Learning disabilities and dyslexia: signs and support

Reviewed by the London College of Teachers Academic Team · Last reviewed 13 October 2026 · Editorial policy

Common signs

• Dyslexia: slow, inaccurate reading, poor spelling, difficulty linking letters and sounds
• Dysgraphia: very effortful handwriting, poor spacing, difficulty organising written work
• Dyscalculia: difficulty with number sense, counting, facts and calculations
• All: a gap between what the child can say and what they can write or read

Classroom support

• Structured, systematic phonics and multisensory teaching
• Short, clear instructions and visual supports
• Extra time and reduced copying
• Audio books, scribes and assistive technology
• Assessment by speaking or demonstrating, not only writing
• Building confidence by noticing strengths

Assessment and diagnosis

Teachers observe and record concerns; formal assessment is done by qualified professionals such as educational psychologists. In India, a learning disability can be certified by authorised bodies under the RPwD Act 2016, which can give access to exam accommodations.

Learning more

The SEN Certificate introduces learning disabilities, and the Master Level includes a full Certificate in Learning Disability.

What parents can do

• Read together daily, taking turns
• Use audio books to keep a love of stories
• Praise effort and progress
• Ask the school about an IEP and accommodations
• Seek a professional assessment if concerns continue

Assistive technology that helps

• Text-to-speech and audio books
• Speech-to-text for writing
• Spell checkers and word prediction
• Graphic organisers and mind-mapping apps
• Calculators and number lines

Early signs by age

• Ages 4 to 6: difficulty learning rhymes, letter names and sounds; mixing up sounds in words.
• Ages 6 to 9: slow decoding, guessing words from pictures, spelling the same word differently, avoiding reading aloud.
• Ages 9 and above: slow reading, poor written expression compared with spoken ideas, difficulty with notes and timed tests.

A structured literacy lesson in five steps

• Review known sounds and words quickly
• Introduce one new sound or rule explicitly
• Practise with multisensory activities: say, trace, build
• Read decodable text using the new sound
• Write a short dictated sentence and check together

Supporting maths difficulties

For dyscalculia, use concrete objects, number lines and visual models before abstract symbols, teach one strategy at a time, and allow calculators and fact charts so the child can work on reasoning.

A worked example: supporting a child with dyslexia

Ananya, eight, reads slowly and spells the same word differently each time. Her teacher gives her 15 minutes a day of structured phonics in a small group, using letter tiles and tracing while saying sounds. In other subjects Ananya listens to texts as audio, uses a word bank for writing, and can answer some questions orally.

Her parents read with her for ten minutes each night, taking turns page by page. After a term her reading is still below her classmates', but it is more accurate and she is no longer refusing to read aloud. With her teacher's notes, her parents seek a formal assessment to secure exam accommodations later.

Classroom accommodations checklist

• Extra time for reading and writing tasks
• Printed notes instead of copying from the board
• Audio versions of texts
• Larger font and clear layout
• Oral or practical ways to show learning
• Spelling not penalised in content subjects
• A reader or scribe in assessments where allowed

Step by step: a five-minute daily reading routine

• Review three known sound cards quickly.
• Teach one new sound with a picture and an action.
• Build three words with letter tiles using the new sound.
• Read one decodable sentence together.
• Write one word from memory and check it.

Supporting confidence

Children with learning disabilities often believe they are 'stupid' long before anyone tells them about their difficulty. Name their strengths, let them show learning in different ways, avoid reading aloud in front of the class without preparation, and celebrate small gains. Confidence is often the first thing to improve when support is right.