What if I think my child might have dyslexia?

Is your child having difficulties with reading? Do they struggle to recognize letters, understand what they read, or sound out words on a page?

In this episode of Parenting Behavior, host Dr. Andy Kahn explores how to identify dyslexia in kids. Tune in to learn the common signs of dyslexia and what steps to take if you think your child may have this learning difference.

We’d love to hear from you. You can email us at ParentingBehavior@understood.org.

• What is dyslexia? 

• Video: Dyslexia and the brain

• Signs of dyslexia at different ages  

(0:44) What is dyslexia?

(1:50) Common signs of dyslexia

(4:02) How can you be sure your child has dyslexia?

(6:42) How is dyslexia diagnosed?

(10:45) What to do if you feel overwhelmed

Andy: Are you seeing reading challenges in your child? Is your child struggling to identify letters in the alphabet or to comprehend what they read? Are they having difficulty sounding out what they see on the page? Well, in this episode, you're gonna learn how to identify dyslexia in your child.

This is "Parenting Behavior" and I'm your host, Dr. Andy Kahn. I'm a licensed psychologist and parent with over 20 years experience helping families navigate behavioral challenges in their kids. On today's episode, we're gonna talk about some dyslexia basics and what to do if you're wondering if your child has dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects the way the brain processes language. So, it's not just about mixing up letters. Dyslexia affects things like the ability to sound out words, to do spelling, and to do things like reading fluently, which is reading words quickly and accurately. Dyslexia is actually quite common. It affects anywhere between five and about 18% of people. Also, kids won't outgrow dyslexia. It's a lifelong disorder. It may change as they get older, but it typically doesn't go away.

Dyslexia primarily affects reading and spelling. It can also affect writing, which leads some people to think that dyslexia may be a problem with vision, but it is not. Dyslexia is primarily a difficulty in processing language. For many folks, the signs and symptoms of dyslexia are present even before they start to read, and it is something that is present very early in the child's brain. For many people, dyslexia is something that develops and can be seen long before children start to read, but it can change and look different as kids get older.

First, let's talk about signs of preschool challenges with dyslexia. Mispronouncing words, saying things like betty tear instead of teddy bear. Kids struggling to name familiar objects and using generic terms instead. So, they might refer to instead of microphone, they might say, well, the thing or the thingy. In other cases, kids are gonna have difficulty learning and saying rhymes, particularly nursery rhymes and things that they'll sing in the classroom. And finally, they'll have difficulty learning sequences, particularly things like the alphabet.

Now let's talk about symptoms that we may see between kindergarten and second grade. Kids may often have difficulties identifying the combination of letter and the sounds that they make. In addition, kids at this age may have a lot of difficulty differentiating letters that have similar shapes, things like P and B or D and Q. Many kids have trouble identifying familiar words or substituting them when they're speaking. So, they might say the word pacific for specific.

Also, kids have difficulty separating individual sounds and words or blending sounds together when they read. Let's talk about the signs we may see during 3rd to 5th grade. First, kids may be easily confused or skip small words while reading aloud. In addition, they may have difficulty sounding out new words or quickly recognizing words that they already know, words that we might call sight words. In addition we might see that kids repeatedly make the same mistakes over and over again, like reversing letters, or making mistakes on spelling words that are correct in the beginning of a sentence and incorrect somewhere further down the page.

Finally, we often see kids have difficulties understanding and comprehending what they read. Often they're spending so much time trying to sound out the words that they're not comprehending or having the ability to comprehend what the words actually mean on that page. And finally, we may see some emotional reactions. Kids who avoid reading or show distress and frustration that prevents them from reading in situations in class or at home.

Now these are just some of the common signs of dyslexia. These may or may not fit your child and I'm going to put a link in the show notes to a longer list that includes some of the common signs of dyslexia in older children and in teens.

One of the most important questions we ask ourselves is, is this dyslexia, is it something else, or is it nothing at all? In these situations, most parents start to see signs of dyslexia once their child is in a formal school setting, even though the symptoms can appear much earlier. Once you see something concerning, before jumping to conclusions, it's really important to ask yourself, what should I expect from my kid developmentally at this age?

I'm gonna use a little psychobabble here. I'm going to ask you to consider the baseline. Meaning, if you have one child who started to read at the age of three, this is very uncommon statistically. So, if you're going to compare a child who is more typical or is delayed in their reading skill with an advanced reader, you're gonna have some really skewed information. Also, it helps to think about reading as a skill, something that develops in steps, particularly as it's taught over the course of many years.

When we think about breaking down the steps to learning to read, commonly kids first learn the alphabet, then sounds, then words. then usually at school, they'll start to learn formal reading. So, you could see that when they're young, exposure may come from things like reading a book in the home, learning the alphabet as an activity, but the steps to learning to read really start to begin when kids are in school.

So, for example, if your kid hasn't learned all of their sounds before they start school, then it's gonna take them a little bit more time. And this is really typical, don't get stressed out about this. Take a breath, it's OK. Many kids take their time to learn to read and there's a really wide range of typical. from when kids start to read to when they really start to pick up the skill. So, it's gonna take some time to figure out if it's a problem or if it is not. Finally, remember, English is a really difficult language to learn. There's a lot of challenges with this. Just ask someone who's a non-English speaker and they'll tell you.

One of the toughest parts about learning the English language are the concepts of homonyms and homographs. The idea that there can be words that sound exactly the same and mean something different or spelled exactly the thing that aren't the same word. Keep in mind that the younger your child is, the differences between what they should know and what they do know may be very close together.

