Should I Be Concerned About My Child’s Reading? How to Know and What To Do with Dyanna Villesca
Should I Be Concerned About My Child’s Reading? with Dyanna Villesca
If you’ve ever worried that your child might be a child struggling to read, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common concerns I hear from parents, especially during those early school years when early reading skills are just starting to develop.
And here’s the hard part: it’s not always easy to tell what’s normal and what might signal something more.
Is your child just taking a little longer to pick up early reading?
Or is there something deeper going on that might require support from a dyslexia psychologist?
Let’s talk about it.
What’s Normal in Early Reading (And What’s Not)
First, I want to say this clearly: there is a wide range of normal when it comes to early reading.
Some kids pick it up quickly. Others take more time. That alone does not mean your child is a child struggling to read in a way that requires intervention.
But there are moments when progress feels stalled. When your child is working hard but not moving forward. When frustration starts to build.
That’s when we want to pause and take a closer look at early readingdevelopment.
Because sometimes, what looks like a delay may actually be a sign that your child struggling to read needs more targeted support.
Signs Your Child May Be Struggling to Read
When I work with families, one of the biggest questions I hear is: How do I know if this is something more?
Here are a few things to watch for:
Difficulty learning letter sounds despite repeated exposure
Trouble blending sounds together to form words
Avoidance of reading activities
Increased frustration or emotional reactions around reading
These can all be indicators that your child struggling to read may benefit from further evaluation.
And this is where understanding how to diagnose dyslexia in a child becomes really important.
What a Dyslexia Psychologist Actually Looks For
A dyslexia psychologist doesn’t just look at whether your child can read or not.
They look deeper.
They assess:
Phonological awareness
Processing speed
Memory
Language skills
A trained dyslexia psychologist is evaluating patterns. They’re asking: Is this a skill delay, or is this a learning difference like dyslexia?
Understanding how to diagnose dyslexia in a child means looking at the whole picture, not just one skill.
When Should You Seek an Evaluation?
This is where many parents feel stuck.
You don’t want to overreact. But you also don’t want to wait too long.
If your child struggling to read continues to have difficulty despite support, it may be time to consult a dyslexia psychologist.
Early action matters.
Because when we address challenges in early reading, we can prevent bigger issues down the road, like:
Low self-esteem
Academic frustration
Avoidance of schoolwork
Knowing how to diagnose dyslexia in a child allows you to take proactive steps instead of waiting and hoping things improve on their own.
The Emotional Side of Reading Struggles
One of the most important things we talk about in this episode is the emotional experience of being a child struggling to read.
Kids notice.
They see their peers reading more easily. They start to compare. And that can impact how they see themselves.
This is why early support matters so much.
Not just for academics, but for confidence.
When a dyslexia psychologist helps identify what’s going on, it allows us to shift the narrative from:
“I’m bad at this”
to
“I just learn differently”
What Parents Can Do Right Now
If you’re concerned about early reading, here’s where I would start:
Observe patterns over time, not just one moment
Stay curious instead of jumping to conclusions
Provide support without pressure
Seek guidance if concerns persist
If your child continues to be a child struggling to read, don’t wait too long to explore how to diagnose dyslexia in a child.
And remember, reaching out to a dyslexia psychologist doesn’t mean something is wrong.
It means you’re getting clarity.
Final Thoughts
If your child is a child struggling to read, I want you to know this: you didn’t miss something, and you’re not behind.
You’re paying attention. And that matters.
Understanding early reading, knowing when to involve a dyslexia psychologist, and learning how to diagnose dyslexia in a child gives you the tools to support your child in the best possible way.
And that’s what this is really about.
Helping your child feel confident, capable, and supported—no matter how they learn.
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CONNECT WITH DYANNA VILLESCA:
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[00:00:00] Leah Clionsky: Welcome to the Educated Parent Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Leah Clionsky, and we're gonna be talking about a topic that applies to so many of us. And that is, what do we do when we are worried about our young child's reading ability? It's so tough when our kids are little. They're in that kindergarten age and we're hoping that they're learning to read and that it's going well.
[00:00:25] Leah Clionsky: But then it's so hard to figure out is it actually going well. As a parent, I have to be honest with you, I have a hard time discerning this too. that's what this episode is about. How do we tell if our child is learning to read on a regular rate or whether we might need to do some extra testing to figure out if something's going on.
[00:00:45] Leah Clionsky: that's why I'm bringing on the wonderful Dr. Dyanna Villesca. She is fantastic. She's a licensed child psychologist. She owns Katie's Psychological Services and she does, um, dyslexia testing all the time, as well as looking at A DHD dys ula. Oppositional defined disorder, mood disorders, depression, anxiety.
