The COVID-19 lockdown has created greater inequality in educational support and achievement for children with dyslexia or suspected dyslexic difficulties. Teachers are expressing concerns that these children will be most impacted on a long-term basis by school closures, while parents who are home schooling don’t always know what signs to look out for. 

Many parents are also expressing concerns about their child’s significant and constant challenges with home learning. They are observing and realising that their child is unable to work independently on home learning tasks, due to difficulties with reading, writing and spelling.

If you suspect that these difficulties may be due to an underlying specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia here are some difficulties/indicators to look out for.

Early Years

• Slow speech development. Gets words muddled up e.g. “cubumber” “ ephelant”.
• Taking longer to learn letter/sounds links.
• Poor auditory discrimination.
• Difficulty learning nursery rhymes.
• Difficult keeping a simple rhythm/beating in time.
• Enjoys listening to stories but shows no interest in letters or words.
• Difficulty paying attention, sitting still, listening to stories.
• Cannot carry out 2 or more instructions.
• Very forgetful- names, days, teachers, colours etc.
• May have walked early but did not crawl – was a “bottom shuffler” or “tummy wiggler.”
• Difficulties with dressing, buttons, cutting, sticking, colouring in etc.
• Difficulties with catching, kicking or throwing a ball.
• Often trips, bumps into things and falls over.
• Messy eater and frequently spills things. Prefers to eat with fingers.
• Has “good” days and “bad” days for no apparent reason.

Primary Years

• Poor phonological awareness – slow to learn letter to sound rules.
• Slow reader and makes unexpected errors when reading aloud.
• Often reads a word then fails to recognise it further down the page.
• Struggles to remember what has been read.
• Reluctant or afraid to read aloud and shows no enjoyment in reading.
• May express visual discomfort when reading.
• Handwriting – awkward grip, laboured/slow/messy.
• Poor fine motor skills – difficulties with using knife and fork, scissors, colouring.
• Persistent and marked difficulties with spelling and spells the same word several different ways.
• Puts letters and numbers the wrong way e.g. 15/51, b/d or was/saw.
• Takes a long time to complete written tasks.
• Struggles to copy accurately and quickly.
• Slow to produce an oral response when questioned. Mispronounces words.
• Difficulties finding the right words to describe things.
• Difficulties following more than 1 instruction.
• Struggles to sequence the alphabet, days of the week, times tables.
• Struggles with mental arithmetic and mixes up numerical symbols.
• Confuses left/right and or directions.
• Clumsy and lacks co-ordination.
• Low self-esteem.
• Behavioural difficulties, easily overwhelmed, anxious.
• Will avoid doing literacy tasks if possible.
• Cannot tell the time. Poor sense of time.

Strengths

• Imaginative. Curious.
• Very creative, enjoys making things
• Good reasoning and thinking skills.
• Can see the “big picture”
• Good at problem solving.
• Good general knowledge.
• Good understanding of texts read to them.
• Good visual-spatial skills.

If you’re concerned and recognise some of the indicators above in your child why not contact Theresa to find our more about getting them assessed? Theresa works from her COVID-secure home in Bishop’s Stortford, on the Herts and Essex border and within easy reach of London, Cambridge, Kent, Beds and Bucks. Theresa is a member of the British Dyslexia Association and PATOSS (Professional Association of Teachers with Specific Learning Difficulties).