16 Most Usual Signs of Dyslexia in Children and Adults

2. Learning New Words Slowly

Children and adults with dyslexia often take longer to learn new words. They may hear a word many times but still struggle to remember or recognize it. This difficulty can affect both spoken and written language. In early childhood, similar sounding words may be mixed up. A word may be said incorrectly or replaced with another word in a sentence.

Learning the names of letters, colors, or common objects can also take more time than expected. As children begin school, slower word learning can make reading more difficult. A child may pause often while reading because unfamiliar vocabulary takes longer to recognize, even after repeated practice.

Spelling new words can also be challenging. The same word may appear with different spellings on the same page because linking speech sounds to letters is not yet consistent. Adults with dyslexia may experience similar difficulties. New terms may be avoided at work due to concern about saying or spelling them incorrectly.

3. Problems Forming Words Correctly

Many children with dyslexia struggle to form words the right way when they speak. This often happens because they have difficulty hearing and organizing the small sounds within words. As a result, sounds in longer words may be mixed up or placed in the wrong order. For example, a child might say “aminal” instead of “animal.”

Parts of phrases can also become jumbled, and speech may sound unclear, especially when new or complex words are used. In school-age children, these difficulties may appear in both speech and writing. Sounds may be left out, letters may be switched, or the same word may be spelled in different ways on the same page.

Writing may also appear messy because so much effort goes into forming each word. Common signs include switching the order of letters or syllables, leaving out sounds when speaking or writing, and using the wrong word that sounds similar. Adults with dyslexia may continue to experience similar challenges.

4. Reading Well Below the Expected Level for Age

A common sign of dyslexia is reading at a level far below what is expected for the person’s age. This difference often becomes noticeable in early primary school. While classmates begin to read simple books with ease, the child may still struggle with basic words. Reading may be slow and require frequent pauses to sound out words.

When reading aloud, mistakes may occur, such as skipping lines, misreading words, or guessing words based on the first letter. Despite these reading difficulties, many children and adults with dyslexia understand stories well when someone else reads them aloud. However, showing the same understanding when reading independently can be difficult.

Because reading requires so much effort, the child may begin to avoid reading tasks. Complaints that reading feels tiring or frustrating may appear, and homework that involves reading can take longer than expected. In older students and adults, this pattern may continue, with reading ability remaining at a more basic level compared to peers.

5. Problems Remembering the Sequence of Things

Many people with dyslexia struggle to remember the order of information. Individual pieces may be understood, but arranging them in the correct sequence can be difficult. This issue can affect both children and adults. In young children, this often appears when repeating familiar patterns. Saying the alphabet, naming the days of the week, or listing the months in order may be challenging. Items may be skipped, repeated, or placed in the wrong position.

Learning number sequences, such as counting by twos or remembering basic math steps, can also take more effort. As children begin school, this difficulty can affect learning tasks. Following multi-step directions may be challenging. If several instructions are given in a row, the child may remember the first and last step but forget the middle one. Retelling a story in the correct order can also be difficult, even when the story itself is understood.

Adults with dyslexia may experience similar challenges. Steps in a process may be mixed up, and remembering a phone number or PIN in the correct order can be difficult. Tasks that involve several steps may also require extra time and effort to plan.

6. Problems Spelling

Many children and adults with dyslexia struggle with spelling. This often happens because matching letters to speech sounds can be difficult. As a result, breaking words into smaller sound parts does not always happen easily. Because of this, the same word may appear with different spellings on one page.

Even after practice, common spelling patterns may be difficult to remember. Some letters that look or sound alike may also be mixed up. For instance, “b” and “d” may be confused, or the order of letters in a word may be switched. Words with silent letters, such as “knock” or “write,” can create additional difficulty. Many people with dyslexia understand ideas clearly when speaking but struggle to write those same ideas accurately.

Older students and adults may rely on spell-check tools to support writing. Even so, errors can still occur if the wrong word is spelled correctly, such as “their” instead of “there.” This can affect school work, emails, and job tasks that require written communication. Spelling difficulties may continue into adulthood, even when reading skills improve.

