Few people with dyslexia exhibit all of the characteristics of the disorder. Some common signs include:

• Lack of awareness of the sound structure in words
• Difficulty decoding words – reading
• Difficulty encoding words – spelling
• Difficulty expressing thoughts orally and in writing
• Reading that lacks fluency (slow/labored)
• Unexpected gap between intelligence and academic achievement grades
• Confusion about directions in space or time (right/left, up/down, early/late, months/ days, yesterday/tomorrow)

There are many more characteristics that describe people with dyslexia. Dayton READ encourages diagnoses by qualified physicians and diagnosticians knowledgeable in the area of dyslexia.