If your child fits many of the below indicators, an assessment to formally diagnose dyslexia could prove very useful. It would also be helpful to see what effect changes to the way the child is expected to engage with learning materials has. Experiment by adjusting approaches, finding what works and what doesn’t. Reflective teaching in essence, is what will really matter to the child. A diagnostic assessment will ask perceptive questions and the outcome will guide the process of learning about the child's learning.
Seek advice from an assessor.
Dyslexia checklist
Did you worrythat s/he spoke later than other children of his age?
Is there a family history of literacy difficulties?
Is the child good at things that have a strong visual element? But inexplicitly poor in other set tasks?
Is there evidence of laterality confusion? Check this by: Asking which hand s/he writes with, which foot s/he takes penalties with, ask them to look through a cardboard tube, which eye do they hold it up to? Hand them your watch, which eye do they hold it up to? Does everything happen with the same side or are some things done left sided and others right sided?
Can the child follow a number of instructions in sequence? For instance, “go to the living room and get my slippers, then bring them to me.”
Is there evidence of reversals when writing?
Does s/he have particular difficulty with literacy or one area of literacy, such as spelling or reading?
Is the child noticeably inconsistent when reading, recognising words then being unable to read the same wordlater in the day/book/page ?
Can the child spot when a word is spelt correctly when offered a range of spellings for the same word?
Does the child spell the same word in different ways on the same page? If asked the difference between the various spellings can they identify them?
If you observe the child when engaged in literacy tasks is there a noticeable difference between on task time than when they are engaged in other tasks, such as drawing, practical activities?
Is the child able to talk out an answer or story but produces little when asked to write it?
Do people describe the child as clumsy?
Can the child add a rhyming or alliteration word to a sequence of rhyming or alliterating words?
Is the child on a much easier reading book than most of his/her close friends?
Is the child in a much lower spelling group than their close friends?
If you observe the class during a note taking or copying activity is there a marked difference between the child and the rest of the class?
Is there a noticeable difference in work output if the child is given help with planning their work?
If the child is taught strategies to develop sequencing skills, does this have an effect on their work output and general happiness at school?
Has the child begun to resist writing because they are bad at it?
If you observe the child during a copying from the board activity, do they appear to be looking up at the board much more often that the children around them? Suggesting a weak short term visual memory.
Has the child responded to a handwriting development programme?
Have you noticed that the child has lost confidence over time in an educational setting.