October is Dyslexia awareness month. Did you know that Dyslexia can
manifest in different ways? My oldest daughter, who is 17, has
Dysgraphia…you only see the signs of dyslexia in her writing. When
she was younger; letters were backwards, her handwriting was very
difficult to read, and her spelling was VERY unconventional. My
youngest daughter, 7, is just in the early stages of testing for
dyslexia. She displays more of the classic signs of dylexia. She also
has the reversals in writing: letter, numbers, even entire words are
written backwards, but, her reading is also affected. She will often
begin sounding out a word from the ending sound. She does not
recognize some simple sight words. She has a very difficult time
sounding out words.
What are some signs of dyslexia? (from the International Dyslexia
Association, http://www.interdys.org/SignsofDyslexiaCombined.htm)
Word reversals; reading pit for tip
Difficulty making the connection between letters and sounds
Confusing small words such as at and to
Letter and number reversals
Confusing right and left; up and down; front and back
Difficulty rhyming words
Not all children who struggle with the above are dyslexic. Dyslexia
can only be determined through a formal evaluation.
~Marie
Marie writes for MacaroniKid in Colorado. She most recently became an weekly guest on Denver’s Daybreak show on Channel 2. She is a loving wife and mom to three adorable girls.