When we think about learning disabilities, it's really difficult to evaluate a four-year-old, for example, because the foundational skills of being in preschool, compared to not being exposed to reading, are actually not that far apart. So, giving your child a chance to develop is really helpful. Typically by about second or third grade, that's when you start to identify and see the gaps between what you hope they're able to do in reading and what the really are able to at that time.

If you got questions about your kids' reading skills and how they're doing, don't hesitate to reach out to their teacher and ask questions to help get yourself comfortable and know what to do next if you're concerned.

First, I want to say a bit about how dyslexia is diagnosed. The evaluation process consists of a variety of small tests that we give children, and it also is combined with some observations and comparisons. The most common way that families access these evaluations is through their school districts. Evaluations for special education are things you can acquire for free. Now, this is a really complicated concept, so what I'd like to do is I'm gonna put a link here in the show notes for my prior podcast called "Understood Explains," where I'll talk you through the entire process of special education evaluations.

One really important thing to remember: these evaluations through the schools are free to you. Parents don't need to really be afraid of this process, but it's really typical to feel confused and overwhelmed. So, asking your school district about this process and getting all the information you need is really helpful. Keep in mind, getting an early diagnosis for your child can be extremely helpful in progressing them through learning and getting access to the things they need.

Remember, and I've said this in prior episodes, the longer someone goes with the learning and thinking difference without getting support, the more likely they are to have challenges with emotional functioning and mood. So, getting that early evaluation for your child can be super helpful for them.

Another support model offered in schools is something called response to intervention, better known as RTI. Now, RTI is something that is built into the school system process. It is offered to kids as support before they get evaluated for special education. meaning that if they notice that a kid is somewhat falling behind or could benefit from support, those services are embedded in their classroom.

Kids don't have to be identified in advance or don't to be evaluated. RTI supports are offered to any kid who might establish this need. RTI comes on the direction of the school as they regularly evaluate and look at kids are doing compared to their grade level standard. If you're concerned as a parent about whether your child needs access to these services, don't hesitate to reach out. Your child may be able to access these services without being evaluated or having to do any special processes.

One of the cool things about RTI is that it's a standard support service offered in schools. Most kids don't feel singled out or feel different for receiving it because it's offered to so many kids as part of the regular school process. If your child continues to struggle with reading after getting RTI services, this is typically the time where your child may be referred for special education evaluation. As a parent, it's really important to track this process because that evaluation can be the next step in getting your child the support that they need.

A word of caution, not all evaluations discover dyslexia in kids. Sometimes there are pieces that are missed or young kids aren't showing all the symptoms they need to in order to be diagnosed. If you're concerned that your child needs more support, you can request an evaluation be done privately in the community or be reevaluated in the school. Again, I'll put a link to the show notes on special education evaluations so you can take a deeper dive if you're interested.

Now, because RTI is a standard support service in the schools, it is offered within the regular education setting and offered to a wide variety of kids. So typically kids don't feel terribly singled out when they're engaged in the process. If your child continues to struggle with reading after receiving RTI services, that's typically when you and your team will talk about having them evaluated for special education services.

Now keep in mind, not all evaluations discover dyslexia or other learning difficulties when they are given to kids. If you're still concerned after an evaluation, you can request a re-evaluation or obtain a private evaluation in your community.

Now remember, I'm gonna put a link in the show notes about the special education evaluation process. This also covers information about getting private evaluations in your committee and the process to follow if you still have concerns after being evaluated by your school. I'm also going to include some other links about special education services and IEPs, both in English and in Spanish. that will give you some information about the therapies available and other supports your child may be able to access in their schools.

OK parents, well, this has been a meaty episode filled with lots of facts and strategies and information, and the process of investigating learning disabilities in young kids can be really difficult and in some cases extremely frustrating. It's completely understandable if you feel overwhelmed or concerned about whether or not you're doing enough or your child is going to get access to the services that they need. Don't forget to trust in your parenting. If you think something is wrong, don't hesitate to reach out to their school and have conversations with their team about how to best help your kids.

Another great opportunity for parents is to join local support groups for parents of kids with learning and thinking differences. It can be so reassuring to be part of a community of other parents who can share resources in your local community and chat with you about things that you're going through. You're not alone in this process.

Another thing that we offer here at Understood is access to our chat bot. Our AI chat bot allows you to ask a wide variety of questions about anything from dyslexia to learning disabilities and how to help your child in school. Keep in mind, our chatbot is evidence-based and created by experts. So all the information you receive is going to come directly from our resource at Understood. But that's it for today. Thanks so much for joining us.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this important work, consider donating at Understood.org/give.

Thanks for listening to this episode of "Parenting Behavior with Dr. Andy Kahn." We'd love to hear from you, if you have any thoughts on the show. You can email us at parentingbehavior@understood.org. I'll put the email in the show notes too, where you can also find more resources and links to anything we mention.

"Parenting Behavior with Dr. Andy Kahn" is brought to you by Understood.org, it's produced by Cody Nelson and Daniela Tello-Garzon. Editorial guidance by Gail Belsky. Music and mixing by Justin D. Wright. Our video producers are Calvin Knie and Christophe Manuel. Special thanks to Dr. Karen Wilson. Ash Beecher is our supervising producer. Briana Berry is our production director. And Neil Drumming is our editorial director. Our executive directors are Laura Key, Scott Cocchiere, and Seth Melnick.

Understood is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at nderstood.org/give.