Dyslexia but good at reading?

[BergamotandLime]

Looking for a bit of help - DD is 9, bright, funny, v witty, an excellent reader BUT really struggles with getting any work at all down on paper. Her handwriting is awful (she is left handed), she has no desire to write anything and homework is always a trigger - she flies off the handle, procrastinates, finds any excuse to avoid any written work whatsoever.

She is also v scatty and disorganised as well as fairly clumsy and doesn't like doing anything that requires balance or coordination, though can ride a bike but is vv cautious with it.

There is a strong dyslexia gene in the family - could this be dyslexia or does the reading rule it out?

TIA!

💯 this, it sounds much more like dysgraphia than dyslexia ❤️

@Lullabies2Paralyze

Wow that' sound's a little like me .

I couldn't tolerate being taught spelling?

With so many conditions how does any one remain normal??

@SollaSollew what strategieshas she used to spell

A couple of things, first you can definitely have dyslexia and still be able to read well. My daughter is relatively good at reading but very poor at spelling- one thing to watch out for though is that often she reads what she thinks it might say and not actually what things say, or skips words, or reads for sense. Reading aloud can often be slower due to processing slowness as well.

Second, inattentive ADHD can present as overwhelming thoughts and inability to action as much as hyperactivity, I dismissed this as a diagnosis for my dd for this reason when she was younger, but it's become obvious her brain is hyperactive rather than her body! Might help to google some diagnostic criteria for this or get an assessment.

My dd is also pretty clumsy but we have not sought a dyspraxia diagnosis as she doesn't fit all of it by any means and it doesn't really have an effect on her day to day, she does get bruised quite a lot though through throwing herself through door frames or frustrated dropping things.

My DD10 has been diagnosed with DCD and your post could be about her (apart from the left handed part).

I have dyslexia and dyspraxia. I really struggled to read and write, I honestly thought I'd never learn. It was finding a book I loved that changed everything for me. I'd get through multiple books a week.

I hated doing the classwork because I was so embarrassed that I was struggling and that my handwriting was so bad.
My handwriting is still awful! It's physically very painful to write by hand and no one had ever explained to me that wasn't normal!
I wonder if there are any similarities with your DD. Please push for as much support as you can!

Hi @TheRubyRedshoes she's done a few things, spelling shark which is an online spelling tutor app and we did toe by toe which is a book that re-teaches phonics but we didn't find either especially effective.
In the end the biggest impact of focussing on her spelling was her abandoning using her best vocabulary in written work to use an easy word she thought she could spell. This was one of the reasons for the EP assessment because her written work wasn't reflective of what she was capable of. Fortunately her spelling is still decipherable (especially when she uses a laptop) so we've agreed with her SENCO to stop focussing on it at all beyond her normal school spellings and focus on ensuring her written work reflects her vocab and ideas and planning skills for using extra time and increasing her typing speed on her laptop. Sounds quite radical to abandon it but it's made her life (and ours) so much less stressful.

Hi Op,

This was me as a child, turned out I am heavily dyspraxic and a little bit dyslexic. I was good at reading and maths but handwriting shocking , v messy disorganised and still can't ride a bike ! 😂