The Post-Primary School Signs: Ages 12+ Years

Pupil’s Name: ____________________________

Date: _____________

 

If an individual over 12 years old displays any of the following characteristics, the teacher should intervene. The presence of a number of these characteristics or those on the previous checklist for 7-12 year olds may indicate that the pupil has dyslexic learning difficulties. When considering these characteristics, it is important to remain mindful of the following:

  • No child will have all these characteristics.
  • Some characteristics are more common than others.
  • All children will have some of these characteristics to some degree.
  • The number of symptoms seen in a particular child does not give an indication as to whether the dyslexia is mild or severe. It is important to consider if the behaviours are chronic and appear in clusters.

      Speaking:

1.      ___Still mispronounces or misuses some words

 

      Reading:

1.      ___Is still reading reads slowly and dysfluently with many inaccuracies

2.      ___Misreads words (e.g., hysterical for historical) or information

3.      ___Has difficulty modifying reading rate

4.      ___Has an inadequate store of knowledge due to lack of reading experience

    

      Spelling:

1.      ___Continues to experience serious spelling difficulties

 

       Writing:

1.      ___Has better oral skills than written skills

2.      ___Has difficulty planning, sequencing and organising written text

3.      ___Has difficulty with written syntax or punctuation

4.      ___Has difficulty skimming, scanning and/or proof-reading written text

5.      ___Has trouble summarising or outlining

6.      ___Has problems in taking notes and copying from the board

 

Memory:

1.      ___Has poor memorisation skills

2.      ___Has problems recalling the names of some words or objects

     
Reasoning
: difficulty in organising and integrating thoughts

1.      ___Has poor planning and organisational skills

2.      ___Has poor time management skills      


Motor coordination:
difficulty coordinating eye and hand

1.      ___Has slow, dysfluent and/or illegible handwriting

 

Behaviour:

1.      ____Procrastinates and/or avoids reading and writing tasks

2.      ____Does not complete assignments or class work or does not hand them in

3.      ____Is slow in answering questions, especially open-ended ones

4.      ____Has more difficulty in language-based subjects (e.g., English, Irish, History) than in non-language based subjects (e.g., mathematics, technical graphics)

  1. ____Lacks self-confidence and has a poor self-image