When Can You Tell If Your Child Has Dyslexia?

Understanding Your Child’s Struggles

If you’re here, it’s probably because you’ve been watching your child — maybe 7, maybe 9 — wrestle with reading, spelling, or writing while their classmates seem to pull ahead. Perhaps you’ve already asked yourself, quietly or not-so-quietly, “Could it be dyslexia?”

That suspicion is not uncommon. Parents often notice early signs before anyone at school raises concerns. And while there’s no perfect moment, no siren that signals the ‘right’ age for diagnosis, researchers and educators agree: identifying dyslexia early can make a world of difference for your child’s self-esteem, learning journey, and emotional well-being.

So, When Can Dyslexia Be Diagnosed?

Technically, signs of dyslexia can be observed as early as kindergarten — around age 5 or 6 — when children begin to connect sounds with letters. However, a formal diagnosis is more reliable between the ages of 7 and 8, once a child has had enough exposure to reading and writing instruction to highlight patterns of difficulty that fall outside the typical learning curve.

At age 6, it can still be too early to distinguish between a developmental delay and an actual learning disorder. But by the time your child reaches second grade, persistent challenges with decoding words, phonemic awareness, and spelling tend to show more clearly — and it's often then that a diagnosis becomes possible.

What Are the Signs Parents Should Watch For?

Dyslexia doesn’t always look the same from one child to the next, but here are some common red flags:

• Mixing up sounds and syllables (saying “aminal” instead of “animal”)
• Trouble remembering letters or sequencing the alphabet
• Reading below grade level despite normal or above-average intelligence
• Difficulty learning to spell words, even frequently reviewed ones
• Avoiding reading out loud or expressing low self-confidence in school

If more than one of these feels familiar, your instincts may be correct — and trust us, your instincts as a parent are powerful. In fact, many diagnosed children only got the support they needed because their parents refused to ignore the subtle signs.

Getting a Diagnosis: What to Expect

The path to diagnosis typically begins with a conversation — sometimes with your child’s teacher, sometimes with a pediatrician, and often with a school psychologist or learning specialist. If your school offers a learning support program, it's a great place to start. Every country or district might follow slightly different procedures, but in general, an educational psychologist or speech-language therapist will conduct tests to assess your child’s reading, phonological awareness, working memory, and language processing.

If you’re in France or another country where awareness is still evolving, you might find this guide to dyslexic students’ rights in primary school helpful. It also includes information on accommodations you can request once a diagnosis is confirmed.

Why Early Identification Matters So Much

A diagnosis doesn’t label your child — it unlocks support. Effective interventions, if started early, can significantly reduce the academic and emotional toll dyslexia takes. That might mean customized reading strategies, multisensory learning, or tools developed specifically for dyslexic learners. Most importantly, it shows your child that they’re not broken or “bad at school” — they just learn differently.

In fact, many children with dyslexia are incredibly creative and strong in big-picture thinking. Diagnosing dyslexia allows you to stop fighting invisible battles and start building a toolbox of strategies suited for your child’s mind.

For example, if your child struggles to retain written material but shines when it’s told as a story, some apps now let you turn a text lesson into a personalized audio adventure where your child becomes the hero — even using their own name. This small shift can turn resistance into curiosity, especially for auditory learners who’ve felt defeated by dense worksheets. The Skuli App offers this feature, alongside others designed with learning differences in mind.

What If My Child Isn’t Diagnosed, But Still Struggles?

Dyslexia exists on a spectrum, and not all struggling readers meet the medical or educational criteria for a formal diagnosis. That doesn’t mean your child’s difficulties aren’t valid. In fact, partial interventions — such as targeted phonics programs, structured literacy, or using digital supports — can still greatly help even without a label.

Many parents find solace in digital tools that turn written instructions into audio, which can be a lifesaver during car commutes or moments when focus fades. These adaptive formats support children who may not be dyslexic by diagnosis but certainly benefit from alternative modes of learning. If that sounds familiar, you may appreciate this curated list of top tools for dyslexia support at home.

Moving Forward With Confidence

Coming to terms with a potential diagnosis is emotional — not only for your child, but for you, too. It can bring waves of guilt, relief, worry, and hope. But the road doesn’t end with a label; often, that’s where the clarity begins. With the right tools, strategies, and information, you can advocate effectively, parent compassionately, and help your child unlock the joy in learning.

And if you’re wondering how dyslexia might impact other areas, like learning foreign languages, take a look at our article on how dyslexia affects learning French. It offers practical insight and encouragement for a question many parents ask.

At the heart of it, you know your child best. If you keep listening, observing, and standing by them, you’re already doing something extraordinary.