from http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/educacion/webportal/ishare-servlet/content/6070dc4f-5da3-459d-bb07-4f8eaaa76f9e