What were the early signs of dyslexia

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If your child was diagnosed with dyslexia at a later age, can I ask what were the early signs?

My DD is turning 5 this week and there is a very strong genetic link to dyslexia on her father's side. I'm getting a bit concerned about certain things but they might just be developmental (I.e. struggling to find the right word in a conversation, confusing some letters, confusing brother with sister- using them interchangeably which is weird). She is great with phonics though, if I ask her how to do spell a certain word (I.e. left, she'll work it out very quickly).

Mispronouncing words repeatedly despite correction and help with pronunciation. Skipping words in sentences (usually high frequency words) or substituting them for another similar word - it/is, they/them etc
Really good verbal comprehension but poor ability to express in writing. Poor spelling.
Artistic and creative but unable to write neatly, large, messy handwriting.
Actively avoided reading or any homework that required writing.

Teacher’s repeatedly said she wasn’t dyslexic because she tested ‘average’ and high a high verbal ability. I paid for a visual stress assessment and she was diagnosed with that. Ti it’s glasses improved reading speed and accuracy but no improvement in spelling. Paid privately for dyslexia assessment and unsurprisingly she is dyslexic, scores highly on comprehension and intelligence so masks well.

If in doubt get a test. It helps with extra support in school with technology, helps you as a parent to support at home and gives them extra time in tests/exams.

Oops few spellings mistakes of my own! Should be had and the 😂

Oh and she was diagnosed in year 5 so age 9.

Not a low IQ but struggled with what PP said

doesn't like to read out loud

When she thinks of things in her head if she sees a picture rather than words or nothing

Thanks @Biscuitandacuppa . Do they test them as early as 5? She just started Reception so she is starting to read now. But considering we started phonics 2 years ago and she seemed to be doing well at the time, I find her progress very slow and she seems to confuse quite a lot of letters.

What worries me is her getting confused a lot, confusing people's names (for instance she thought both her drama class teachers are called Sophie (not their real names)- in fact one is Sophie, the other is Mary, she insists that Mary is also called Sophie - she's known them for over 6 months; calling objects a different name, word pronunciation always great otherwise.

Probably a bit early, if you don’t feel happy with her progress then speak with the school initially. They don’t tend to test until 7.

Thank you. School is saying she is doing great so far, so I won't be getting anywhere at the moment.

Earliest signs for us was difficulty in learning to count, but being able to put things into groups of same size, and getting confused by instructions with more than one step.

She was treated as dyslexic by school from Yr1. She is in Yr7 now and is not formally diagnosed, but all her teachers have agreed its the probable explanation for her.

Couldn’t (and still can’t) tie my shoelaces without doing bunny ears, learn my times tables and know my left from right
I think those were my earliest

Can I ask you why has she not been formally diagnosed? It's great the school has given her extra support without a formal diagnosis.

@Gevrgrgrtv There are plenty of people who are not dyslexic who confuse left and right, I'm one of them.

She has passed all the screening tests. But they include things like motor skills which she is very good at, then falls down on the language and organisational bits.

She qualified for extra time and a scribe/reader in her SATs though (dependent on exam).

Paid for private assessment and diagnosis age seven, supported by very good Yr 2 teacher, but suspected from age 3-4.

Reversing opposites (hot/cold, in/out, up/down etc)
Losing the thread of instructions with several steps
Super-distractable
Very different reading and speaking/comprehension abilities right from earliest experience with letters
Word skipping or substitution, losing place at the end of a line
Extreme frustration and melt-downs when not able to execute the thing he could imagine
Self esteem problems

Dd diagnosed at 11, she's 12 now.

Can't tell the time
Doesn't know left from right
Confuses things like up/ down backwards / forwards
Mispronounces words even now eg she said the plate had to be on a flat server not surface
Gets words mixed up eg park car for car park

In year 1, missing out words that I knew he knew such as 'it, on, in' etc. He said that the words kept moving around the page. I queried it with the teacher and she said he was fine.

In year 3, I had him assessed by an Ed Psych (I didn't mention Dyslexia) and she diagnosed him with it. He can't sound out unfamiliar words phonetically. He learnt to read by memorising the shape of the words he says.

In year 7, he was assessed by a different Ed Psych who also diagnosed Dyslexia, with a reading age if 6 and phonetic knowledge on the first percentile.

His Primary School outrightly refused to support him with his Dyslexia even despite the diagnosis.

Mispronouncing words: stroke was "froke". Even at age 12, the other day he asked me us he could go to a shop and choose some different "breakfasses" when he meant "breakfasts".

My advice with the school is to trust your own instincts. These people at school assume that Dyslexia means not able to read at all!

She sounds very much like my dd who is 7 and awaiting screening at school.

post lockdown she was behind in reading, writing and maths which her teacher called ‘a hangover from lockdown’ and ‘don’t forget she’s the youngest in the year’ 🙄

This year she’s caught up in maths but is still well behind in reading and writing. She is SO creative but her work is so messy. She can spell the same word 3 different ways in 1 piece of work. She has noticed that she’s slower than everyone else and it’s knocking her confidence which is what has prompted me to push for a diagnosis.

A big thing for me though is that she just can not grasp the concept of ‘yesterday and tomorrow’ or the fact that her uncle is also my brother and her auntie is also my sister. We’ve talked about it so many times yet it blows her mind every time!

Our local authority doesn’t test until 11 but her school has agreed to screen so it’s a start at least!

Just as a caveat though, this might not all be dyslexia related. She's very good at maths and is very artistic and has a lot of common sense

Oh yes, mixing up he and she until he was about 9! A boy would be she and a girl would be he.

Could hear sounds to identify them but could not identify any of them. Knew the letters in her name but would write them in any order. Also lots of reversals and upside down letters. She still doesn't know which capital letters match lower case letter and is now in year 5.
She has a very big vocabulary and if you were talking to her you wouldn't think she would struggle. She is very articulate. However ask her to read or write something and she couldn't think where to start.
Also in comparison with her sister, I noticed that she was making very little, possibly no progress with reading for well over a year. She started on ORT red level in reception and didn't come off it for nearly 2 years. And we were trying lots of things at home.
She works 200% harder than her sister for 50% less results. It is such a shame that it is so hard.

I wasn’t trying to say that it was automatic

Also has DLD tho both linked. He/she before/after, first/last/ yesterday/tomorrow all mixed up. Can't find words he needs, for example he will call the microwave the food heater. He can now read better but spelling is still very poor. Age 10 and on 3/4 letter words and gets them wrong frequently. Misses out words/lines when reading and wont notice it doesn't make sense. He cant tell left from right, the time or tie shoe laces. Very disorganised and poor memory

DD had most of the things described above. Passed screening tests, both schools remarkably unconcerned. Eventually got formal dyslexia and dyspraxia assessment in year 12. Shouldn't have let myself be fobbed off.

b, p, d are mixed up
Blending phonics is a struggle
Capital letters in the middle of words
r and t are mixed up
Words moving on the page
5 and 2 are mixed up
Writes backwards
Spoken vocabulary is significantly better than written

My dd doesn't have a diagnosis of dyslexia but she definitely shows evidence of some difficulty with reading and writing and maths. I have been doing Toe by Toe with her and she's really coming on.

I've known a few parents who tested when the kids were really young and got inaccurate diagnoses, so it is quite good to wait to 7+. She sounds like she could well be dyslexic from what you've written here. I'd suggest an ed psych assessment as opposed to a dyslexia assessment as that can give a more detailed and accurate results of what is going on and will still test for dyslexia.