Undiagnosed dyslexia in teens

Dyslexia is a type of learning disability that makes it hard for a person with the condition to process words or numbers. While the signs of dyslexia are usually detected at an early age, some children make it through the early school years , but find it hard to deal with bigger intellectual demands in secondary school.

Here are some signs that your teen has undiagnosed dyslexia:

• He or she has trouble using rich vocabulary.
• They have difficulty understanding directions.
• Your teen summarises a story to understand it.
• He or she gets bogged down with details and has difficulty staying on topic.
• They have trouble distinguishing between words that look or sound the same.
• He or she skips over words when reading out loud.
• They have trouble expressing ideas in an organised way.
• Your teen isn’t able to spell accurately and consistently.
• The have difficulty making and maintaining friendships.
• He or she has problems memorising things.
• Your child has trouble applying learned skills in one situation to another one.

If your teenager shows significant problems in any of these areas, it is a sign that he or she may have an undiagnosed learning disability.

Before you approach them, speak to your teen’s teacher and find out whether or not your child is struggling with school work. Teachers are usually good at detecting whether or not a person has a learning disability.

If it turns out that your child has undiagnosed dyslexia, don’t think he or she is stupid or just being lazy. It simply means that your child’s brain has a different way of processing information. It’s important that you recognise your teenager’s strengths and remember to praise them when necessary.

Lastly, you should not feel like your child is limited in their career choices. The majority of colleges accommodate for students with learning disabilities. Yes, your teen has dyslexia, but that’s not to say they can’t become a doctor.