Signs of Dyslexia That Don't Look Like Reading Problems

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-01

Why some signs do not look like reading

In our experience, some signs do not look like reading trouble. Dyslexia is a name for a pattern of trouble reading words, spelling, or both. Spelling is part of the same difficulty.

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) wrote a new definition in 2025. The IDA says trouble with word sounds and word parts is "common but not universal" in dyslexia. It also says early spoken-language weak spots "often foreshadow" reading and writing trouble. That means they often come first. It does not say they cause it.

Sounds in spoken words

In our experience, one skill often turns out to be hard. It is hearing the separate sounds in a spoken word. Cat is three sounds, not one.

• Rhyming does not come. Or it comes and does not carry over. The child can say a rhyme they know and cannot make a new one.
• Nursery rhymes and song words are hard to hold on to, even ones heard many times.
• Words come out with the pieces in the wrong order, like aminal or pasghetti.
• Clapping the beats in a name does not click as a game.

Spelling and writing

• Spelling is worse than the reading, often much worse.
• One word is spelled three different ways in one paragraph.
• The child uses plainer words in writing than when they talk.
• Their written work is much thinner than what they can say out loud.

Our experience is that spelling stays visible longest. The studies we have do not answer how long spelling trouble lasts.

Our page on children who read fine but cannot spell has more.

Signs in how school feels

• Stomach aches or headaches on school mornings that are gone by Saturday.
• The child calls themselves stupid, flatly, as if it were settled. Notice whether it is about one subject.
• They compare themselves to a brother, sister or friend, often and without being asked.
• A child who was happy about school is not anymore, and nothing else has changed.

None of these, on its own, points to a reading difficulty. To us, they often mean school is harder for this child than it looks. To us, a child who calls themselves stupid is telling you how hard school has been. In our view, it says nothing about how smart they are. These signs are worth acting on, whatever the cause turns out to be.

What a sign does not tell you

No sign on this page is a finding about your child. By Catts and colleagues' account (2026), nothing beyond the reading and spelling trouble reliably identifies dyslexia in one child. No scan or gene test does.

Dyslexia is a name for a pattern of trouble reading words, spelling, or both. In our view, signs show where to start, not what to call it. Our rule is to describe patterns on these pages. We do not put a name on a child.

Our page on signs of dyslexia lists more signs.

What to do with what you notice

Find which job of reading is going wrong, and work on that one. The exception is a skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

Have hearing and vision checked too. A child who cannot hear well needs that found. So does a child who cannot see the print clearly.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Reading well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about reading.
• Extreme upset about reading.
• Complete avoidance of reading.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

Start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.