7. Avoiding Activities That Involve Reading

Many children and adults with dyslexia try to stay away from tasks that involve reading. Written words can take longer to process, which may lead to frustration or embarrassment. As a result, children may begin avoiding reading situations. A child might hesitate to read out loud in class, forget a book at home, or ask to leave the room during reading time.

Some may become restless or act out to shift attention away from their reading difficulties. At home, homework that involves books or written instructions may be resisted. Activities that do not require reading, such as watching videos or building things, may feel more comfortable. Teenagers and adults may show similar patterns. Filling out forms, reading emails, or reviewing written reports may feel challenging.

Some may choose jobs or tasks that limit reading demands or rely on others to read important information. Many people with dyslexia understand information well when they hear it. The difficulty usually appears when processing written words rather than spoken language.

8. Trouble Learning a Foreign Language

Many children and adults with dyslexia struggle to learn a foreign language. One reason is difficulty connecting new letters with unfamiliar speech sounds, which can slow progress when learning a new writing and sound system.

Learning another language requires strong phonological awareness. This skill helps a person hear the small sound parts in words and connect them to letters. When this skill is weaker, pronouncing unfamiliar words or distinguishing similar sounds can become difficult. Because of this, remembering new vocabulary or spelling patterns can take more time. Words may be mixed up, and reading unfamiliar terms aloud may require extra effort.

In school, a child may answer questions well when speaking in the first language but hesitate to use the new language. Remembering verb forms, word order, gender rules, or accent marks may be difficult because these tasks rely on memory and sequencing skills. Adults may experience similar challenges. Learning new phrases or grammar rules may require more repetition, and spelling errors may still appear even with practice.

9. Difficulty in Finding the Right Words to Answer Questions

Many children and adults with dyslexia struggle to find the right words when answering questions. They may know the answer but have difficulty retrieving the correct word from memory. This can lead to hesitation, long pauses, or the use of simpler words instead of more specific ones. Teachers and parents may notice that the person speaks comfortably in casual conversation but hesitates during direct questions. The difficulty is usually related to word retrieval rather than a lack of understanding.

Younger children may jumble phrases or switch words within a sentence. A word that sounds similar to the intended one may be used instead, which can make speech seem confusing. Common signs include saying “um” or “I don’t know” even when the topic is understood. A person may use vague words such as “thing” or “stuff” instead of more specific terms.

Similar-sounding words may also be mixed up. In some cases, a sentence may start but stop midway when the correct word cannot be recalled. In older students and adults, this experience is sometimes described as having a word “on the tip of the tongue.”

10. Problems Processing and Understanding Spoken Language

Some children and adults with dyslexia struggle to process spoken language. Words may be heard clearly, but understanding them quickly can be challenging. This issue is often linked to weaker phonological awareness, which affects how the brain organizes and interprets speech sounds.

Early signs may appear when children have trouble recognizing sound patterns. Rhyming games may feel confusing, and words like “dog” and “log” may not seem related. When sound patterns are harder to recognize, breaking words into smaller sound parts can also become harder. These sound-processing challenges can affect how spoken information is remembered.

A child may find it difficult to follow multi-step directions. Similar-sounding words, such as “cat” and “cap,” may also be confused. Older students and adults may notice similar challenges during conversations. Long discussions may be harder to follow, and background noise may make spoken information even more difficult to process.

11. Spending Unusually Long Periods on Writing or Reading Tasks

Children and adults with dyslexia often spend much more time on reading or writing than others. Processing written language can be effortful, which slows down these activities. Reading may take longer because sentences often need to be revisited to understand the meaning. Words may appear confusing or out of order, which can make it difficult to keep up in class or at work.

Writing tasks can also require extra time, with pauses occurring while thinking about spelling, word order, or sentence structure. Even common words may be spelled inconsistently, and completing reading or writing tasks may take longer than expected. A person may need additional time to write paragraphs or reports, and timed activities may be avoided. Some may also feel tired after short periods of reading.

In school, a child may know the correct answer but struggle to write it down quickly. Teachers may notice that written assignments take longer than expected, and copying text may also be difficult. Adults may face similar challenges. Reports or documents may need to be reviewed multiple times, and meeting deadlines can become stressful. The extra time often reflects the added mental effort required to process written language.

