Signs of Dyslexia in Children: What Parents Should Know

Wondering whether your child’s reading difficulties could be a sign of dyslexia? Understanding the signs of dyslexia in children can help parents recognise when reading difficulties may need additional attention. In this article, we’ll explore common signs at different ages, what reading screeners can and can’t tell us, and when it may be time to seek further help.

What Are the Early Signs of Dyslexia in Children?

The signs of dyslexia in children can change as they grow, so it’s helpful to know what to look for at different ages. Some children begin showing signs before they learn to read, while others may not experience noticeable difficulties until they’re older.

Here are some things parents might notice at different ages. The International Dyslexia Association provides additional information about the characteristics of dyslexia and how they may appear during reading development.

Preschool and Kindergarten

• Difficulty recognising words that rhyme, such as cat, hat, and bat.
• Trouble hearing individual sounds in words, such as recognising that moon starts with the /m/ sound.
• Difficulty learning or remembering the names and sounds of letters.
• Needing extra practice to remember which sounds go with which letters.
• A family history of dyslexia or reading difficulties, which can increase a child’s likelihood of experiencing similar challenges.

Early Elementary School

• Difficulty sounding out words, even ones that may seem simple.
• Guessing at words based on pictures or the first letter rather than sounding out the entire word.
• Reading a word correctly one moment but struggling to recognise it again a few sentences later.
• Reading slowly, often needing considerable effort to get through a sentence or passage.
• Difficulty spelling words, even ones they’ve practised before.
• Becoming frustrated when asked to read aloud or beginning to avoid reading activities.
• Needing more time and repeated practice to develop reading skills.

Older Children and Teenagers

• Reading words correctly but at a much slower pace than expected for their age.
• Difficulty reading longer or unfamiliar words.
• Continuing to struggle with spelling, even when other academic skills are strong.
• Taking significantly longer to finish homework or assignments that involve reading.
• Understanding and discussing a story when someone reads it aloud but struggling to understand the same material when reading independently.
• Avoiding books, reading aloud, or activities that require a lot of reading.

It’s important to remember that not every child with dyslexia will show all of these signs. And noticing one or two doesn’t necessarily mean your child has dyslexia. For example, plenty of teenagers avoid books. My husband, who doesn’t have dyslexia, avoids reading books for pleasure like the plague!

I also want to take a moment to talk about reading comprehension, which simply means understanding what we read.

Some children with dyslexia struggle with comprehension because they’re using so much mental energy to figure out the words on the page. By the time they’ve worked through a sentence or paragraph, they may have little energy left to focus on what it actually means. In these cases, comprehension difficulties can be a secondary effect of dyslexia.

But here’s an important distinction: struggling to understand what you read doesn’t automatically mean you have dyslexia.

I’ve worked with parents who were concerned about dyslexia because their child struggled to understand what they were reading. Yet when I worked with the child, I found that they could read words accurately and with little effort. Their primary difficulty was understanding the text, not reading the words themselves.

That matters because these difficulties may require different types of support. A child who struggles to read words needs instruction that targets those skills. A child who reads words accurately and fluently but struggles to understand what they’ve read may need support with vocabulary, language comprehension, background knowledge, or other skills that help us make meaning from text.

Neither difficulty is less important than the other. But understanding why a child is struggling helps us make better decisions about how to support them.

Ultimately, what matters is whether you’re seeing a pattern of difficulties over time. If something about your child’s reading development concerns you, it’s worth having a conversation with their teacher about what they’re noticing and what support might help.

You don’t need to have all the answers before starting that conversation.

Can Screening Tools Help?

A reading screener is a short assessment that helps identify children who may need additional reading support. But it’s important to remember that screeners don’t provide a diagnosis. Think of them as an early warning system.

A child may struggle on a screener without having dyslexia. Regardless, the results deserve a closer look. Are they an accurate reflection of the child’s reading skills? What might be contributing to the difficulties? And, most importantly, what support does the child need?

Screening may look at how well a child recognises letters, connects letters with sounds, sounds out words, or reads accurately and quickly. Some commonly used tools include the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and Acadience Reading. Schools may also develop their own screening tools, provided those tools are reliable and appropriate for identifying reading difficulties.

Now, I mentioned earlier that a child can struggle on a screener without having dyslexia. The opposite can also be true. A child may perform well on a screening assessment and still have reading difficulties that deserve attention, including difficulties associated with dyslexia.

That’s because a screener provides a snapshot, not a complete picture of a child’s reading abilities.

