When Reading Becomes a Daily Battle: Spotting Dyslexia Early
It is reading time in Primary 4. The teacher calls on Amaka to read the next paragraph aloud. She stands slowly, traces the line with her finger and stumbles over the second word. She guesses the third. By the fourth, some classmates are giggling, and she sits down before she finishes.
Yet this is the same Amaka who tells the most vivid stories in class, remembers every detail of last week's science lesson and solves mental sums faster than most of her peers.
"She is intelligent," her teacher says, "but she does not take her reading seriously." Perhaps you have said something similar. But what if Amaka is trying harder than anyone in the room, and reading is simply not working the way it does for others?
What Dyslexia Is, and What It Is Not
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that mainly affects accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. It typically stems from a difficulty with the sound structure of language, known as phonological processing, and this difficulty is often unexpected given the child's other abilities (Lyon et al., 2003).
In simple terms, many learners with dyslexia struggle to connect letters with the sounds they represent. Reading every word becomes slow, effortful work, and little energy is left over for understanding what the text means.
Three myths deserve to be retired. Dyslexia is not a sign of low intelligence; many learners with dyslexia are bright and articulate. It is not mainly about seeing letters backwards; most young children reverse letters at some stage, and the core difficulty lies in sounds rather than sight. And it is not something a child outgrows with time or more punishment. Researchers now understand dyslexia as a continuum, ranging from mild to severe, rather than a condition a child either has or does not have (Rose, 2009; Snowling et al., 2020).
Early Signs Teachers Can Notice
No single sign confirms dyslexia, but a persistent cluster of them, especially alongside good oral ability, deserves attention. Here is what to look out for at different stages:
Stage | Signs worth noticing |
|---|---|
Nursery and Primary 1 | Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or hearing which words rhyme; slow to learn letter names and sounds; struggles to clap syllables in a word |
Primary 2 to 4 | Slow, laboured reading; guessing words from the first letter or the pictures; difficulty blending sounds into words; spelling the same word differently on one page |
Primary 5 and above | Reading far below oral ability; avoids reading aloud; written work much weaker than spoken answers; tires quickly when copying from the board |
Watch also for the emotional signs. A learner who suddenly needs the toilet at reading time, clowns around during literacy lessons or says "I hate reading" may be protecting themselves from repeated embarrassment.
The Nigerian Classroom: Between Labels and Caution
In many of our schools, a child who struggles to read is quickly called dull, lazy or a dullard. Research suggests these labels often come from limited awareness rather than unkindness. A study of primary school teachers in Nsukka found low awareness of dyslexia and concluded that such labels may be misplaced (Okechukwu et al., 2023). Closer to home, a survey of 308 primary school teachers in the Abuja Municipal Area Council found that only about a third had good knowledge of the condition (Mkpume & Emeribe, 2026).
Yet we must also be careful in the other direction. For most Nigerian learners, English is not the language of the home. A child may read English poorly because of limited exposure to the language, irregular attendance, overcrowded classes or teaching that never covered letter sounds systematically. Poor sight or hearing can also look like a reading difficulty.
Language matters in another way too. English spelling is notoriously inconsistent, whereas languages with more regular spelling make decoding easier. In such languages, children with dyslexia tend to read more accurately but remain unusually slow (Ziegler & Goswami, 2005). So a learner who reads slowly and effortfully even in a familiar language, and who keeps struggling despite good teaching, gives us stronger reason to suspect dyslexia than one who simply struggles with English.
What Can We Do in the Classroom?
The strongest message from research is that we should not wait. Good, systematic teaching of letter sounds benefits every learner, and those who keep struggling need more intensive, structured support as early as possible (Rose, 2009). Interventions that build sound awareness and letter knowledge in the early years can make a real difference (Snowling et al., 2020).
Dear Educator, here are some practical steps you can begin this week:
🔶Teach sounds explicitly. Practise rhyming, clapping syllables and blending sounds into words, a few minutes every day.
🔶Make it multisensory. Let learners trace letters in sand, say the sound aloud and build words with letter cards, so that seeing, hearing and touch all work together.
🔶Spare them public embarrassment. Never force a struggling reader to read aloud without warning. Let them practise a passage privately first, or read in pairs.
🔶Reduce copying. Provide printed notes or a partner's copy, so that energy goes into learning rather than transcription.
🔶Assess what they know, not only how they write. Oral answers, diagrams and extra time let learners show their real understanding.
🔶Track small gains. Keep a simple record of letter sounds and words mastered each week. Progress, or the lack of it, tells you a great deal.
Above all, separate the learner from the difficulty. Tell them clearly that their struggle with reading says nothing about how clever they are.
Talking to Parents and Knowing When to Refer
Teachers do not diagnose dyslexia, but we are often best placed to notice it. A formal assessment is carried out by a qualified professional, such as an educational psychologist or a specialist in learning difficulties, who examines reading, spelling, sound processing and general ability together.
Before you refer, gather evidence. Which sounds and words does the learner know? How has their reading changed after several weeks of targeted support? How does their written work compare with what they can tell you aloud? Records like these make an assessment faster and more accurate.
When you speak to parents, begin with the child's strengths. "Amaka is a wonderful storyteller, and I have noticed that reading takes her much more effort than her other work" opens a door that "Your daughter cannot read" slams shut. Many parents carry their own painful memories of school, and some may have similar difficulties themselves. Partnership, not blame, is what gets a child the help they need.
🍀
Dear Educator, imagine for a minute you were Amaka's teacher: you stop calling on her to read aloud without warning, spend ten minutes a day with her on letter sounds and let her answer comprehension questions orally. What would be Amaka's outcome?
Reading is still hard work. But Amaka would no longer dread literacy lessons, and for the first time in a long while, she would believe she is not "dull". Because you believed in her abilities!
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. It is a good time to ask: "Is this child not trying, or is reading not working for this child yet?" The earlier we ask that question, the more we can change the answer.
Have you taught a learner like Amaka? What helped them? Share your experience in the comments, and join our WhatsApp community, where we continue conversations like this every month.
References
Lyon, G. R., Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2003). A definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 53(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-003-0001-9
Mkpume, B. E., & Emeribe, N. (2026). Knowledge and perception of primary school teachers towards pupils with dyslexia in selected schools in AMAC [Conference abstract]. AIJR Abstracts, 8(7), 34. https://abstracts.aijr.org/index.php/abs/article/view/608
Okechukwu, F. O., Mefoh, P. C., Nubia, U. I., Nwauzoije, E. J., Umennuihe, C. L., Nwobi, C. A., Ogba, K. T., Chukweze, M. E., Aliche, J. C., Ogbonnaya, E. K., Okoli, D. N., Onyekachi, C. C., Abang, S., Epistle, E., Nnorodi, C., & Obi, C. V. (2023). Development and validation of a teacher awareness questionnaire about dyslexia. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 13(1), Article a1228. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v13i1.1228
Rose, J. (2009). Identifying and teaching children and young people with dyslexia and literacy difficulties. Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Snowling, M. J., Hulme, C., & Nation, K. (2020). Defining and understanding dyslexia: Past, present and future. Oxford Review of Education, 46(4), 501–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1765756
Ziegler, J. C., & Goswami, U. (2005). Reading acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and skilled reading across languages: A psycholinguistic grain size theory. Psychological Bulletin, 131(1), 3–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.3
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