A Dyslexia Checklist for Parents

Lookout for these signs of Dyslexia

Dyslexia primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.

This is a list of general signs that might indicate dyslexia for children aged 7 to 11.

If your child has problems with some of these tasks, it may be that they just need more help and opportunities to practice. Use the list of activities in the next section and our 'Learning Tracks' to help guide you. Be patient, proceed at your child's pace and make an extra effort to keep it fun.

Decide if you should seek a dyslexia assessment from an expert through your child's school if your observations mostly match the ones given. Note that all children make these mistakes initially but a dyslexic child might continue to have these problems.

Are they bright in some ways but appear to have a 'block' with others?

Is there anyone in the family with a history of similar difficulties?

Do they have difficulty carrying out three instructions in sequence?

Were they late in learning to talk, or speaking clearly?

Do they have particular difficulty with reading or spelling?

Do they often put figures or letters the wrong way e.g. 6 for 9, 15 for 51, b for d, was for saw?

Do they read a word then fail to recognise it further down the page?

Do they spell a word several different ways without recognising the correct spelling?

Do they have a poor concentration span for reading and writing?

Do they have difficulty understanding time and tense?

Do they often confuse left and right?

Do they answer questions orally but have difficulty writing the answer?

Are they unusually clumsy?

Do they have trouble with sounds in words?

Are they poor at rhyme?

If your think your child is dyslexic, there's a lot of help and guidance available which you should make use of. You can play a major part in helping your child manage the difficulties caused by dyslexia.

Taking positive action early on, against dyslexia will dramatically help your child's development. Many parents have done this and many dyslexic people do go on to succeed in many different ways.

Minimise the impact of dyslexia: give your child extra help

By the time a child starts school they already could have had up to 10,000 hours of valuable parental interaction. This amount of parental interaction has a direct effect on a child's ability to learn.

A dyslexic child starting school with a low level of parental help is at a huge disadvantage.

Children showing signs of dyslexia require more parental support to develop the reading, writing and comprehension skills they need to succeed in school and life.

How you correct your dyslexic child's mistakes is important. Avoid endlessly telling them they are 'wrong', just say "Oh, you mean ..." and give the correction. This won't block your child's conversation yet it gives them the corrective information they need.

If you find your child is lacking in any of the fifteen areas listed above, try the corresponding activities in the list below to give them extra help they need -

Make a list of their bright areas and which ones they need help with. If they feel down, remind them of the skills they are good at and that no one is good at everything. Give them extra help where they need it. Have lots of patience, breaking things they find difficult into simpler steps.
Pass on this list to your relations. Remember years ago dyslexia was not really understood in schools so older relations may not have been diagnosed as dyslexic.
Play the game 'Simon Says' daily, starting with one simple action and eventually building up to a series of three instructions. Remember to go at your child's pace.
Ideally keep a record of milestones like walking and talking. Do you think they are behind compared to children of a similar age?
Note that many children do have problems with reading and spelling. If you think your child is lagging behind aim to give extra help - your efforts will make improvements. Help your child learn to read using 'Letter Sounds' (also known as 'synthetic phonics') using our Literacy Learning Tracks.
Try these steps - a) Daily practice finger writing in a tray of sand b) Use a book where they can trace out the letters with their finger, and c) Make sure they understand the concept of counting using objects.
Make a note of a few of these words and make a point of using them on a daily basis for extra practice.
Make a list of these words and talk about them once a day.
What time of day your child concentrate best? Use that time to help them. You can build up your child's concentration levels by playing games together.
Make a point about talking to them about what happened yesterday once a day.
Play catch with your child. Which hand is your child better at catching with? Tell them that their best catching hand is their right or left hand as appropriate.
Dyslexics can often be excellent communicators. This skill can be better than non-dyslexics, so nurture this skill. Aim to give your child extra help with writing using our Literacy Learning Tracks.
Give them extra time to gain these skills, give them a lot of encouragement.
Let them play pouring water from one cup to another whilst spilling as little water as possible. Have regular trips to the playground.
Help them learn their Letter Sounds with our Literacy Learning Tracks. Make a list of sounds they have problems with and give them extra practice.
Choose a rhyme they like to hear, aim to say it to them on a daily basis.

Dyslexia causes frustration & low self-esteem

Before a dyslexic child is diagnosed dyslexic, it can be a difficult period. Sometimes, parents, and teachers, can become frustrated with the child.

As one parent told us, "because they were clearly intelligent in some areas, it looked to me that they weren't trying hard enough when it came to activities like reading. Eventually, I would run out of patience and would become frustrated with them."

Frustration is also something that the child goes through. No matter how much they try, they can't do what others appear to do so easily! Over time, this can impact their self-esteem and they begin to believe that they cannot succeed.

Obtaining a diagnosis of dyslexia can help parents a lot. They realise the behaviour that frustrated them was not due to their child's laziness or 'bad attitude'.

Parents with dyslexia

Parents with dyslexia face additional difficulties in supporting their children's learning.

Dyslexic parents often have some school memories they would rather forget. Schools then were not geared up to identifying dyslexic children or providing help. All too often schools incorrectly labelled them as 'stupid'. Unsurprisingly, dyslexic parents can be distrusting of schools.

The dyslexic parents we spoke to, desperately wanted to help their children enjoy school more then they did but were unsure how.

If you are one of these parents then your challenge is to believe your child can have a better experience than you did and this means trusting the school system and your child's teachers. The good news is that schools have changed... the 'synthetic phonics' method for learning to read suits dyslexics better. It will require dedicated practice by your child relying on your help.

Why not learn together with your child? We will guide you.

Our Learning Tracks are based on 'learning through play' and this has many advantages for dyslexic parents and dyslexic children.

Conquer dyslexia: tips for parents of dyslexic children

Dyslexic children need extra support from their parents so find out more about dyslexia.

Always remember that dyslexia is not an intellectual disability. The proof of this, is that there are countless examples of successful dyslexic people from Albert Einstein to Sir Richard Branson.

Find an activity that your child can excel at or really enjoys. It could be swimming, running, football, art, cooking... anything. That way your child will always know they are good at something. This will help balance out the times when they might find themselves struggling at school.

A computer screen reader is the way we recommend dyslexic parents to read out content. A computer screen reader can open up a world of help on the internet. Don't forget about sites such as YouTube.

Dyslexic people are often more creative, so let them have regular ways of expressing and practicing their creativity. Nurture their creativity, creativity is a valuable skill that not many people have!

Dyslexic people find it harder to read when they are tired so helping your child stick to a good sleep routine will help them cope better at school.

Use a spell checker when doing homework.

Spell checkers and text-to-speech systems offer help to dyslexic children. They can be used to support reading, writing and learning.