Dyslexia is a congenital and developmental condition that causes neurological anomalies in the brain. It is a learning disability, characterised by difficulty reading and writing, in spite of normal intelligence or cognitive abilities.

Dyslexia symptoms vary from person to person and the severity of the condition for individuals will be different too.

Young children can display signs of dyslexia before starting school. The possible symptoms may include:

• Delayed speech development
• Clumsiness or poor coordination
• Mixing up words and phrases
• Lack of understanding with words that rhyme
• Difficulty dressing or tying shoes

• Poor reading skills (except for simple words)
• Difficulty with the alphabet
• Poor writing skills
• Inability to distinguish left from right
• Poor concentration
• Difficulty remembering common sequences (such as days in the week)

• Falling behind at school compared to other children
• Behavioural problems (often due to frustration)
• Withdrawal
• Inability to learn multiplication
• Inability to follow simple instructions

• Poor organisational skills
• Difficulty writing down instructions or copying work
• Poor exam revision skills
• Unable to cope with exam situations
• Taking longer to do school work
• Persistent misspelling of words
• Severe difficulties learning another language

• Avoidance of reading and writing
• Concealing problems with reading, writing and spelling
• Poor organisational skills
• Lack of time management
• Using memory and verbal skills rather than reading or writing

Children with dyslexia will develop coping strategies in order to disguise the condition but it becomes apparent when there is difficulty with reading or writing. Coping strategies can be positive such as working harder to compensate or developing long-term memory skills. Negative strategies may be displayed by the child pretending to be unintelligent to mask their inability to read or write correctly.

Diagnosis of dyslexia is carried out using screening and assessment methods. Screening involves asking the child a series of questions or testing their ability with grammar, words and sounds. While this process doesn't confirm dyslexia, it may indicate a high probability of being dyslexic.

Dyslexia assessment involves more rigorous testing of intellectual and learning ability by a healthcare specialist (such as an education psychologist).

Assessment methods used include: examining language development skills, vocabulary, memory and visual/auditory speed.

*Source: GoToSee.co.uk

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