© 1992 by Ronald D. Davis. Reprinted with permission.

Most people with dyslexia or ADD will exhibit over 10 of the following traits and behaviours. These characteristics can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute. The most consistent thing about them is their inconsistency.

General

• Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate, but unable to read, write or spell at grade level.
• Labelled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, not trying hard enough or behaviour problem.
• Isn’t “behind enough” or “bad enough” to be helped in the school setting.
• High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.
• Feels dumb, has poor self-esteem, hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies, easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing.
• Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building or engineering.
• Seems to “zone out” or daydream often, gets lost easily or loses track of time.
• Difficulty sustaining attention, seems hyper or to daydream.
• Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation and visual aids.

Vision, reading, and spelling

• Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.
• Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences or verbal explanations.
• Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences or verbal explanations.
• Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
• Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing or copying.
• Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don’t reveal a problem.
• Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
• Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
• Spells phonetically and inconsistently.

Hearing and speech

• Has extended hearing in that they hear things not said or apparent to others, easily distracted by sounds.
• Difficulty putting thoughts into words, speaks in halting phrases, leaves sentences incomplete, stutters under stress, mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words and syllables when speaking.

Writing and motor skills

• Trouble with writing or copying, pencil grip is unusual, handwriting varies or is illegible.
• Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports, difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks, prone to motion-sickness.
• Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right, over/under.

Math and time management

• Has difficulty telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time.
• Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks; knows answers, but can’t do it on paper.
• Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money.
• Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra or higher math.

Memory and cognition

• Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations and faces.
• Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced.
• Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words (little internal dialogue).

Behaviour, health, development and personality

• Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.
• Can be class clown, trouble-maker or too quiet.
• Had unusually early or late developmental stages (talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes).
• Prone to ear infections, sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products.
• Can be an extra deep or light sleeper, bedwetting beyond appropriate age.
• Unusually high or low tolerance for pain.
• Strong sense of justice, emotionally sensitive, strives for perfection.
• Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress or poor health.

© 2009 by Rocky Point Academy

Most people with dyslexia or ADD will exhibit over 10 of the following traits and behaviours. These characteristics can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute. The most consistent thing about them is their inconsistency.

General

• Appears intelligent, but has difficulty with written symbols (reading, writing or math).
• Described as being lazy, careless, immature or as an “over-achiever.”
• Low self-esteem, fights depression, self-conscious or hides and covers up weaknesses.
• Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, computers or engineering.
• Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation and visual aids. (May struggle with lectures)
• Confused by verbal or written instructions.
• Remembers struggling in school or may have children who are struggling in school.

Work related

• Employed in areas that emphasize use of visual imagery. (Entrepreneurs, engineers, tradesmen, artists, executives, ITs, salesmen or athletes.)
• Difficulty focussing on the task at hand: may excel at multitasking.
• Has difficulty with or is stressed by organizing meetings or events.
• Inability to follow-through, finish tasks or consistently hold a job.
• Unable to advance in the workplace due to a fear of, or inability to complete written exams.

Vision and reading

• Experiences headaches, stomach aches or stress while reading.
• Confused by letters, numbers, words or sequences.
• Unaware that reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
• Proof-reading is ineffective.
• Extremely keen sighted, observant, or lacks depth perception or peripheral vision. *
• Avoids reading aloud; finds silent reading easier.
• Needs to reread information several times in order to comprehend.
• Gets tired or bored easily from reading.

Writing and spelling

• Trouble with writing or copying, pencil grip is unusual, hand cramps up, handwriting varies or is illegible.
• Poor spelling; relies on “spell-check” before sending emails, memos or documents.
• Difficulty filling out forms.
• Uses only capitals letters or mixes upper case and lower case when writing; combines cursive and print; frequently abbreviates words.
• May alter word choice when writing – to avoid spelling mistakes.

Hearing and speech

• Appears to hear things not said or apparent to others; argues frequently; often accused of “not listening.”
• Difficulty putting thoughts into words, stutters under stress, mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words and syllables when speaking.
• Easily distracted or frustrated by sounds when trying to focus.

Math and time management

• Has difficulty managing time: consistently late or too early, difficulty predicting how long a task may take.
• Dependent on finger counting, calculators and other math tricks.
• Difficulty counting objects or dealing with money.
• May show exceptional talent in math.

Memory and cognition

• Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, faces and specialized areas of interest.
• Poor memory for sequences, names, facts and information that has not been experienced.
• Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words.
• Skilled at problem-solving – may have an answer well before others.

Directionality

• Difficulty with North, East, South and West; reading a map; confuses left and right.

Social skills

• Withdrawn or fearful of social situations which are out of their “comfort zone.”
• May be loud, boisterous, inappropriate or offensive in social situations.
• Unaware of others or very empathetic of others.

Motor skills

• Clumsy (need to hold onto a handrail when descending stairs, difficulty throwing accurately, inability to stand on one foot)
• Prone to motion sickness.
• Above average athletic ability.

Behaviour and personality

• Extremely disorderly (loses keys, glasses, etc.) or compulsively orderly.
• Fussy eaters or sensitive to foods, additives or chemical products.
• Difficulty adjusting to changes in routine; follows a strict set of “rules” for self management.
• May be an extra deep or light sleeper.
• Extremely high or low tolerance for pain.
• Strong sense of justice, emotionally sensitive, strives for perfection; may over-react when making a mistake.
• Enjoys video games.
• Reliance on others in areas of writing, organization, book-keeping (spouse, secretary, etc.)
• Easily frustrated, stressed or overwhelmed – resulting in annoyance, anger or emotional outbursts.