[00:01:07] Leah Clionsky: She does it all, and she's been providing these assessments for children, adolescents, and adults for the past 20 years. So Dr. Dyanna, I am so excited to have you on the podcast today.
[00:01:19] Dyanna Villesca: Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, Leah.
[00:01:21] Leah Clionsky: I know it's such a hard topic as a parent. I know you and I have both discussed how it's like, you know so many things clinically and then when it comes to your own child and you're trying to figure out are they learning appropriately, are they understanding the information they're supposed to learn?
[00:01:39] Leah Clionsky: Like it's so hard to know sometimes as a clinician, do you run into this.
[00:01:44] Dyanna Villesca: Yeah. As a parent of two kids now, teenagers, it's funny, you know things, you go to school to learn the field and then goes out the window and applies to your own kids. You're just just like every other parent, I need some help. I need some advice.
[00:01:56] Dyanna Villesca: So yeah, it's good to, get some,I guess opinions onwhat, when should I be concerned am I overreacting? Am I notyeah, it's really hard.
[00:02:05] Leah Clionsky: Yeah. You don't wanna be that like parent who's freaking out about everything and. At least I always am trying to not feel like I'm being dramatic. Oh, you know, this is the end of the world. This one thing happened. It's a huge deal. But you also don't wanna be under reactive because especially if we're looking at challenges with learning disability or learning differences, or early intervention matters, like getting a kid in for services early.
[00:02:30] Leah Clionsky: Is really, really important to them. Learning those skills and not developing, self-doubt issues or problems with anxiety or depression as time goes on.
[00:02:39] Dyanna Villesca: yeah, absolutely. I mean, The research just continues to support that notion. Is early intervention is key, like you were saying, trying to find that balance between what do I know? What kind of clues would help hone in on is this a problem or not?
[00:02:54] Leah Clionsky: Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about. What learning differences in reading are and what dyslexia is. I feel like people have heard of things like this, but then like actually defining that for parents would be really useful. Just how like people think they know what OCD is and often don't really know what OCD is.
[00:03:15] Dyanna Villesca: Yeah. I think The most general way I could describe dyslexia as a reading disorder, difficulty with reading. I think one of the most common misconceptions that I hear is, oh, they're reversing their letters or their numbers. So that must mean dyslexia or they read backwards. I think those are the two common misconceptions about dyslexia.
[00:03:36] Dyanna Villesca: It's really a struggling reader. And so that could mean early on just struggling with the basic building box of learning to read, putting sounds together, identifying letters again, identifying what letter goes with which sound, blending them together, being able to rhyme words. All of those things are the building blocks for early reading.
[00:03:57] Dyanna Villesca: And so if you start to see that your child is not picking up on those things as quickly as maybe a sibling or maybe teachers have expressed some concerns there, then I think that's probably one of the earliest things to take note of.
[00:04:12] Leah Clionsky: Why is it that some kids struggle in this way? Why do some kids just understand it quickly and they're able to run with it, and why do some kids put in so much effort and they're just not connecting quickly?
[00:04:25] Dyanna Villesca: Ooh. I think that's, uh, you know, probably a million dollar question there. It's just, all have strengths and weaknesses with that we're born with, and for some kids it comes more naturally. And for other kids, they, they tend to struggle. It's just like some kids are naturally athletic, other kids are not.
[00:04:42] Dyanna Villesca: So much so.
[00:04:43] Leah Clionsky: I find that it's just really hard sometimes to understand like what is the extent of normal, right? Everyone has things that they're good at and things that they struggle with, and then there's a level at which like, you need more help. There's just there's a level at which you need outside intervention, and I think that's what's so hard when you have an early reader is that everyone is learning and then you're trying to figure out is my child.
[00:05:08] Leah Clionsky: If they're not learning really fast, are they actually struggling or is this something they're gonna pick up on their own with a little bit of just added help from me or just on their own through time? And I think it's just really fuzzy feeling as a parent when you're not sure should I actually be worried?
[00:05:27] Leah Clionsky: Or do I just let this go and assume that they'll figure it out on their own. I don't know like what your thoughts are when parents come to you in that place.
[00:05:35] Dyanna Villesca: I often ask about like bedtime reading the stories, right? of course, When they're really young, we're reading the stories to them and they're usually engaged. So when they're starting to learn to read and sound out the. Letters and words themselves. That's one thing to hone in on is if, they're having to send out a lot of the same words over and over again.
[00:05:54] Dyanna Villesca: Like they saw it for the first time or they don't remember it on the next line. words that become more of like your sight words that. That just doesn't sink in. They're just continuing to struggle with the progression of reading. If you see them reading a book and they aren't really reading the words, they're just and this would be like a kiddo who is able to like read the words on there.
