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dyslexia or normal for age?

7 replies

alittleteapot · 26/02/2013 11:27

dd is in year one. She is doing well - on green and ready for next band I think - but there are some indicators that she may have inherited dp's dyslexia (though not as severely.) She mixes up b and d, although this is improving and may be developmentally normal, and also sometimes writing backwards (but she is left handed so may be normal at this age) - she also reverses most numbers. All of this can be normal I know and she may grow out of. At parents eve last term teacher said was keeping an eye and thought might be dyslexic but too early to say. At that point I was feeling confident she'd grow out of it.

The thing that's got me thinking she may have a problem is that now she is reading sentences a bit more fluently she frequently gets linking words mixed up (to instead of the, of instead of for etc) so the more compex words she has to read closely to work out she can mostly do easily but the words that she should now be reading automatically she can't. Is this normal for this age? It is still quite early doors for her reading sentences very fluently so maybe she's still working it out.

I am not massively worried in that she is progressing well and if she does have a problem I think is managing it pretty well. But she herself sometimes talks about a block about some things and that her brain mixes things up - she does seem to find some things harder than you might expect given general brightness and finds some aspects of school particularly challenging and tiring.

And so my biggest worry is that her confidence and motivation are affected - she seems to find things harder e.g than her younger ds who clearly grasps links and sequences more quickly than she did and has e.g. worked out that A is for apple a whole year earlier than she did. (Not that I should compare them but interesting to note that this took her a while to click even when she recognised letters and sounds it took her till she was four to match them to things.)

I'm going to have a word with her teacher but just wondered how I could support her best and if anyone had any thoughts or experience on how to make life easier if she does have a problem. Or should I just chill out and wait and see... maybe this is just one way of learning to read and she'll sort herself out.

Sorry bit long!

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MandarinTwist · 26/02/2013 13:31

I'm not sure if it's going to help you to know at this age whether she's dyslexic or not.

I'm not sure what you'd want to do differently if an EP told you she was dyslexic......

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learnandsay · 26/02/2013 13:44

Here's how to distinguish b from d using your thumbs www.busykidshappymom.org/2011/10/b-and-d-confusion-use-your-thumbs.html

My daughter does most of the things that you describe and I don't think that she's remotely dyslexic. I think the linking word confusion might come from processing the sentence too quickly and simply guessing what the linking word is rather than reading it. If I ask my daughter to read the linking word rather than guess what it might be she always gets it right.

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alittleteapot · 26/02/2013 20:55

Thank you. I prob am worrying over nothing. DP has a really difficult time because of his dyslexia so I'm probably just being unnecessarily hyper aware of stuff.

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MandarinTwist · 26/02/2013 21:32

I'm not saying that you're worrying over nothing.

She may well have dyslexia.

But I think you'll find a diagnosis of dyslexia brings you no help and will be impossible to get at this age.

When she's older (say Y3) you'll be able to pay for a diagnosis if you want one, and it may be a good idea then.

So until then you just have to keep on keeping an eye on things, and supporting her as best as you can.

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teta · 26/02/2013 22:52

I think she sound absolutely normal.I have 4 dc's and all of them have read the way you described in the very early stages.I was particularly worried about my eldest and was convinced she had dyslexia at the same stage as you.She is now an extremely bright 13 year old.So don't worry and just keep on practicing the reading.

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bubbles1231 · 26/02/2013 22:59

DS1 was unable to blend sounds properly until he was nearly 8 . Then one day it seemed to click. He's 12 now with a talent for writing.
We gave him lots of support at home and used "Toe by Toe" - started that aged 7.

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alittleteapot · 26/02/2013 23:09

Thanks very much. I'll relax.

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