🌱 Parents Ask Me..."What Are the First Signs of Dyslexia?"

saramattia1313
1 day ago
6 min read

One of my favorite parts of working with families is that parents ask thoughtful, heartfelt questions every single day. Many of those questions become the inspiration for this new blog series, Parents Ask Me..., where I'll answer some of the most common questions I hear from families.

Today's question came from a parent who simply asked:

"What are the first signs of dyslexia?"

It's an important question because the earlier we recognize that a child may be struggling, the sooner we can provide the right instruction and support.

📚 What Is Dyslexia?

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) defines dyslexia as:

"Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both and vary depending on the orthography. These difficulties occur along a continuum of severity and persist even with instruction that is effective for the individual's peers. The causes of dyslexia are complex and involve combinations of genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences that interact throughout development. Underlying difficulties with phonological and morphological processing are common but not universal, and early oral language weaknesses often foreshadow literacy challenges. Secondary consequences include reading comprehension problems and reduced reading and writing experience that can impede growth in language, knowledge, written expression, and overall academic achievement. Psychological well-being and employment opportunities also may be affected."

— International Dyslexia Association (2024), Definition of Dyslexiahttps://dyslexiaida.org/definition-of-dyslexia/

In simpler terms, dyslexia is a brain-based learning disability that affects how a person learns to read and spell. It is not related to intelligence, motivation, or effort. Children with dyslexia are often bright, curious, creative, and capable learners—they simply require explicit, systematic, evidence-based instruction that teaches the structure of our language in a way their brains can process efficiently.

Perhaps the most hopeful part of the definition is this:

💛 Dyslexia can be identified early, and with the right instruction, children can make remarkable progress.

Early recognition, appropriate intervention, and ongoing support can change the trajectory of a child's educational journey and help them become confident, successful readers.

🌱 Children with dyslexia are not broken—they simply learn differently.

🔍 Early Signs Parents May Notice

Every child is unique, but some common early signs include:

🌱 Difficulty learning letter names and letter sounds

🌱 Trouble recognizing rhyming words

🌱 Difficulty hearing and manipulating sounds in words (phonological awareness)

🌱 Trouble blending sounds together to read simple words

🌱 Guessing at words instead of sounding them out

🌱 Difficulty remembering common sight words

🌱 Reading that is slow, effortful, or inaccurate

🌱 Persistent spelling difficulties, even after practice

🌱 Avoiding reading or becoming frustrated during reading activities

🌱 Complaints that reading is "too hard" despite trying their best

One or two of these signs alone do not necessarily mean a child has dyslexia. However, when several occur together and persist despite quality instruction, it is worth taking a closer look.

🌿 Developmental Clues Parents Sometimes Notice

Many parents tell me that, looking back, there were little clues long before reading became difficult.

Not every child with dyslexia will experience these, and having one or two of these characteristics does not mean a child has dyslexia. However, when several occur together—especially alongside reading, spelling, or language difficulties—they can become important pieces of the puzzle.

Some developmental considerations include:

🌱 A family history of dyslexia, reading difficulties, or other language-based learning differences

🌱 Late talking or difficulty developing clear speech and language

🌱 Trouble learning nursery rhymes, songs, or rhyming words

🌱 Difficulty remembering the names of colors, letters, or numbers

🌱 Persistent confusion with left and right

🌱 Frequently putting shoes on the wrong feet or clothing on backward or inside out well beyond the preschool years

🌱 Difficulty learning the days of the week, months of the year, or other sequences

🌱 Trouble remembering multi-step directions

🌱 Difficulty recalling familiar words or frequently substituting another word

🌱 Creating new words or expressions. My own son has always delighted us with these! One of his childhood favorites was "hovertating," and at sixteen he still occasionally invents words—his latest is "choicefully." While making up words alone is not a sign of dyslexia, difficulties with word retrieval and language organization can sometimes accompany dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.

