Is it dyslexia?
What parents tend to notice, set out plainly. These are signs worth looking at rather than a diagnosis.
Most parents arrive at this question the same way, with a feeling that something is not adding up. Your child is bright, curious, funny, good at explaining things, and school is somehow much harder for them than it should be.
Nothing on this page diagnoses anything, because only a Level 7 specialist assessor or an educational psychologist can do that. It should, though, tell you whether what you are seeing is worth looking into further.
Signs by age
Ages 5 to 7
- Letter sounds are slow to stick, and the ones that do then go missing again
- Rhyme is hard work
- Finding it hard to pick out the separate sounds in a word, such as the four sounds in gift or trim
- Reading the same word correctly on one line and not the next
- Muddling b and d, or was and saw, well past the point where other children have stopped
- Trouble with the days of the week, months, or the alphabet in order
- Talks a far better story than they can write
Ages 7 to 11
- Reading is slow and effortful, and they avoid it
- They understand far more when you read to them than when they read themselves
- Spelling does not stick, and the same word appears spelled several ways in one piece
- Writing is short, not because they have nothing to say, but because getting it down costs so much
- Homework takes much longer than it is meant to
- Copying from the board loses the thread
- Remembering more than one instruction at a time is hard
Ages 11 to 13
- They have found ways to hide it, and those ways start failing as the work gets heavier
- Notes and revision are the sticking point rather than understanding
- Reading aloud is avoided at all costs
- The gap between what they know and what they get on paper keeps widening
The sign that matters most
The one Sophie watches for is a child who has decided they are stupid. That belief does more damage than the reading difficulty itself, and it is usually the first thing to change once the right help arrives.
So what do I do now?
You do not need a diagnosis to get help
This surprises a lot of parents, but good specialist teaching does not wait for a report. If your child is struggling they can start now, and the teaching is the same either way.
What a formal assessment actually is
A diagnostic assessment is a few hours with a Level 7 specialist assessor or an educational psychologist, followed by a written report. It gives you a formal identification, and it is what schools and exam boards want to see for extra time and similar arrangements.
Sophie does not carry out diagnostic assessments. Her own initial assessment is a teaching assessment, which tells her how to teach your child.
Where to get one
Start with your child's school and ask what they have already noticed and what they can offer. The British Dyslexia Association and the NHS dyslexia page are both sensible next reads.
Talk it through with Sophie
If you are not sure what you are looking at, describe it on the free call. Sophie has seen a lot of children and will tell you honestly what she thinks.