Signs of Dyslexia in Children: Recognising Difficulties to Better Support

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that affects the acquisition of reading. It affects around 10% of children, and often persists into adulthood. It does not reflect the child's level of intelligence — many dyslexic people have rich cognitive profiles and remarkable abilities in other areas.

But when unidentified and unsupported, it can generate years of academic failure, a sense of incompetence, and psychological suffering.

Early signs of dyslexia

Before reading (preschool)

Difficulties memorising nursery rhymes, identifying sounds in words (rhymes, syllables), learning the names of letters or the days of the week. A phonological awareness deficit is often one of the first indicators.

At the start of primary school

The child confuses visually similar letters (b/d, p/q), reverses sounds or syllables in words, reads very slowly even after several weeks of learning, decodes without understanding (cognitive energy completely mobilised by decoding).

Later

Very phonetic spelling, laborious reading even of known words, avoidance of any reading activity, intense fatigue after a short reading session.

What follows diagnosis

A speech therapy assessment can confirm or rule out the diagnosis. If dyslexia is confirmed, speech therapy follow-up and academic accommodations (extra time, adapted materials) allow the child to progress — and often, to reveal abilities that reading difficulties were masking.

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