Common Characteristics

General

Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.
Labeled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "behavior problem."
Isn't "behind enough" or "bad enough" to be helped in the school setting.
High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.
Feels dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing.
Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.
Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time.
Difficulty sustaining attention; seems "hyper" or "daydreamer."
Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.

Vision, Reading, and Spelling

Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.
Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.
Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying.
Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem.
Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
Spells phonetically and inconsistently.

Hearing and Speech

Has extended hearing; hears things not said or apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.
Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking.

Writing and Motor Skills

Trouble with writing or copying; pencil grip is unusual; handwriting varies or is illegible.
Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks; prone to motion-sickness.
Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right, over/under.

Math and Time Management

Has difficulty telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time.
Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks; knows answers, but can't do it on paper.
Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money.
Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra or higher math.

Memory and Cognition

Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces.
Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced.
Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words (little internal dialogue).

Behavior, Health, Development and Personality

Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.
Can be class clown, trouble-maker, or too quiet.
Had unusually early or late developmental stages (talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes).
Prone to ear infections; sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products.
Can be an extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting beyond appropriate age.
Unusually high or low tolerance for pain.
Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection.
Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress, or poor health.

Adult Dyslexic Traits

CAREER

q Employed in job/position that will hide difficulties or not require dealing with problematic areas.

q Hides difficulties from co-workers, friends and even family.

q Becomes frustrated at "planning meetings" and sequential tasks – may have the answer and know how to do it well before others.

q Becomes frustrated, impatient, or overwhelmed with long forms or sequential processes.

q Thrives in careers where visual-spatial/kinesthetic talents can be realized: For example - Entrepreneurs, Engineers, Trades (carpentry, plumbing, electrical), Artisans, Interior Decorating, Actors, Musicians, Police/Investigation, Athletes, and Business Executives (usually with staff/assistants).

q May pass up promotions or advancement opportunities that would require more administrative work.

q Has difficulty focusing and staying on task – may feel more comfortable managing many different tasks simultaneously.

q Difficulty with tests - passing standardized tests can be a barrier to career advancement.

q Highly successful/over achiever, or considered "not working up to potential."

q Displays extreme work ethic.

q May be a perfectionist and overreact when making a mistake.

q Out-of-the-box thinker or operates with very strict rules for himself/herself.

q Excellent problem-solving skills.

GENERAL

q Highly intuitive - known to have "street smarts." Is often "dead on" in judging personalities of others.

q May be able to sense emotions and energy of others.

q Remembers struggling in school.

q May have dyslexic children. Experiences guilt when seeing own child struggle. Insecurities arise while reading to own children or helping them with homework.

q Easily distracted/annoyed by noises and other things in environment.

q May appear to "zone out" and be unaware that it is happening.

q Enjoys video games.

q Misspeaks, misuses, or mispronounces words without realizing it.

q May have poor balance or is/was very athletic.

q May have excellent recall of events that were experienced or not remember at all.

q May confuse past conversations or be accused of "not listening."

q Difficulty remembering names of people, but remembers faces.

q Difficulty remembering verbal instructions or directions.

q Poor recall of conversations or sequence of events.

MATH/TIME MANAGEMENT/DIRECTIONS

q May understand higher math, but can't show it on paper.

q May excel at math, or may still rely on tricks for remembering math facts.

q Relies on calculators or finger counting. May have difficulty with making change.

q Difficulty with left/right and/or North, South, East, West.

q Gets lost easily or never forgets a place they've been.

q Difficulty reading maps.

q May have anxiety or stress when driving in unfamiliar places. Relies on others to drive when possible.

q May lose track of time and is frequently late - or is highly aware of it and is very rarely late.

q Finds it difficult to estimate how long a task will take to complete.

READING/WRITING/SPELLING

q Difficulty reading, especially with unfamiliar fonts.

q Avoids reading out loud. May dislike public speaking.

q Will commonly perceive that they "read better silently."

q Has adopted compensatory tricks to remember spelling or has poor or inconsistent/phonetic spelling.

q Reading fluency and comprehension fluctuates depending upon subject matter.

q Frequently has to re-read sentences in order to comprehend.

q Fatigues or becomes bored quickly while reading.

q Reliance on others (assistants, spouses, significant others) for written correspondence.

q Uncertainty with words, punctuation, and spelling when writing. Reliance on spell-check and grammar-check.

q Written work will not reflect the level of knowledge or expertise that would be given verbally.

q Words out of context look "wrong."

q Poor handwriting - masks spelling mistakes.

q Writes with all capital letters, or mixes capital letters within words. Abbreviates words frequently.

BEHAVIOR, HEALTH, AND PERSONALITY

q May have a short fuse or is easily frustrated, angered, or annoyed. Easily stressed and overwhelmed in certain situations.

q Low self-esteem.

q Self-conscious when speaking in a group. May have difficulty getting thoughts out - pause frequently, speak in halting phrases, or leave sentences incomplete. This may worsen with stress or distraction.

q Sticks to what they know - fear of new tasks or any situation where they are out of comfort zone.

q Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.