St
udent Name ________________________________________
Date _________________________School_________________
Person Completing Checklist _____________________________
Characteristics of Dyslexia Checklist
To be considered for further screening, student should exhibit 15 of the following
characteristics. Student work must be included with this screener and be part of
the decision process. **Be mindful of characteristics in relation to normal age
appropriate development.
Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or
spell at grade level
Labeled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, “not trying hard enough,” or
“behavior problem”
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, designing, or
building
Seems to “Zone out” or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time
Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation,
observation, and visual aids
Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading
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 nonexistent movement while reading, writing
or
copying
Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don’t reveal a problem
Confuses letters that look similar: d-b, u-n, m-n
Confuses letters that sound the same: v; f; th
Transpose words: left – felt
Reads a word correctly and then further down the page, reads it wrong
Changes words around: the cat sat on the mat (the mat sat on the cat)
Confuses small words: of, for, from
When reading, has difficulty in keeping the correct place on a line and
frequently loses his place
Reads correctly but does not understand what he is reading
Does not know whether to use right or left hand
Leaves out capital letters or uses them in the wrong places
Forgets to dot the “I”s or cross “t”s
Forms letters and numbers badly
Slopes writing, even when using margins and guide lines
Holds a pencil too tightly or awkwardly
Has problems tying shoelaces
Has particular difficulty copying from blackboard
Has difficulty following more than one instruction at a time
Sequencing difficulties: alphabet, nursery rhymes, months of the year,
numbers in tables
Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure,
emotional stress, or poor health
These characteristics checked ARE ARE NOT (check one) affecting academic success.