Mispronouncing words, like saying beddy tear instead of teddy bear

Saying thing and stuff instead of naming common objects

Trouble learning nursery rhymes or singing the alphabet

Later than expected speech development

Difficulty on school screening assessments

Telling stories that are hard to follow

Difficulty telling or retelling a story in the correct sequence

Difficulty following directions with multiple steps

Trouble learning letter names and remembering the sounds they make

Confusing letters that look similar (like b and d) or sound similar (like f and v)

Struggling to read familiar words (like cat), especially if there aren’t pictures

Substituting words when reading aloud, like house when the story says home

Trouble separating the sounds in words and blending sounds to make words

Struggling to remember how words are spelled

Writing the alphabet is difficult

Does not reach benchmarks on literacy assessments

Uses an awkward pencil grip

Confusing or skipping small words like for and of when reading aloud

Slow reading

Trouble sounding out unfamiliar words and recognizing common ones

Struggling to explain what happened in a story or answer questions about it

Frequently making the same kinds of mistakes, like reversing letters

Mispronounces words (tornado for volcano or lotion for ocean)

Spelling the same word correctly and incorrectly in the same exercise

Avoiding reading whenever possible or getting frustrated or upset when reading

Difficulty remembering phone numbers, lists, facts

Poor spelling

Messy handwriting

Reading slowly or skipping small words or parts of words when reading aloud

Often searching for words or using substitutes like gate instead of fence

Trouble “getting” jokes or understanding idioms, puns, and abbreviations

Taking a very long time to complete reading assignments

Having an easier time answering questions about text that’s read aloud