For example, a child who reads words accurately and fluently but struggles to understand what they’re reading may not be flagged by a screener focused primarily on foundational reading skills. While that pattern alone isn’t necessarily a sign of dyslexia, persistent comprehension difficulties are still worth exploring.

This is why screening results should always be considered alongside classroom performance, teacher observations, and what parents are noticing at home.

I recently wrote a separate article exploring British Columbia‘s early literacy screening requirements for Kindergarten through Grade 3, which are being introduced in phases. I encourage you to read it for a closer look at what’s changing across B.C. and how you can use that information to ask informed questions about your child’s reading progress and the support they may need.

When Should Parents Seek an Evaluation?

Recognising the signs of dyslexia in children is an important first step, but understanding why a child is struggling may require a more comprehensive evaluation. If you’ve noticed your child struggling with reading, you may be wondering when it’s time to seek additional support. While every child’s reading journey looks different, there are some situations where a more comprehensive evaluation may be worth considering.

These include:

• Your child continues to struggle with reading despite receiving instruction and regular opportunities to practise.
• Reading seems significantly more difficult for your child than other learning activities.
• Difficulties with sounding out words, recognising familiar words, or spelling persist over time.
• Your child becomes increasingly frustrated with reading or begins avoiding it altogether.
• There’s a family history of dyslexia or significant reading difficulties.
• You’ve noticed concerns that haven’t necessarily been raised by your child’s teacher.

A comprehensive evaluation can help provide a clearer picture of your child’s reading strengths and challenges. Rather than focusing on a single score, it considers different aspects of reading and learning to better understand where support may be needed.

And here’s something I want every parent to know: You don’t need to wait for a formal identification of dyslexia before your child receives reading intervention.

If your child is struggling, those difficulties deserve attention now. Early, appropriate support can make a meaningful difference, and taking that first step doesn’t require having all the answers.

How Can Parents Support Their Child?

If your child is struggling with reading, it’s natural to want to help. And while appropriate reading instruction is important, there are also things you can do at home to support your child’s learning and confidence.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Keep reading aloud together. Even when children begin reading independently, listening to stories helps build vocabulary, language skills, and a love of books. And yes, older children can benefit from being read to, too!
• Talk about what you’re reading. Ask your child about the characters, what happened in the story, or what they think might happen next. These conversations help build the skills needed to understand what we read.
• Play with sounds in words. For younger children, simple activities like finding rhyming words or identifying the first sound in a word can help build early reading skills.
• Celebrate progress, not perfection. Learning to read can be frustrating, especially when it doesn’t come easily. Recognise your child’s effort and growth without comparing their progress to that of other children.
• Encourage sounding out rather than guessing. If your child comes to an unfamiliar word, encourage them to look carefully at the letters and sounds rather than relying on pictures or guessing what might make sense.
• Stay connected with your child’s teacher. Ask which reading skills your child is working on, where they’re experiencing difficulty, and what you can do at home to reinforce what they’re learning.
• Remember that more practice isn’t always the answer. If a child hasn’t been taught how to sound out words effectively, simply asking them to read more won’t necessarily address the underlying difficulty. They may need more direct, carefully planned instruction.
• Look for instruction that teaches reading explicitly. Children who struggle with reading often benefit from instruction that clearly and systematically teaches how sounds and letters work together.
• Remind your child that reading difficulties don’t define them. Struggling to read doesn’t mean a child isn’t intelligent, capable, or hardworking. Make sure they know their strengths matter just as much as the skills they’re still developing.

And perhaps most importantly, make room for reading to be enjoyable. Not every interaction with a book needs to become a lesson or an opportunity to practise a skill.

Sometimes, sharing a good story together is enough.

How TALES Can Help

Recognising the signs of dyslexia in children can bring up a lot of questions, especially when you’re unsure whether your child’s reading difficulties are part of typical development or something that needs additional support.

At TriPoint Autism & Literacy Education Services (TALES), we help families better understand their child’s reading and spelling difficulties and explore appropriate next steps. This may include reviewing existing assessments, identifying areas where additional support could be helpful, or discussing whether a more comprehensive evaluation should be considered.

We also offer individualised reading intervention grounded in Structured Literacy and Orton-Gillingham principles. Our goal is to provide explicit, systematic instruction that responds to each child’s individual learning needs while building reading skills and confidence.

Although TALES doesn’t provide formal dyslexia evaluations, we can help families understand their options and make informed decisions about the support their child may need.

And if there’s one thing I hope you take away from this article, it’s this: 

1. Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence or effort.
2. Recognising reading difficulties early matters.
3. You don’t have to wait for your child to fall further behind before asking for help.

If you have questions about your child’s reading development, we invite you to explore our services or contact us to start a conversation.