'The symptoms of dyslexia'

Do you or your child exhibit the symptoms of dyslexia?

Do you or they: -

p Have difficulties reading, writing or spelling?
p Find it difficult to make yourself clearly or easily understood?
p Believe people see you as lazy or careless?
p Have trouble understanding maths which involve symbols such as calculus?
p Regularly see images or pictures from different aspects at the same time?
p Find it difficult to concentrate?
p Find that you or they forget something shortly after reading it?
p Have a habit of daydreaming?
p Sometimes become confused and disoriented?
p Find you are frequently restless and have difficulty sitting still?
p Find it difficult to maintain eye to eye contact?
p Sometimes get letters and numbers mixed up or back to front?
p Sometimes can't remember where you're going or where you should be?
p Occasionally bump into others when outdoors?
p Think people believe them to be clumsy, sometime gets called butter fingers?
p Suffer from headaches when reading?

Characteristics of dyslexia

A number of the following behaviours, abilities, personality traits,
perceptual differences or developmental differences may be present
to a greater or lesser degree. However, these symptoms can vary,
depending on many factors.

To enable you to obtain a better idea of how likely it is, that you
or child have the condition known as dyslexia, you may wish to tick
the box alongside any item which may apply. The larger the number
of items selected the greater the likelihood of dyslexia.

Style of Learning

p Was a late developer (walking, talking, crawling).
p Despite being intelligent and articulate, was unable to read, write, or spell.
p Complains of being accused of acting, stupid, lazy, clumsy, "not trying hard enough"
p IQ is well above average but does not do well academically especially in tests.
p Feels stupid; has low self-esteem; becomes adept at concealing weaknesses.
p Daydreams a lot; gets easily lost in his/her own thoughts, loses track of time.
p Has difficulty sustaining attention; seems "hyper."
p Finds it hard to concentrate and gets rather restless
p Tests well orally, but performs badly in written tests.
p Learns quickly through observation, demonstrations, experimentation, visual aids.
p Good at applying abstract ideas.
p Excels at subjects such as, brain-storming, designing, engineering, mechanics,
building, business, sales, art, music, drama, story-telling & sometimes sports.

Reading, writing and language skills

p May be able to read at a reasonable speed, but not understand what is read.
p Spells phonetically and inconsistently.
p Never reads for pleasure.
p Distracted by patterns in printed text, complains that words jump off the page.
p Performs poorly if asked to read aloud.
p Experiences dizziness and headaches when reading and may feel unwell.
p Can become confused by some types of letters, numbers or words.
p Cannot remember lists of items.
p Is easily confused by long verbal explanations, especially involving sequences.
p Gets mixed up with, letters and words and finds it difficult to explain things.
p Repeats words or entire sentences when reading and sometimes leaves words out.
p Forgets what is being discussed in mid sentence.
p Finds it difficult to spell correctly
p Hears things not said or not apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.
p Misunderstands what is heard.
p Says things that do not make sense to others.
p Is also put off easily by sounds
p Has difficulty putting thoughts into words.
p May mispronounce long words, or transposes phrases & words when speaking.
p Both reading or writing can show repetitions, transpositions, additions, omissions,
substitutions & reversals in letters, words, or numbers.

Vision

p Complains of feeling or seeing movement or distortion while reading or writing.
p May see things on a page that are not there.
p May see the words jumping around the page when reading or writing.
p Has problems with vision that standard eye tests do not seem to reveal.
p Finds it hard seeing things properly

Dexterity

p May have difficulty with tasks that involve motor skills.
p Has difficulty copying or writing out things correctly
p Handwriting is sometimes illegible.
p May be unable to read or understand his/her own handwriting.
p Handwriting may persistently change between being illegible and legible.
p Method used to grip pen or pencil may be unusual.
p May be both right and left handed (ambidextrous).
p Looks awkward and uncoordinated when playing games or sports.
p Poor at ball games or sports that involve catching.
p Often confuses left and right or under and over.

Time

p Experiences some difficulty telling, managing, and being on time.

Maths

p Shows dependence on using coping strategies.
p Relies on his/her fingers to count.
p May be able to count well but has difficulty counting objects.
p May have problems dealing with money.
p May be able to do arithmetic but not problems which involve language.
p Unable to grasp algebra or calculus.

Memory

p Has problems with short term memory
p Generally, has an excellent long-term memory.
p Has memory problems related to sequencing and structuring information.
p Thinks mainly using images not internal dialogue.

Behaviour

p Strong sense of fair play and justice.
p Can be over sensitive, emotional and strive for perfection.
p Appears not to be to far behind in studies but may actually be several years behind.
p May be a bit noisy or a bit of a comedian, or alternatively be very quiet.
p May become emotional about problems at school, reading, writing, or maths.
p May be prone to allergies.
p May have a high or low pain threshold.
p Can become extremely frustrated.
p Can be extremely disorderly and crave attention.