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How can you tell whether your child is at-risk for a reading disorder? Although no one sign alone is indicative of a problem, a cluster of some of the following may indicate a problem:

• avoids reading
• guesses at words when reading
• problem discriminating one sound from another
• reverses letters (beyond 2nd grade) and/or substitutes sounds
• oral reading is slow and laborious
• is a word-by-word reader
• does not recognize basic sight words (has to “sound out” all words)
• has trouble “finding the right word” when speaking
• has difficulty following oral directions

The warning signs of later reading problems can be observed in preschool. If your child has difficulty learning the alphabet, singing nursery rhymes, or has problems pronouncing multi-syllable words, your child may be at-risk for later reading problems.