Signs

What to watch for

• tendency to fidget
• quick eye movements when reading
• slower than normal writing speed
• uses a finger used as a guide on the page when reading
• habit of mouthing the words when reading silently
• difficulty filling out forms
• misuse of upper and lower case letters
• use of illustrations or other aids to ‘guess’ words and meaning

What to listen for

• “I don’t have time to fill these papers out now. Can I take them home?”
• “I’ll read it later.”
• “My spelling is not very good.”
• “I’ll remember, just tell me.”
• “I forgot my glasses.”
• “The lighting is very poor in here. If I tell you the answers, could you fill in the form?”

Other signs

• appears to lack motivation
• makes little or no eye contact
• is slow to follow instructions
• is consistently late or very early for appointments
• never writes down appointments or takes any kind of notes