Which student most clearly indicates need for a dyslexia evaluation?

• A. Ellen, who has difficulty writing at grade level but can express her thoughts orally
• B. Sandra, a second grader who struggles with phonological awareness and blending
• C. Phillip, a 5th grader who still has not grasped basic math facts and has difficulty organizing his math homework in a logical way in paper
• D. All of these students should be tested for dyslexia

Answer: (B)

Phonological processing difficulties, especially in awareness and blending, are classic indicators of dyslexia. When a child struggles to hear and manipulate sounds and to blend phonemes into words, that midfield of decoding—mapping sounds to letters—remains unreliable. In early elementary grades, this pattern strongly signals a reading-specific disability and calls for a formal evaluation to determine supports and accommodations.

Ellen’s writing struggles, despite strong oral expression, point more toward a writing or language-processing issue rather than the decode-and-sound mapping deficit that defines dyslexia. Phillip’s math and organizational challenges suggest a different pattern, such as a math-specific or executive-function-related difficulty. By contrast, Sandra’s difficulty with phonological awareness and blending aligns with the core risk factors for dyslexia, making her the best candidate for a dyslexia evaluation.