It is difficult for your child to read. It may be difficult to pronounce the words. Or read without making many mistakes. Could it be dyslexia? If you think your child has dyslexia, you may be worried about what that means. There are a few things to be aware of. If you think your child has dyslexia, review this list of symptoms.

Reading child

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Common Symptoms of Dyslexia

  • Difficulty hearing individual sounds in words and to mix sounds to form a word.

  • Poor spelling; can spell the same word correctly and incorrectly in the same exercise.

  • Avoids reading if possible or gets upset when reading.

  • Reads slowly and skips small words and parts of longer words when reading aloud.

  • Problems remembering common abbreviations, including on social media.

  • The child often seems to be guessing words; reads gate instead of fence for example.

  • Takes a very long time for Reading assignments

Having these challenges can be tough on kids. But understand first, dyslexia is very common. Secondly, the children who have it are as smart as other children. This is just one of the many myths about dyslexia. Third, there are proven methods for teaching dyslexic children to read and improve their skills. The good news is that there are successful ways to educate struggling readers, and skills can be improved. There are also tools that can help. Here are some steps to take if you are concerned that your child has dyslexia.

  1. Tell your child that there is help

    Problems in school can make children feel lonely and feel bad about themselves. Let your child know that you are working with a teacher to find the best ways to help. Knowing that skills can be improved will help your child stay motivated.

  2. Look for patterns

    Keep track of what happens when your child reads and write down what you see. You may be able to pick up patterns. For example, is it more difficult for your child to make out some words than others? The more you notice, the more information you can share with the teachers.

  3. Build a support network

    When you take steps to help your child, support is also important to you. Try to talk openly about your child’s problems to people you trust. You can also connect with other families in a secure, understanding community. There are lots of Dyslexia support groups on Facebook.

  4. Find ways to help at home

    There are many ways to develop reading skills at home. Discover strategies that you can try. But don’t just focus on problems. Help your child celebrate great and small gains in reading or any other activity. Tip: Introduce your kid to the IcanRead app. This app helps your children with reading. You just point at the text in the book and this app will read it for you. IcanRead supports a large number of languages. Read more about it here.

IcanRead knows everyone is smart in their own way. You can sign up for a free trial and give your child the same opportunities as any other kid!

Adam Gustavsson

Adam founded IcanRead and is passionate about helping dyslexic children succeed