12. Difficulty Summarizing Stories

Children and adults with dyslexia often struggle to retell a story in a clear and concise way. This difficulty is often linked to weaker phonological awareness and short-term memory, which can affect how information is organized, stored, and recalled. As a result, the main idea of a story may be harder to identify.

Important points may not stand out clearly, while smaller details may be remembered more easily. The order of events may also become mixed up when trying to explain what happened first, next, and last. In school, this sign may appear during reading tasks or class discussions. A student may answer questions about parts of the story with some accuracy but struggle to produce a short written summary.

Written work may appear poorly organized even when the topic itself is understood. Adults with dyslexia may experience similar challenges at work. After reading a report or document, giving a brief overview can be difficult. Too many details may be included, or important information may be left out.

13. Difficulty With Math Problems

Some children and adults with dyslexia also struggle with math. They may understand basic concepts but have trouble reading numbers, symbols, or written instructions in math problems. Because of this, numbers or symbols may be misread. A person might reverse numbers, such as writing 21 instead of 12, or confuse math signs like + and ×.

Multi-step problems may also be harder to interpret, which can lead to mistakes even when the correct method is known. Word problems can be challenging, as a child might explain how to solve the problem verbally but struggle with reading the question or writing the solution clearly. Slower reading speed can also affect how quickly math work is completed, especially during timed tests.

Common signs include difficulty remembering math facts, aligning numbers, tracking steps in complex problems, and confusing similar-looking numbers. Some people with dyslexia may also experience difficulty with numbers, sometimes referred to as dyscalculia. This can affect number sense, memory for math facts, and understanding quantity.

14. Challenges With Memorizing Work

Many children and adults with dyslexia struggle to memorize school or job-related material. They may understand a topic during discussion but have difficulty recalling important details later. This challenge is often linked to short-term memory, which helps hold and organize information while learning.

When this process is less efficient, new facts or instructions may be harder to store and retrieve. In school, a child may find it difficult to remember spelling words, math facts, or sequences such as the days of the week, the alphabet, or number patterns. Studying for long periods may still result in forgotten information during a quiz. These memory challenges can also appear during reading or writing tasks.

A person may lose track of information while reading a long sentence or forget what was planned to be written before finishing the sentence. Common signs include trouble recalling phone numbers or PIN codes. Instructions may be forgotten soon after they are heard. Extra time may be needed to memorize new vocabulary. Some people also find it difficult to keep track of several steps in a task. At work, adults may experience similar difficulties. Remembering deadlines, meeting details, or spoken instructions may require extra effort.

15. Mispronouncing Words or Names

Children and adults with dyslexia often mispronounce words, including familiar ones. This difficulty is usually linked to weaker phonological awareness, which affects how the brain hears and organizes the small sounds that form words. When the sounds within a word are harder to separate and arrange, parts of the word may be spoken in the wrong order.

For example, a child might say “hecilopter” instead of “helicopter.” These patterns often begin in early childhood. Longer or unfamiliar words may be harder to pronounce clearly, and phrases or names may become jumbled. In school-age children, the difficulty may appear during reading aloud. A word may be guessed instead of carefully sounded out.

Adults may experience similar challenges and may avoid saying unfamiliar names or technical terms because they worry about mispronouncing them. Common patterns include dropping parts of longer words, mixing up the order of sounds in a word, switching similar sounds such as “b” and “d,” and struggling with new vocabulary.

16. Difficulty Reading Aloud

Many children and adults with dyslexia struggle when they have to read aloud. This happens because reading aloud requires the brain to quickly connect letters with their corresponding sounds. People with dyslexia may need more time to process each sound, which can slow reading. As a result, reading aloud may include frequent pauses or a slower pace.

A person may lose their place on the page or hesitate while decoding unfamiliar words. Words may also be mispronounced, especially longer ones. Letters may be switched, small words may be skipped, or lines may be repeated by mistake. A word that is read correctly one day may cause difficulty the next.

In school, a child may avoid volunteering to read in class. Being asked to read in front of others may create nervousness, which can increase mistakes even after practice. Adults may experience similar challenges in workplaces or meetings. Some prepare in advance or choose not to read documents aloud.