Red Flag Behaviors
Dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty with reading. It’s unexpected because these students are typically very good performers in many other ways. However, a "neurological glitch" in how the brain processes information causes them to experience significant problems with accurate and fluent word recognition. As a result, reading, comprehension and spelling are extremely challenging.
Listed below are examples of “red flag” behaviors that may indicate a middle school or high school student is experiencing reading hurdles caused by dyslexia.
- Slow, choppy, inaccurate reading, including:
o Guesses, skips, and misreads
o Inability to sound out unknown words
o Ignoring suffixes
- Great difficulty with spelling
- Doesn’t recognize or remember sight words
- Difficulty telling time
- Struggles to memorize a sequence of steps
- Difficulty with word retrieval
- Limited vocabulary
- Dreads school (headaches, stomach pains, etc.)
- Extremely poor written expression
- Poor grades in many classes
- Terrific fear of reading aloud
- Unusually high test-taking anxiety
- Lowered self-esteem, depression
One indicator does not mean that your child has dyslexia. However, if several signs exist or if there is a family history of reading difficulties, then it may be time to get a formal assessment and begin a structured, research-based remediation solution such as Multisensory Reading and Spelling.