The signs are there earlier than you think.
Dyslexia shows up long before a child steps into a classroom. Here's what the research says to look for, age by age — starting in the preschool years when early action matters most.
The Preschool Years
The earliest clues involve spoken language, not reading. Shaywitz notes the very first sign may be delayed language onset. Once a child is talking, here's what to watch for.
- Late to start talking, or speech that developed more slowly than expected
- Trouble learning common nursery rhymes like "Jack and Jill"
- Doesn't recognize rhyming patterns (cat, bat, rat)
- Difficulty learning and remembering letter names
- Seems unable to recognize letters in their own name
- Mispronounces familiar words; persistent baby talk
Kindergarten & First Grade
This is the critical window. Formal reading instruction begins and the gap between what a child understands and what they can decode becomes visible. This is the time to act.
- Doesn't understand that words can be broken apart (bat + boy = batboy)
- Can't connect letters to sounds (the letter b with the "b" sound)
- Reading errors with no connection to the letters on the page — says "puppy" instead of "dog"
- Can't sound out simple words like cat, map, nap
- Complains reading is too hard; disappears when it's time to read
- History of reading difficulty in parents or siblings
Second Grade through High School
If dyslexia wasn't identified early, these are the years it becomes impossible to ignore, and the years when the emotional toll starts to compound. If your older child still doesn't have a diagnosis, it's not too late.
- Reading is very slow and labored; every page is a battle
- Makes wild guesses at unfamiliar words with no decoding strategy
- Avoids reading out loud at all costs
- Can read long, complex words but stumbles on short ones — "Metropolitan Stadium" but not "on." Small function words like in, on, the, and are often harder than big ones
- Searches for words; uses vague language like "that thing" or "the stuff" — the thought is completely there, the word just won't come. This is a retrieval problem, not a thinking problem
- Pauses, hesitates, uses lots of "um's" when speaking
- Mispronounces long or unfamiliar words
- Confuses similar-sounding words ("tornado" for "volcano")
- Needs extra time to respond to questions
- Can't finish tests on time, even when they know the material
- Extreme difficulty learning a foreign language
- Poor spelling, messy handwriting
- Trouble remembering names, dates, phone numbers, random lists
- Low self-esteem — may call themselves "dumb" even when they clearly aren't
Ready to take the next step?
If you recognize your child in these signs, getting a diagnosis is where everything starts. Not to label them, but to give them a roadmap.
All signs on this page are drawn directly from Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Sally Shaywitz (Second Edition, 2020), pp. 142–148, and the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. Dear Dyslexia is an independent advocacy resource and is not affiliated with Yale University.