Is there any condition which makes you have poor spelling

[User14379]

Hiya my 8 year old is a fluent reader and is good at maths too but her spelling is just atrocious. We have been practising consistently since year 1 and it hasn’t improved much. Her sibling in year 1 now has far better spelling which is making me think if there is any condition which makes u have poor spelling. I may be clutching at straws but I really see no further point in practising. She still gets words like which and witch wrong. With is always whith.

My DD never passed the phonics test and she done it 3 times, I told them countless times something was wrong. It wasn't until we moved schools that this was picked up and quickly given diagnosis.

Ds14yo has dreadful spelling. He’s been assessed for dyslexia and he doesn’t have it. He is a good reader and has above average IQ. He gets some three and four letter words wrong. We taught him which and witch for months in preparation for secondary school entrance exams, and he did remember then, but it hasn’t stuck. He does have dyspraxia though, I’m not sure whether there is a link with spelling.

This is me. I can read very well but spelling was always so hard for me.

The advent of word processors and predictive text has been a godsend for me.

The other thing that helped was learning how I learn spellings.

I have to learn it kinetically. I have to write a word over and over and over and over again to teach my hand how to write / type it.

I really struggle to spell out loud or to write a work down if someone spells it out to me.

I hope that helps.

My daughter uses a rainbow method for practicing spellings so each letter is written in a different colour, it's helping but she still struggles.

@User14379 - If the school is not helping and you can afford it I would recommend you try a private Edpsych. Dyslexia can present in different ways.

Good luck - DS is dyslexic and hasn't stopped him doing well. The importance of a diagnosis is though to get the proper support at school / University ( if that is what he aspires to ) especially when it comes to important exams.

DS has this sort of dyslexia. His reading doesn't sound quite as proficient as your child but he can read age-appropriate books. He did the basic screening test at school aged about 8 and it came back with "no signs of dyslexia".

Before secondary school I was still concerned (I'd done spelling programmes with him out of school and they'd made little difference) and we got him privately assessed. He is dyslexic, with some working memory issues. He's very capable in some areas with amazing retention of facts and vocabulary, but can't punctuate at all, or spell 4 letter words like 'does'. He's also good at maths.

My DD has dyslexia. She can read / comprehend fine. She has very little phonological awareness and cannot break the sounds down in words to spell. She can spell the same word wrong in several different ways in the same piece of work. She can also learn spellings short term (eg will often get 10/10 in weekly spelling tests) but she will not remember long term how to spell them.

The school will have their own dyslexia screening. Altho please be aware that my daughter was given low risk of dyslexia overall and nobody bothered to read the actual report which showed her as bottom 10% in several areas (balances out I assume by others where she was top 10%). We also paid private for our diagnosis.

I have a friend who did English Lit at uni with dyslexia. She always loved reading it was her spelling that got all mixed up

I have always struggled with spelling, but been an avid reader. I had extra help at school and extra time in exams, but was formally diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult. I can type this post due to autocorrect and spellchecker!
School may not be aware of this presentation of dyslexia. Friends who are primary teachers are not aware of how differently dyslexia can present.

My DD was a brilliant reader and writer - but spelling was very average. Shes moderately dyslexic (heading toward severe) but has a degree in English now.

I can confirm that the three posts weren’t by the same person - one of them was mine!

it is really interesting, though, OP, that our daughters have hit this point at almost exactly the same age. I wondered whether until now, lots of kids had relatively poor spelling - just because they were young children. As DD’s friends’ spelling has improved with age, her spelling hasn’t and so she is suddenly standing out, and really feeling it.

Both myself and Ds are dyslexic, there was a huge difference in how the schools dealt with us.
OP you need an educational psychologist, either a private one or via the school, though I imagine that they won't have the money for it.
We did a private assessment as the school budget meant it was 9 - 12 month wait.

Husband is severly dyslexic and although he does actually suffer with his reading and spelling ive also learnt through being with him that there are so many other ways dyslexia presents itself. For example he is terrible at remembering names, not just in a 'typical man' way. he has no recall for lists (for example if you asked him to get milk, bread and cheese at the shop he would never remember that. He would always write it down). He also struggles speaking on the phone and often grasps at the right word in conversations, you can see him scramble to think of it mid flow. He muddles up words when hes speaking too. Its so such more than just reading and writing and you might find your DD has one or two issues but not all.

DH would also struggle if uou wrote out BROWN and BORWN to see the difference immediately. He would really have to look, for him he would see them both as Brown and wouldnt register the switch in letters. This is a effects his spelling more than his reading

1 in 5 people are dyslexic.
It’s very common and an asset when it comes to employment.
Your daughter won’t get any special help just for having a label though OP. She will get help with spellings if she is not meeting age related expectations, a label of dyslexia does not get you any special help - it’s the specific areas of low attainment.
You could get her a diagnosis (and I recommend it purely for self esteem reasons) but it won’t get her any interventions.

Like all learning difficulties it has a wide range on effects. My brother can't write but can read a book a day. I have minor spelling issues but a degree were both dyslexic