Children and Learning Differences: What is Dyslexia and Its Symptoms?

Dyslexia is a language-based difficulty that falls under the umbrella of learning differences.

Children with dyslexia often find it challenging to identify and comprehend words, syllables, and letters. It frequently co-occurs with dysgraphia, which is a difficulty with writing.

Dyslexia is a neurological condition that is often genetic. Children with dyslexia may struggle with reading comprehension, and their vocabulary may develop at a slower pace. However, with the right educational support, nearly all dyslexic children can become proficient readers and writers.

Children with dyslexia typically exhibit several of the following characteristics. You may notice these traits changing from day to day, or even from minute to minute. The most consistent trait of a child with dyslexia is often their inconsistency.

General Characteristics

A child with dyslexia may communicate exceptionally well using age-appropriate words but struggle to read or write at an expected level. They are sometimes unfairly labeled as lazy, careless, or unmotivated when, in reality, they are working incredibly hard.

While they possess average or above-average intelligence, they often score poorly on written exams while excelling in oral evaluations. This discrepancy can lead to low self-esteem, prompting them to develop creative strategies to mask their difficulties. They may easily become emotionally distressed by reading and writing tasks, but show remarkable talent in areas like art, drama, music, sports, storytelling, or mechanics.

They may also daydream frequently, lose track of time, or struggle to maintain attention. They learn best through hands-on experience, direct involvement, observation, and experimentation.

Vision, Reading, and Spelling

Children might complain of physical symptoms like stomachaches or headaches during reading and writing. They can feel confused by letters, numbers, words, and syllables, often omitting, adding, or reversing them. Some report seeing the letters move on the page, or struggle with depth perception, even though their physical eye exams are perfectly healthy. They may also spell phonetically and inconsistently.

Hearing and Speech

They may have a high sensitivity to sound and get easily distracted by background noise. Expressing thoughts in words can be challenging; they might speak haltingly, leave sentences incomplete, stutter under stress, or mispronounce long words by transposing syllables.

Writing and Motor Skills

Writing or copying text can be difficult, often accompanied by an unusual pencil grip and messy or illegible handwriting. They might show weakness in fine or gross motor skills, struggle with team sports, or appear clumsy. Many are ambidextrous and frequently confuse directions like left/right or over/under.

Mathematics and Time Management

Telling time, managing schedules, and completing sequential tasks can be challenging. They may solve math problems using unconventional methods (like counting on their fingers) and find counting physical objects or managing money difficult. While they can often do basic arithmetic, word problems present a unique hurdle.

Memory and Cognition

They often have excellent long-term memory for personal experiences, places, and faces, but struggle to recall abstract information they haven't experienced directly. They tend to think primarily in images and feelings rather than words.

Behavior, Health, and Personality

In daily life, they may be compulsively neat or incredibly disorganized. In a classroom, they might act as the class clown, become a troublemaker, or withdraw into silence. They may have reached early developmental milestones (like crawling or talking) unusually early or late. Many are sensitive to foods or chemical ingredients, have irregular sleep patterns, or show a high sensitivity to justice and emotional empathy. When under pressure, stress, or physical discomfort, their dyslexic traits and errors tend to increase.