Why do the words wobble

[wobblingwords]

My DD is 8 and she says the words sometimes wobble when she reads.

The teacher says she is doing really well in class but at my request she’s going to do a test for dyslexia to rule that out.

Had her eyes tested and she has 20/20 vision.

Could there be another reason?

She is very far behind where my eldest were at this point, but the teacher says they’re all behind due to the covid lockdowns. Teacher says she up at the top section of the class but at home she struggles when we’re doing her spellings tests. She was playing hangman with a friend recently and had to ask me how to spell ‘banana’. When his first guess was A, she had to ask me where the As went. I said ‘ooh there’s lots of them, isn’t there? Where do you think the first one goes?’ But she just said she didn’t know and could I do it for her.

So yes, I would say (although teacher wouldn’t) that she struggles with her spelling.

My eldest has irlens and this is how they described things to me. Was diagnosed in y4 after reporting visual concerns for a while but normal eye tests etc. Uses overlays, coloured books and tinted glasses - game changer.

Yes I may well go down the ‘sit and wait’ route if this week’s dyslexia test at school is negative.

On the other hand, I have friends with children who have been diagnosed with dyslexia who didn’t show up as dyslexic with the school’s tests though, so it’s hard to know whether sitting and waiting is the right thing to do.

Thank you Dotty, this has been mentioned upthread too. Who diagnoses this? Doctor, hospital…?

I’m dyslexic
this is classic
when I was a kid this happened to me and I found it a lot easier to write and read off blue paper
so I use blue paper
I’m now in my 30s and I’ve grown out of it
still dyslexic

My dds have been diagnosed with visual stress at a specialist optician following reading difficulties. For one the words wobble / move, for the other she really struggled with serif fonts eg times New Roman but managed fine with non serif eg Arial. Neither have dyslexia. Both have processing issues. They now have glasses with coloured lenses and manage well when using them.

I was going to say Irlen syndrome. Not the same things as dyslexia. You can have both of course.

You can get an Irlen test at a lot of independent opticians btw. Also there are services such as Irlen East who will come out to see you.

My middle done has Mears Irlen syndrome. He describes as the words wobbling and moving about on the page. His was picked up by a school eye test. He was then referred to the hospital optometrist who did loads of tests and gave him the MI diagnosis.

My DC complained of this at the same age. Saw an EP and found not to be dyslexic. Tested for visual dyslexia (also known as visual stress) by specialist optician and test confirmed diagnosis. Needed glasses with coloured lenses and prisms. Over 18 months to 2 years there was a vast improvement in DC’s vision including reading speed. The test isn’t covered by the NHS but a normal eye test won’t pick it up.

Overlays as suggested above can be helpful, also a ruler to isolate the line she's reading. Some people once they've found the right colour overlay find that tinted lens glasses are helpful to avoid the need for the overlays and be more portable.

My dyslexic niece had this, both problems went undetected for years and she really really struggled to keep up at school - she did, but only by putting in twice as much effort as everyone else!
Definitely worth consulting someone who can diagnose properly to rule in/out.

Dyslexic cousin had this too, tested repeatedly as having 20/20 vision and could spot a speck of dust a mile away so def no problems with eyesight! Finally had a full 2 hour specialist eye exam and found to have something called accommodative insufficiency and now has glasses with prisms. Specialist said that lots of kids with SEN actually have physical eye issues that can in many cases be solved with specs and eye exercises.

It cost my aunt for the appointment (had to. be done privately) but it's transformed my cousin's reading speed and accuracy.

My DD was diagnosed with Irlens quite late at 15 by Wrexham University.

Unfortunately it was missed in her because the words didn't move.

She created a visual on photoshop of what she sees below.

During testing it was pointed out she visibly flinched when presented with a type face.

You can see more normal examples online to see if they match what your Dd sees.

Wobbly words when reading sounds like dyslexia to me also; some optometrists offer extended vision tests and vision therapy. The standard vision test only identifies defects in the eyes structure however dyslexia changes how the brain processes the signals from the eyes. An extended test can identify any processing issues and recommend vision therapy which can help and they may also recommend colour overlays or even tinted glasses - look for a behavioural optometrist

Thank you everyone. Those who have diagnoses - what was the route?

My niece was in Oz where opticians screen for this routinely. It got picked up when she left UK and started living in Oz. So optician might be a good place to start.

Found a screener via the Irlens UK website.

irlenuk.com/

I spoke to Dyslexia Action about the type of computerised screening/testing that they do in schools. Apparently about 10%of dyslexics do not show up as dyslexic on that type of screening. A full ed psych assessment would pick it up though but it costs £££ and so schools can't afford that. Many teachers have very little training in things like dyslexia and may assume that if they don't show as dyslexic on the computer screener that can't possibly be dyslexic!

@EducatingArti yes that was my friend’s experience with her child. Both the teacher and the (11+) tutor swore blind her daughter wasn’t dyslexic, despite my friend’s concerns. She paid £300 ish for a private assessment and her daughter was found conclusively to be dyslexic.

To everyone talking about visual stress/Irlan Syndrome/colour overlays - I bought a simple set online and there are a few colours which make a difference for her.

She says some days it’s only a little wobble and other days more. The overlays which work take the wobble down to a little wobble like she has some days anyway.

I’ve suggested she takes them to school to assist there. She’s going to keep them in her bag and use them when needed.

Teacher took me to one side at pick up to say they’ll be doing the dyslexia test this week.

Most decent sendco teams have an overlay set that they can try with students - worth mentioning it to them as well.

Did some online screenings on DD and she ticks all the Irlen's syndrome boxes, but further googling tells me it doesn't exist? What now?!

Hi @ClarificationNeeded I’m new to this too but from what I can glean from googling, the symptoms certainly exist, it’s just the contention is whether it’s a separate ‘thing’ or not from other things such as dyslexia and autism and therefore you could treat the Irlen Syndrome symptoms but miss other support and treatment (say, from a dyslexia specialist) if you stop there.

If I were you, I would definitely test and treat the Irlan symptoms but also concurrently test for dyslexia (and possibly?) autism.

As I said though, I am new to this like you are. The above is what I’m going to do with my daughter based on advice on this thread and googling.

*Irlen