How dyslexia might show up

Struggles Strengths
  • Inconsistent spelling
  • Getting letters in words mixed up
  • Reading or writing slowly/inaccurately
  • Difficulty remembering sequences (days of the week, how to tie shoelaces, directions)
  • Trouble telling left from right
  • Trouble telling the time
  • Needing more time to think before speaking (trouble joining up sounds with words)
  • Reading anxiety
  • Visual disturbances when reading print (for some)
  • Difficulty processing speech or sound, especially in the presence of background noise (for some)
  • Big picture thinking – 9/10 dyslexics describe being able to see past the detail to an overview of the whole problem (Made By Dyslexia 2017)
  • Good at strategising – ability to see the big picture helps with this
  • Great creative thinking in tasks that need insight (Everatt 1999)
  • Some will excel at visual and image-based tasks
  • Great imagination – 84% of dyslexics describe themselves as “highly imaginative” (Made By Dyslexia 2017)
  • May be more willing to delegate responsibilities when needed (Logan 2009)
  • May excel in spoken communication (Logan 2009)
  • Good at problem-solving in unexpected ways (Logan 2009, Made By Dyslexia 2017)
  • Good at noticing details on the edge of vision (Lorusso et al 2004)