Dyslexia in Secondary School and beyond

Many intelligent young people remain unaware that they are dyslexic or are able to conceal their difficulties. The situation can change rapidly once they enter secondary school, but sometimes will not become apparent until they are taking advanced courses or performing examinations.

Their high level of intelligence acts like a mask, covering their difficulties until tasks reach a high enough level that their coping mechanisms will no longer work. With more required reading, specialised writing, multiple tasks needing time management and limited time for completing tasks, it is no wonder that a person with a learning impediment will begin to struggle.

Common signs of Dyslexia in teenagers/students

• Reads slowly with many inaccuracies
• Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing.
• May avoid reading and writing tasks
• May have trouble summarizing or outlining
• Has trouble answering open-ended questions on tests
• Works slowly and may struggle to keep up in class
• Shows poor memory skills
• Struggles to learn foreign languages
• May misread information
• May have difficulty with planning, organising and managing time, material and tasks.