🌱 Avoiding reading aloud or becoming anxious when asked to read

🌱 School refusal, hiding a backpack, insisting there is "no homework," or expressing an unusually intense dislike of school. These behaviors don't necessarily point to dyslexia, but they can be signs that school has become frustrating or overwhelming. When learning feels difficult every day, many children begin avoiding the very place where those struggles occur.

❤️ Parents often notice something isn't quite right long before anyone else does. Trust those instincts.

💛 The Question That Changed Everything

As both an educator and a parent, I've learned that children are incredibly good at telling us something isn't working—even if they don't yet have the words to explain why.

One of the moments I'll never forget came when my daughter was in first grade. Her teacher had encouraged students to "just guess" if they didn't know a word.

One afternoon she quietly asked me,

"Mom... why are all the other kids guessing right... and I'm still guessing wrong?"

My heart broke.

She wasn't guessing wrong because she wasn't trying.

She was guessing because she hadn't been taught how to read the word.

That conversation changed everything for our family. It marked the end of traditional school and the beginning of a journey to understand dyslexia, the Science of Reading, and what effective reading instruction truly looks like.

Today, decades of research have shown that skilled word recognition is not developed through guessing words from pictures, context, or the first letter.

Instead, successful readers develop the ability to instantly recognize words by connecting the sounds in spoken language to the letters and spelling patterns in written language—a process known as orthographic mapping. This process is built through explicit, systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, spelling, vocabulary, morphology, and language comprehension.

📖 Reading isn't about guessing. Reading is about connecting sounds to letters until words become automatic.

📖 Dyslexia Isn't Just About Reading

Many people think dyslexia only affects reading.

In reality, reading is simply the most visible challenge.

Children with dyslexia may also struggle with:

Letter-sound relationships
Phonological and phonemic awareness
Blending and segmenting sounds
Decoding unfamiliar words
Reading fluently and accurately
Spelling
Writing sentences and organizing ideas
Remembering sequences
Retrieving words quickly
Reading with enough accuracy and fluency to support comprehension

Because reading requires many skills working together, even a weakness in foundational language skills can make learning to read incredibly difficult.

🚫 What Doesn't Cause Dyslexia?

There are many myths surrounding dyslexia.

Dyslexia is not caused by:

❌ Laziness

❌ Lack of intelligence

❌ Poor parenting

❌ Lack of motivation

❌ Vision problems

❌ Seeing letters or words backward

While some young children (with or without dyslexia) may reverse letters such as b and d or p and q while learning to read and write, letter reversals alone are not a defining characteristic of dyslexia. Dyslexia is fundamentally a language-based learning disability involving the processing of speech sounds and the connections between sounds and letters.

Children with dyslexia often work much harder than their peers just to complete the same reading tasks.

🌟 The Good News

This is the part I always want parents to hear.

Recognizing the signs of dyslexia is not the end of the story—it is often the beginning of understanding how your child learns best.

Research has consistently shown that children with dyslexia can make remarkable progress when they receive explicit, systematic, cumulative, evidence-based structured literacy instruction.

Progress doesn't happen overnight.

It happens one carefully taught skill at a time.

One successful reading lesson at a time.

One book at a time.

One confident smile at a time.

Every child deserves the opportunity to experience the joy of becoming a reader.

🌾 How My Learning Farm Can Help

If your child is struggling with reading, spelling, or writing—or you're simply wondering if something doesn't seem quite right—you don't have to navigate this journey alone.

At My Learning Farm, I offer:

📚 Individualized reading assessments to identify strengths and areas of need

🌱 One-to-one specialized reading instruction using the Orton-Gillingham structured literacy approach

🏡 Homeschool consultations and curriculum planning

📖 My Learning Farm READS!, a joyful literacy program that builds vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and a lifelong love of reading through engaging novels and meaningful learning experiences.

Every child's path looks different, but every child deserves instruction that meets them where they are.

I'd be honored to help your family.

📧 Email: saramattia1313@gmail.com

📱 Call or Text: 916-215-1232

🌿 Learn more: www.mylearningfarm.com