10 Reading Habits You'll Only Know If You're the Parent of a Child with Dyslexia

Kate Baker
Mar 26
4 min read

Updated: May 28

If you're the parent of a child with dyslexia, you know that learning to read isn’t always a smooth journey - it’s a winding road filled with breakthroughs, setbacks, and plenty of creative problem-solving.

You’ve likely sat through bedtime stories that take twice as long, heard the same word guessed five different ways, and found yourself celebrating victories that other parents might take for granted - like reading a whole sentence without frustration.

Sound familiar? Then this list is for you! Here are 10 reading habits you’ll instantly recognise if you're raising a child with dyslexia.

🚨Psst - if you want to know how to help your child correct these reading habits, read on to the end!

Reversing b/d.
Mixing up vowel sounds.
Reading letters at the end of the word first (or second!).
Omitting the second letter of a word when spelling.
Trying to sound out words like 'was' or 'the' anew each time.
Not recognising a character's name in a short story.
Confusing the sounds digraphs make.
Not recognising capital letters.
Guessing words from their first letter.
Guessing words from context.

Learning to read might be trickier for children with dyslexia but it IS possible!

1. Reversing b/d

If you’ve ever watched your child confidently read big as dig or dug as bug, you’re not alone. Reversing ‘b’ and ‘d’ is one of the most common reading challenges for children with dyslexia. It happens because these letters look so similar, and their brains are still working on storing them as distinct symbols.

2. Mixing up vowel sounds

‘Bet’ and ‘bat.’ ‘Cat’ and ‘cut.’ Short vowels can be so tricky for dyslexic readers! If your child often mixes them up, don’t worry- it’s not a lack of effort. Vowel sounds can be subtle, and some children need more explicit practice to differentiate them clearly.

3. Reading letters at the end of the word first (or second!)

Does your child read was as saw? Or mix up stop and spot? Sometimes during the reading process letters can lose their order, so although the child knows they saw a 's', 't', 'o' and 'p', they're not sure which letters come first. This isn’t laziness - it’s their brain trying to process the word in the way that makes the most sense to them at that moment.

4. Omitting the second letter of a word when spelling

Spelling can feel like a mystery when your child is consistently leaving out letters - like writing frog as fog or black as back. Their brain is picking up the beginning and end sounds but struggling to hold onto everything in between.

5. Trying to sound out words like ‘was’ or ‘the’ anew each time

Some words just refuse to follow the rules (looking at you, ‘said’ and ‘was’ ). If your child tries to sound them out from scratch every single time, it’s because their brain hasn’t stored them as 'sight words' (words that must be memorised). This can be so frustrating for both the child and you, their parent, as no amount of sounding out will get them to the right answer!

6. Not recognising a character’s name in a short story

They just read Emma on page one, but by page two, it’s like they’ve never seen the name before. It can be surprising just how quickly children with dyslexia can 'forget' a word or name they've just seen, and it's tempting to ask them to pay more attention - but it's not their fault. They just haven't been able to file that word away for quick recall yet.

7. Confusing the sounds digraphs make

‘Sh,’ ‘ch,’ ‘th’ - these letter pairs share similar shapes, which makes it tricky to tell them apart. That’s why you'll often hear a child say 'ch' when looking at 'th', meaning words like 'that' might be read as 'chat'.

8. Not recognising capital letters

When they see dog in one sentence but DOG in another, does it suddenly look like a whole new word to them? It’s common for children with dyslexia to struggle with switching between lowercase and uppercase versions of the same letter.

9. Guessing words from their first letter

If your child sees train and confidently says tree without reading the rest of the word, it’s because their brain is trying to speed up the process. Rather than carefully decoding, they’re predicting based on the first letter - sometimes they get it right, often not so much.

10. Guessing words from context

If they’re reading a story about a cat and see a long word that could say kitten, they might just go for it - even if the word actually says cushion. Guessing is a coping strategy they’ve picked up to keep up with other children, but it can get in the way of understanding a piece of text.

If any of these sound familiar, know that you’re not alone - these are all common struggles for children with dyslexia. The good news? With the right support, they can develop stronger reading skills.

That’s exactly why I created my Reading Skills workbooks - to provide a structured, dyslexia-friendly resource that help kids master phonics and become confident readers. Check them out here.

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