Symptoms

Dyslexia symptoms vary according to the severity of the disorder as well as the age of the individual.

Pre-school age children

It is difficult to obtain a certain diagnosis of dyslexia before a child begins school, but many dyslexic individuals have a history of difficulties that began well before kindergarten. Children who exhibit these symptoms have a higher risk of being diagnosed as dyslexic than other children. Some of these symptoms are:

• Learns new words slowly
• Has difficulty rhyming words, as in nursery rhymes
• Low letter knowledge

Teenage

• Difficulty learning the alphabet
• Difficulty with associating sounds with the letters that represent them (sound-symbol correspondence)
• Difficulty identifying or generating rhyming words, or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness)
• Difficulty segmenting words into individual sounds, or blending sounds to make words (phonemic awareness)
• Difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems
• Difficulty learning to decode words
• Difficulty distinguishing between similar sounds in words; mixing up sounds in multisyllable words (auditory discrimination) (for example, “aminal” for animal, “bisghetti” for spaghetti)

Older  people

• Slow or inaccurate reading
• Very poor spelling
• Difficulty associating individual words with their correct meanings
• Difficulty with time keeping and concept of time
• Difficulty with organization skills
• Due to fear of speaking incorrectly, some people become withdrawn and shy or become bullies out of their inability to understand the social cues in their environment
• Difficulty comprehending rapid instructions, following more than one command at a time or remembering the sequence of things
• People with dyslexia may fail to see (and occasionally to hear) similarities and differences in letters and words, may not recognize the spacing that organizes letters into separate words, and may be unable to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word.

Adult Dyslexia:

Directional Confusion
Directional confusion may take a number of forms, for example being uncertain of which is left and right, and is the reason for the reversing of letters, whole words or numbers, or for so-called mirror writing.

Sequencing Difficulties
Many dyslexics have trouble with sequencing, i.e. perceiving something in sequence and also remembering the sequence. Naturally this will affect their ability to read and spell correctly.

Difficulties with the Little Words
A frequent comment made by parents of children struggling with their reading is, ‘He is so careless, he gets the big difficult words, but keeps making silly mistakes on all the little ones.

Bizarre Reading and Spelling
Bizarre reading or spelling is a severe form of dyslexia and is characterized by guessing wildly at words regardless of whether they make sense or not.

Late Talking or Immature Speech
Research has revealed a dramatic link between the abnormal development of spoken language and learning disabilities such as dyslexia.

Difficulties with Handwriting
Some dyslexics suffer from poor handwriting skills. The word dysgraphia is often used to describe a difficulty in this area, and is characterized by the
following symptoms.

Difficulties with Math
The language of mathematics is often poorly understood by the dyslexic up until the age of twelve – and even beyond. Around 60 percent of dyslexics have difficulty with basic mathematics.

More Dyslexia Signs
Other dyslexia signs include making up a story based on the book’s illustrations which bears no relation to the text, reading very slowly and hesitantly

Dyslexia in adults and Career Opportunities

Dr. Gilda Palti
Dyslexia is generally perceived as an educational problem, affecting the individual’s ability to learn to read, write and spell. It is mainly viewed as a childhood disorder. However, dyslexia continues throughout life, and dyslexic individuals continue to experience problems in living, learning and working. There are also a large number of undiagnosed adult dyslexics who face problems of life adjustment without knowing that they are bright enough to achieve. It is common for dyslexic adults to be faced with emotional and social difficulties, which make success harder to achieve.

As a direct consequence of cognitive inefficiencies a dyslexic individual will have more difficulty acquiring certain skills than a non-dyslexic individual of similar intelligence. Most notably, dyslexic individuals take longer to develop literacy skills and expend more time and energy in the process, than non-dyslexic individuals. They have difficulties with remembering facts, figures, sequences of instructions, messages and names. Many dyslexic individuals lack organisational skills. Because of poor concept of time, they are frequently late for meetings and appointments. They can also have trouble following and keeping track of what is said in a conversation, lecture or interview (primary symptoms).

In addition to the above primary symptoms and as a consequence, dyslexic individuals may develop some secondary symptoms, such as low self-esteem, lack of confidence, negativity and poor motivation. These problems can, in turn, lead to isolation, stress disorders and depression, and affect the dyslexic individual’s life in general and working opportunities in particular.

It is important to make dyslexic individuals aware of the difficulties that might arise as a consequence of their condition and to provide advice on how they could overcome them. Further, it is important to make them aware of the possibility of their dyslexia adding to normal occupational stress and fatigue. 

 For successful adaptation, coping strategies should be taught and developed. These skills could best be developed in individual or small group sessions.

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