COMMON SIGNS BASED ON AGE

Mispronouncing words, like saying 'beddy tear' instead of teddy bear
Struggling to name familiar objects and using general words like thing and stuff instead
Having a hard time learning nursery rhymes or song lyrics that rhyme
Having trouble remembering sequences, like singing the letters of the alphabet
Telling stories that are hard to follow or having trouble talking about an event in a logical order
Having difficulty remembering and
following directions with multiple steps

Confusing or skipping small words like for and of when reading aloud
Having trouble sounding out new words
Having trouble quickly recognizing common words (also called sight words)
Struggling to explain what happened in a story or answer questions about key details
Frequently making the same kinds of mistakes, like reversing letters
Having poor spelling, like spelling the same word correctly and incorrectly in the same exercise
Avoiding reading whenever possible or getting frustrated or upset when reading

Having trouble learning letter names and remembering the sounds they make
Often confusing letters that look similar (like b, d, p, and q) or sound similar (like f and v, b and p, or d and t)
Struggling to read familiar words (like cat), especially if there aren’t pictures
Substituting words when reading aloud, like saying house when the story says home
Having trouble separating the individual sounds in words and blending sounds to make a word
Having trouble remembering how words are spelled and applying spelling rules in writing

Reading slowly or leaving out small words and parts of longer words when reading aloud
Struggling to remember common abbreviations, including ones on social media
Often searching for words or using substitutes like gate instead of fence
Often not “getting” the joke or having trouble understanding idioms and puns
Taking a very long time to complete reading assignments
Having an easier time answering questions about a page of text if it’s read aloud

IF YOUR CHILD SHOWS ANY OF THESE SIGNS, PLEASE SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADIVCE