CHARACTERISTICS OF DYSLEXIA, Kindergarten – Third Grade

The following signs may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities.

• History of talking later than most children;
• History of difficulty with rhyming;
• History of difficulty learning nursery rhymes;
• History of difficulty pronouncing words (i.e. busgetti for spaghetti, mawn lower for lawn mower);
• History of poor auditory memory for nursery rhymes and chants;
• History of difficulty learning new vocabulary;
• History of being unable to recall the right word;
• History of difficult with learning numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, and how to spell and write his or her name;
• Fails to understand that words come apart; for example, that snowman can be pulled apart into snow and man; and that the word man can be broken down still further and sounded out as /m/ /a/ /n/;Difficulty learning the letter names and their corresponding sounds;
• Difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation) – lacks a strategy;
• Difficulty spelling phonetically;
• Reads dysfluently (choppy and labored);
• Relies on context to recognize a word;
• Good at understanding new concepts;
• Exhibits curiosity, Has great imagination;
• Has the ability to figure things out.