[00:06:16] Dyanna Villesca: I'm not talking about like the little young ones that's. That's a good sign. If they're super young and they're going, that's showing, you know, that they're eager to read. It's more of the kiddos who know the book and they, aren't able to go through the words and they'd rather just make things up as they go along instead of actually using their phonemic awareness.
[00:06:37] Dyanna Villesca: They're sound blending to sound out the words.
[00:06:41] Leah Clionsky: When, um, clients come to you, when you help families, do they usually come in thinking that they know what's going on, or are they usually coming in saying, I have no idea if my child is struggling with dyslexia? How do you see like parents showing up. To your clinic.
[00:06:59] Dyanna Villesca: I see parents in, two different camps. One is that they are concerned. Maybe the school is not so much saying, oh, let's just wait and see, or they're still young and let's, they're still developing and oh, they might be a little bit behind or, but just let's give it some more time. And mom's like, Hmm, well let's see.
[00:07:20] Dyanna Villesca: I had reading struggles when I was little, when I was little sisters having the same reading struggles. I see when they're trying to, do their. Work or when they're trying to read out loud, they would just really struggle and they can't really recall sight words or they're having, like a roadblock, just trying to sound out words.
[00:07:37] Dyanna Villesca:So I have those parents that maybe the school isn't as concerned, but parents are like, oh, I'm not so sure I wanna go get an outside opinion. Then there's the other side where the school is concerned and the parents are like, I don't think that there's anything wrong, but this teacher's telling me that I should maybe get him or her tested for, to see if there's, a reading disorder there.
[00:08:01] Dyanna Villesca: So I really do see both sides of the concerns. they're at school led, or it's parent led.
[00:08:06] Leah Clionsky: Do you see any problem to doing an assessment? Is there any downside to getting your child assessed? If you're worried but you're not sure? Is there any negative outcome that can happen from finding out the information in your opinion?
[00:08:21] Dyanna Villesca: Well, just knowing that early intervention is key, specifically with dyslexia I don't see there being any downsides If the child does have, you know, early, like, we're not gonna make an, a diagnosis of dyslexia in a kiddo who's still at kindergarten level, still trying to learn the basic.
[00:08:42] Dyanna Villesca: Building blocks of reading. But what we can do are, looking at, their basic building block skills and say, compared to other kiddos the same age, where are they functioning? And if, it is below where they should bethen we do early intervention.
[00:08:57] Leah Clionsky: Yeah.
[00:08:57] Dyanna Villesca: the other hand, if it's like, okay, the results come back and, they're pretty much on par with the rest of their peers, then it's more of the reassurance that okay, just can continue on and check in with the teacher and see if he or she has any concerns. I think just making sure that I guess it's just when you are ready, when you're like, Hmm, I, just wanna find out. I guess, you know, the caveat is the cost, because if you go to a private pay, practice, then there's a cost involved with that. public schools can also do, a dyslexia screening also.
[00:09:30] Leah Clionsky: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's can be helpful to know. I know what I see clinically is. When kids are not diagnosed and they've just been struggling for a really long time, then they sometimes think that they're not smart or they develop an identity around, I am bad at this. You know? 'cause it's embarrassing if other people can read and you can't.
[00:09:51] Leah Clionsky: And it starts to affect whether you can do the word problems in math. You know, other kids sometimes give you a hard time. I always worry about that idea like, well, I'm gonna give up trying this thing because now I feel embarrassed that I can't do it. So I think that there's real social cost to that happening without the intervention, and that's just painful.
[00:10:10] Leah Clionsky: There's so much reading you have to do in school. It's hard to sit there all day and struggle with one of the things that everyone is grading you on, like literally grading you on all day. It's tough.
[00:10:22] Dyanna Villesca: Yeah, it really is. And you know, just, I guess that's one of the other misconceptions is. Dyslexia can, hit somebody with high IQ can hit somebody with a low iq. It just, it could be average, high average. But it's that brain-based disorder there that's having difficulty with, the fluency, and the comprehension of reading itself.
[00:10:42] Dyanna Villesca: And you're right, like reading is, essential in all aspects of what we do in school. Eventually ifthe problem doesn't get uncovered, then it does infiltrate into, your self-esteem. But it It doesn't have to because that's, one of the, I guess like I said, the misconception is that, it doesn't have anything to do with your intelligence.
[00:11:01] Dyanna Villesca: It's the way your brain is processing the information. And there's interventions for that. That's the other good part.
[00:11:07] Leah Clionsky: that's so encouraging to think about that. This is something we can do something about. if I am a parent with a young kid and I'm trying to figure out if they are struggling with reading. What are three things that would be signs to me that obviously that are not like these are the only signs, but what are three signs you see regularly where you'd say, go ahead and just get the intervention it's worth looking into more if these things are happening. What would you say is maybe a first thing that would be a red flag for you?
