Download File - First for LaSTs

Teacher Checklist - Indicators of Dyslexia
The child that seems bright and capable yet struggles with reading, writing, and spelling.
□ Oral language skills are often stronger than written language skills
□ Difficulty pronouncing sounds in words
□ Problems with phonological awareness – difficulty segmenting, blending and manipulating
the sounds (phonemes) and syllables in words
□ Confusion with ‘direction’ words of space or time – left/right, up/down,
yesterday/tomorrow
□ Very slow in acquiring reading skills
□ Limited reading fluency – oral reading is slow and laboured with many mistakes
□ Poor sight word recognition and difficulty remembering familiar words
□ Stumbles when reading longer words and may rely on phonics to sound out words
□ Poor spelling skills and often spells words phonetically
□ May reverse letters or the order of letters/numbers when reading and writing (visual
perception problems) ‘b’ and ‘d’ , ‘was’ and ‘saw', ‘from’ and ‘form’
□ Limited reading comprehension due to reading processing difficulties
□ Poor rote memory –trouble learning the alphabet and letter sounds, multiplication tables
□ Difficulty with sequencing information and following complex instructions
□ Avoids reading and writing whenever possible – especially fearful of reading aloud
□ Slow to complete reading and writing tasks
□ Difficulty copying written work – slow and written work is untidy with many errors
□ Written responses are less detailed than their actual knowledge
□ Complaining that letters and words on the page move or become blurred
□ Complaining of dizziness or headaches while reading but eyesight is fine
□ Easily distracted by visual or auditory stimuli and appears to lack concentration
□ Inconsistent school work and a downward trend in academic achievement
Parent Checklist - Indicators of Dyslexia
□ Delayed speech and troubles pronouncing sounds to learn new words
□ Mixes up familiar words when speaking – ‘pootfrints’ instead of ‘footprints’
□ Difficulty making connections between letters and their sounds
□ Confusion with words of space or time – left/right, up/down, yesterday/tomorrow
□ Struggles following more than one instruction at a time
□ Problems with remembering things in correct sequence or order
□ Difficulty with rote learning – alphabet, times tables, telling time, days of the week
□ Oral language skills are stronger than written language skills
□ Trouble learning frequently used ‘sight’ words and continually fails to recognise familiar
words
□ May reverse letters (‘b’ and ‘d’ )or the order of letters (‘was’ and ‘saw') when reading and
writing – this is common in young children (6-7 years) but should not continue
□ Rely heavily on pictures in readers and books
□ Complains of difficulty ‘seeing’ words and headaches when reading but eyesight is fine
□ Oral reading is slow and laboured – the child may skip words, mix up or jumble words and
wildly guess unfamiliar words
□ Trouble with understanding what they have read but good comprehension when read to
□ Poor spelling skills and often spells words as they sound rather than correctly
□ Messy handwriting - writes slowly and often awkwardly
□ Written work is untidy with many errors and crossing out
□ Avoids writing tasks or writes very little
□ Easily distracted and may not concentrate when completing homework
□ Doesn’t enjoy going to school
□ Often comes home from school exhausted, stressed and disagreeable
□ May have good days or very bad days at school
□ Has an immediate family member who had difficulty learning to read, write or spell