Children with dyslexia usually have average to superior intelligence. Parents and teachers often notice an unexpected gap between children's aptitude and their achievement in school.

Dyslexia is not a disease. Therefore, it has no "cure". Dyslexia results from differences in the structure and the function of the brain that translate language to thought (listening or reading) or thought to language (writing and speaking). This often makes it more difficult to read, spell, write, or organize/sequence information.

Many children with dyslexia have unusually creative talents in art and architecture, engineering, electronics and mechanics, and music and drama. Children who learn with dyslexia often show special talent in areas that require visual, spatial, and motor integration.

These are some common characteristics that might indicate dyslexia or a similar processing difference:

• The child appears bright, but has anxiety and difficulty with reading and comprehension.
• Poor or inconsistent spelling.
• Avoids writing, or describes it as very hard.
• Reading or writing may show letter or word reversals, repetitions, or omissions.
• Often very competent in oral language (vocabulary), although may have difficulty explaining a point.
• Learns better through hands-on experience than through reading.
• May rely heavily on memory, especially of events or conversations.
• Good people skills, intuitive, amicable, with sense of fairness.
• Strong visual and spatial talents, as seen in architects, designers, artists and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians and dentists.
• May struggle with math computations like multiplication and division, or telling time.
• Often has difficulty with planning, organization and management of time, materials and tasks.