Is it possible for a dyslexic child to also be an early reader?

[Theguiltyfeminist]

Am hoping to pick the brains of the wise women of Mumsnet… Really sorry this is so long. I’m feeling like the worst parent in the world this evening, so please be gentle.

DD is 8 and really struggles with writing, spelling and grammar, in particular. She doesn’t have any trouble with maths and is good at the piano, so I don’t think it’s linked to hand muscle strength, etc. I am ashamed to admit this, but I started by telling her off over and over again for not paying attention but this is now so persistent that I’m wondering if there’s more to it. She does check her work but just can’t “see” that she has left out a capital letter or has spelt words wrong that she only learned last week for a spelling test, or hasn’t followed a spelling rule. Once I point it out, she groans and can absolutely see what she should have done, but she can’t do it herself. I think now that she really is trying hard.

In some ways, she fits the profile on the NHS website for dyslexia quite accurately- she struggles with handwriting and is very slow to produce any written work. However, she’s never had any trouble with reading. In fact, the opposite- she started to read simple CVC words on the day she turned (?) two and a half. I was a bit stunned and thought I had some kind of genius on my hands, although now I understand that these things generally even out within a few years! Does this mean that the problem isn’t dyslexia? I don’t want to bark up the wrong tree (or, to be absolutely honest, give DD false hope that there is a magic solution) if in fact she’s never going to be given a diagnosis on these facts.

Thanks very much for your help.

DS1 has dysgraphia and DS2 is dyslexic. Both have processing speed issues, but both can read well. DS1 will mix up the order of letters and his handwriting is slow and unreadable at times. He was taught to touch type in school and used a laptop of his GCSE and A levels. He is now doing a science course at a Russell Group Uni. DS2 struggled a bit more with reading and tenses but got going around yr 4. His handwriting is also significantly slower than average but more legible than DS2. He is doing GCSE's this year.

Both of mine had extra time and a laptop for exams (assessed by an EP and the school).
Interestingly, my father had appalling handwriting and I read voraciously but still struggle with distinguishing vowel sounds in the middle of words and often leave letters off the ends of words when I type (I just don't see the mistakes).

DD, now 25, was diagnosed dyslexic at 12. She has always been a good, keen reader and writer but her spelling was average for her age. Dyslexia diagnosis was quite a surprise! She has a degree in English literature now but still struggles with working memory.

Perhaps frame it a a specific learning difficulty related to writing and spelling. Dyslexia has so many variables and is never one size fits all.

Perhaps it is something else, after all.

But it probably is "something". If you can afford it, I would have her assessed by an Ed Psych.

DS was exactly the same as your DD. Early talker, reading at 2.5 (self taught), great with phonics and blending, top of the class for reading, top of the class for most things, capable musician from 4 but struggled with writing, spelling, and grammar. The school weren't very supportive with his issues because they thought he would catch up or he was just "rushing" schoolwork because he couldn't be bothered. His intelligence and "spiky profile" masked the issue. When he was finally assessed at 10, the Ed Psych pointed out that is writing speed was more like a 4/5 year old whereas in other areas his abilities were in line with the average 16 year old - imagine trying to work at GCSE level when you are still struggling with writing like an infant (I know it's not quite the same but it's a good way to visualise how frustrating it must have been). All his energy was going into putting words on paper, no wonder only a few of this thoughts could get out. Using a laptop at school made so much difference to him.

He's in his final year of med school now and has a first class degree from a prestigious university but the path to getting there would have been a lot easier for him if he had had a diagnosis earlier.

I don't know but I wouldn't rule out looking for something - but Sound Foundations apple and pears program is really good for punctuation, gramma and spelling - if you can find the time to do it with her - made massive improvements that stuck with my children.

Yes. Keep an eye on progress in Maths. I’ve taught many people whose dyslexia went undiagnosed because they read and often wrote fluently (barring minor spelling problems), but for whom dyslexic traits raised real barriers in maths, for example confusing addition/subtraction, multiplication/division, issues with place value, left/right and greater than/less than confusion and left/right/clockwise/anti-clockwise confusion.

My daughter must have the old fashioned type of dyslexia then! The Dyslexic Advantage is an interesting read and covers why dyslexic people are often very successful in their careers, and also how they learn to read differently.

I always struggled with my spelling, writing and times tables at school but my reading age was always higher than my actual age. I always had my head in a book growing up. My mum pushed school as there was dyslexia in our family, they were pretty useless but I got a private diagnosis when I was at primary school. I think I only have it mildly and managed to mask it, I did get extra help in primary school but didn't really get any extra help at secondary but i still managed to get decent GCSE's, A levels, a degree and a post grad degree.
I don't have any of the issues with mathematical symbols that a previous poster mentioned (my degree is maths!)

From reading all these posts it sounds like everyone seems to struggle in different ways. It also makes me wonder if my dyslexia is a why I'm struggling to help my son with phonics.
My diagnosis was 25 years ago though so maybe if I was going through it today they would come out with a different diagnosis.

If you can I would definitely try and get your DD an assessment as the sooner she can get any help if needed the better.

DS is dyslexic but his reading is unaffected. He was diagnosed in year 4. He was hoping to go to uni this year (didn’t get his required grades as “lazy”). But while preparing for university we established that he needed a new dyslexia assessment to qualify for assistance/extra time. The lady who assessed him also diagnosed dyspraxia, and suggested testing for ASD and ADHD which we are in the process of dealing with.

dd1 conversely was being assessed for dyslexia after I pointed out her incredibly slow reading speed and has been diagnosed with visual processing disorder.

Thank you everyone - you've helped me to get my concerns into something I can articulate so I've just emailed a local Ed psych to get the ball rolling!

I’m dyslexic and had a ridiculously high reading age at school, but had an extremely low GPS age (back in the day they added them together and divide in 2) so it was always masked. I’ve never got why no one looked at the scores and thought hhhmmm that’s odd. Definitely get tested privately as the earlier the better for putting strategies in place. All my family are dyslexic so I wasn’t surprised I’m more surprised neither of my sons have shown any sign.

@chesirecat99

My dd wasn't early reader via phonics but came on when we dropped it.

We had school ed psych free review her.
She acted like dyslexia was a dirty word.

Should we go private.

@AuditAngel

Where are you getting all these diagnosis from please.

My dd went to behavioural optomlateist and came up with some stuff but we don't have ehcp and it would cost 800 for the treatment

Op ,I was one of those people where the letters just made sense one day when I was about 3..

However my spelling was dreadful, writing was late but I was also at an incredibly shite school with my back to the teacher.

I felt so bored. One DD is struggling and I'm wondering if I have dyslexia?