When is it too early to assess for dyslexia?

[Lonelybunny]

My DD is one of the youngest in her year1 class and has always found school hard. Every parent evening we hear the same " she is below her expected level in reading and writing" she does write letters and numbers the wrong way. I have also mentioned to the teacher she is ambidextrous (uses both hands to write and draw) which her teacher had only just picked up on. Is she too young at 5.5 to seek advise ? I'm hoping if she needs more help the earlier the better.

[Handywoman]

A bit too young for a reliable cognitive profile to emerge (and therefore diagnose formally). Age 7 is normally quoted as the age for formal comprehensive assessment. Can she break down words into their component sounds and put them back together?

However, the time to intervene is right now! This is her best window of opportunity for literacy intervention (age 5-7). What are the school doing about it?

[Lonelybunny]

Hello Handy woman sorry I don't know what you mean by break down words ? She isn't really great at reading , she can do her phonics though but she struggles with a lot of words and ends up guessing them. The school aren't really concerned and said she is part of a " booster" group where they get extra reading help. She also can't really write much she can write a little but again she is only 5 she is 6 in August so it's hard to tell.

[NappyShedSal]

There is alot to more to phonics than just knowing the 26 alphabet sounds. If you said "hen" to her could she break it down into h-e-n? If you said h-e-n to her could she put the sounds back together to make hen? If you asked her to change the "h" to a "p" would she say pen? What about changing the "e" to an "o"? These are all very simple assessments to see how she is actually hearing the sounds and whether she can manipulate them. And can she do teh same with consonant blends - pr, sc, st sm etc at beginnings and ends of words?

[MadameSin]

My son was 7 and a half when he was assessed and diagnosed via an Ed Phsych (co-morbid with ADHD). They didn't want to 'touch' him until that age. Even though his diagnosis was mild, the dyslexia has become more prevelent the harder his school works gets.

[mrslaughan]

I have not looked at this much - but DS has cross laterality - so different finance between ears, eyes, hand, foot, ( my father was ambidextrous ) - anyway the developmental physio said to me that they know that children that are cross lateral are slower to pick up literacy and Math's. It can also cause the reversal of letters.