What are the symptoms of dyslexia?
Nov 17, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Zhang Baohua
Introduction
Dyslexia is primarily characterized by delayed development in reading and writing abilities. Core symptoms include difficulties with reading, disorganized writing, inaccurate pronunciation, distractibility, and challenges in memory retrieval. Dyslexia is unrelated to intelligence level; through targeted reading and writing training, multisensory teaching methods, and other interventions, these symptoms can be effectively improved, helping individuals fulfill their potential.
Dyslexia is primarily characterized by delayed development in reading and writing abilities. Core symptoms include reading difficulties, disorganized writing, inaccurate pronunciation, distractibility, and difficulty with memory retrieval. A detailed analysis is as follows:
1. Reading difficulties: Frequent omissions, additions, or substitutions of characters while reading; confusion between visually similar characters. When reading aloud, speech is slow and poorly paced, with disordered phrasing. Individuals often struggle to comprehend text meaning and are unable to recall or retell key content after reading, resulting in reading efficiency significantly below that of peers.
2. Disorganized writing: Reversal of stroke order, loose character structure, frequent spelling errors that persist despite repeated corrections, illegible handwriting, and disordered logic in written expression. Individuals have difficulty organizing their thoughts coherently and expressing ideas clearly in writing.
3. Inaccurate pronunciation: Tendency to confuse initial consonants or vowel sounds in spoken language, with weak phonemic discrimination. Difficulty distinguishing between words with similar pronunciations, reversed word order when repeating sentences, and overall lack of fluency and naturalness in verbal expression.
4. Distractibility: Easily distracted by external stimuli during reading and writing tasks, frequently losing focus. Often restless while reading or writing, fidgeting with stationery, and requiring significantly more time than typical to complete even simple reading and writing assignments.
5. Difficulty with memory retrieval: Trouble remembering the shapes, pinyin, and meanings of Chinese characters. Memorizing texts takes considerable time and is prone to rapid forgetting. Numerical memory may also be affected—commonly confusing sequences such as phone numbers or addresses—and recalling stored information is slow and inefficient.
Dyslexia is unrelated to intelligence level. With targeted reading and writing training, multisensory teaching approaches, and appropriate support, individuals can significantly improve their skills and fully realize their potential.