[00:11:37] Dyanna Villesca: To maybe go ahead and move forward with the evaluation.
[00:11:40] Leah Clionsky: Yeah. For these kids in this in between place where they're, in that kindergarteny place and as a parent, we're just sitting there thinking, are they getting this fast enough? What would be like three red flags to you?
[00:11:53] Dyanna Villesca: This is also just not my opinion. It's based on what I know about dyslexia. It runs in families, it is biological. Think about if either parent had difficulties with reading struggled through school, then I guess family history is a really big indicator maybe of okay, I'm seeing myself, my child struggling and I also had these same struggles myself or sibling had these same struggles.
[00:12:18] Dyanna Villesca: If there are articulation issues or issues with speech and language, maybe the kiddo is already in speech therapy. There's a lot of overlap between speech and language disorders and dyslexia also. So I would say that would be another indicator that probably just be good to get an evaluation, at least to get a baseline to see if things are
[00:12:40] Dyanna Villesca: Within normal limits or maybe some additional intervention would help to get them within normal limits.
[00:12:46] Dyanna Villesca: I think the third would be if a child is, I think it was back to the reading example. If they're skipping over a lot of words, guessing, not trying to sound them out, or if you see them like really struggling.
[00:12:58] Dyanna Villesca: To sound out the words and they just can't seem to get that library of words in their, memory bank. Then that would be another indicator. If the teacher has concerns, I think would also be another one. But that's also not foolproof because there have been times when, again, the kids are still learning these skills.
[00:13:15] Dyanna Villesca: They're trying to give them time, they all, develop at different rates. And so it would be maybe trusting your gut instinct also of like, Ugh, I'm just not quite sure I need, to know.
[00:13:26] Leah Clionsky: Yeah. Parents. We like under trust our guts a lot. especially, I think, I don't know, I can go into this thing about how I feel like women have been taught to really not trust ourselves, but if you have like a gut instinct about your kid. It's worth paying attention to that. It's least worth exploring on what you might be picking up on.
[00:13:45] Leah Clionsky: And trusting yourself, especially if what you're finding out is just more good information this is not an invasive test that like hurts,
[00:13:54] Leah Clionsky: you know, it's thinking games, it's reading with a clinician, it's not something that will hurt your child or cause any trauma to your child.
[00:14:03] Leah Clionsky: So it's absolutely worth finding out if you need to.
[00:14:05] Dyanna Villesca: I would think that would be a good idea just for peace of mind. If nothing else, like you were saying earlier, it's like you don't wanna overreact or underreact and sometimes you know, you like. Am I making a big deal out of this? Is it, should I be concerned?
[00:14:18] Dyanna Villesca: And like you were saying, like just as moms just and dads
[00:14:21] Leah Clionsky: Yeah, we know our kids.
[00:14:22] Leah Clionsky: Well this is so helpful. Can you tell people how to find you if they're looking for the amazing evaluations that you do, and Katie, can you tell them the best way of contacting you? If you have parents listening now and they're like, you know what I actually wanna look into this a little bit deeper.
[00:14:38] Dyanna Villesca: Sure. we're located in Katy, Texas, just west of Houston. I guess I wanted to say with our evaluations, we always start with an. Initial clinical interview first. So that's the opportunity for parents to come in and talk about their concerns and then get information back from a professional like myself and saying I think in this case we follow up in a year or
[00:14:58] Dyanna Villesca: work with the teacher on classroom interventions or, no, I think let's go ahead and get a baseline and let's do an evaluation. So I guess the first step is just gathering that information, saying is an evaluation needed.
[00:15:11] Dyanna Villesca: But they would contact us here@katiesykeservices.com is the website.
[00:15:17] Dyanna Villesca: They can call us at the phone number, (832) 913-8747. We have wonderful admin staff ready to answer questions that you have about scheduling the appointment and I am a child psychologist. I have a school psychology background. I've worked in public schools before. I do second opinion evaluations for, parents who disagree with the outcome of a school evaluation.
[00:15:45] Dyanna Villesca: With that said, I'm saying that because that's my specialty is working with children and so they're not gonna come and meet this. Stuffy person and be intimidated. my goal is to make them feel comfortable and, just it's more activity based. It's not show me what you know, it's just supposed to be something that's safe and supportive and something that we're just trying to see how they're doing and what we can do to help them do even better.
[00:16:10] Leah Clionsky: Yes, Dr. Diana does an amazing job, love the work that you guys do the website will be in the show notes. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast, and I will talk to the rest of you next week. Have a wonderful, wonderful week.