Signs Your Child May Have Dyslexia (And What To Do Next)

As a parent, it can be hard to know whether your child is just a late reader or whether something else is going on. Dyslexia is one of the most common learning differences, affecting about 1 in 5 children, yet it often goes unidentified for years. The good news is that with the right support, children with dyslexia can become confident, capable readers.

Here are five signs to watch for:

1. Difficulty Learning Letter Sounds Children with dyslexia often struggle to connect letters with the sounds they make. If your child can recite the alphabet but can't sound out simple words like "cat" or "map," this may be an early sign.

2. Slow, Labored Reading Reading should become more fluent over time. If your kindergartner or first grader is reading very slowly, guessing at words, or skipping small words entirely, it is worth paying attention to.

3. Trouble Rhyming or Playing With Sounds Rhyming games, clapping syllables, and identifying beginning sounds are all early literacy skills. Difficulty with these phonemic awareness tasks is one of the earliest predictors of reading challenges.

4. Spelling That Doesn't Improve Children with dyslexia often spell words differently every time they write them, even common words they have seen hundreds of times. This isn't laziness. It reflects how dyslexia affects the brain's ability to store word patterns.

5. Avoiding Reading Altogether When reading feels hard, kids avoid it. If your child resists reading aloud, makes excuses to skip reading time, or seems frustrated or emotional around books, that is a signal worth exploring.

What to Do Next

If you recognize several of these signs in your child, the first step is a reading assessment. At Rising Bookworms LLC, we offer comprehensive literacy screenings to identify exactly where your child is struggling and build a personalized plan using Orton-Gillingham and Science of Reading methods.

Early intervention makes a huge difference. Reach out today to schedule a free consultation. We serve families in Cincinnati, OH and virtually worldwide.