Dyslexia but a good reader?

[youlemming]

Sorry in advance if its a bit of a ramble, there's a lot of thoughts flying about in my head.

My 8yr old DD is doing really well at school in most areas but is struggle with writing and spelling, we battle most weeks over the new spellings and eventually get to a point of her getting 7-10 correct but then she often drops to 5-6 during the test.
They have a spelling test after half term covering the first 6 weeks but spellings she could do at the time it's like she's learning completely new.
I know her handwriting is poor but mines not great so I haven't worried too much before now.

We had parents evening last week and her teacher said she's really bright and great at getting involved in class but struggles with writing and spelling.
Her reading is 2 yrs ahead (though I now wonder how much she understands or follows the story as she can rarely tell me much about what she's just read) at 10 yrs but her writing and spelling is 2yrs behind at 6yrs.
She said my DD has a lot of great ideas in her head but can't get it all down on paper and it's very rushed.
She's great at maths but seeing her workbook and her teacher pointed it out also it's very messy and her work is not laid out well.

A week on I'm now kicking myself that I didn't think about it then and ask the teacher could she be dyslexic.
Now on half term and working Mon-Thurs I won't get to see her teacher unit next Fri.

Should I wait until then or would it be appropriate to call and see if there is an opportunity to speak to her on the phone, I know she will be very busy during the teaching day or pre arrange a discussion after the Fri pick up?

My DD is also what I would call cack handed, she really struggles using a knife and fork together and I often have to cut up her food.
Is quite clumsy and isn't great with directions, as in turn left or right.
I know dyslexics can have difficulty with some physical/motor skills.

This is a very interesting thread. My dyslexic ds has trouble with shoe laces too. His school tested him, I’m surprised his teacher says they can’t. I wonder sometimes if I might have signs of this too - but I have always been very good at reading so assumed I couldn’t be. Can adults pay to be tested? I’d like to be but don’t want to make a big deal of it.

Yes you can pay for a private assessment.

Thank you. I’d feel a bit daft doing it as I can read and write fine (terrible handwriting though) it’s more how I process things sometimes seems similar to my son. And I can’t do phonics, not how we were taught to read though.
If the OP tries the interventions the school suggests, and her dd’s learning doesn’t improve, then that would be good evidence for the need for further intervention I would think.

Phonics don't work on Dyslexic kids

I am a specialist teacher and dyslexia assessor - any intervention for dyslexia will include phonics teaching and will aim to improve phonological awareness as children with dyslexia have a phonological deficit. However, if your daughter has dyslexia and is reading well, it is likely that she has developed visual strategies for reading, so that should be encouraged alongside phonics. The Nessy Reading and Spelling subscription is excellent and the same company produce Apps such as Hairy Words, Hairy Phonics and Dyslexia Quest that I often recommend to clients.

Lots of individuals with dyslexia read well, but continue to have spelling difficulties along with other difficulties associated with dyslexia such as slow processing speed and weak verbal short-term memory.

Dyspraxia often co-occurs with dyslexia, but needs to be diagnosed by a paediatrician whereas dyslexia is diagnosed by specialist teachers or Ed Pyschs. Look on the PATOSS website if you want to find an assessor for a private assessment.

op -I didn't learn to read till I was nearly 10 never read phonetically spelling was dire handwriting awful - am disorganised BUT like you dc learnt to read by word shape & took off from there. You may find that she will develop a really good written memory ar a side effect of the way she reads - do not worry - the computer is her friend - I have written essays with 2 pages behind of a thesaurus & dictionary because even the spell check had hysterics! As others have said she maybe have a bit dyspraxia - people & dc are all different and approach things different ways. by all means help her but don't be to worried :) ( I had fun studying psychology pages of reporter pads copying conditions & experts names for the exams! there are ways round it :)

Dyslexia and dyspraxia share similar things (I have both cannot describe what I mean)

I was always a higher reading level than most people in my year and was a book worm

Our eldest daughter was a very advanced reader, but a terrible speller. We had her properly assessed when she was 10, and she was diagnosed as dyslexic. Her phonemic segmentation score was bottom percentile, but her vocabulary was top percentile! Once this was established, her teachers finally took note, after years of my concerns being dismissed, and her being put in lower sets etc. She blossomed after that, and had A*s in both her English GCSEs and got an A in her A level English literature last summer. So I would urge you to get a proper assessment if you can. It could make a huge difference.

Hi OP, you recommended this thread to me over on my thread about my 6yo DD over in SEN. It’s been really helpful, thank you.

Hi OneFlew glad it's been a help to you also, I've taken on board a number of the suggestions and definitely don't feel completely lost as I did a few weeks ago

Another person with a DD with a 'spiky' profile reading age 2 years ahead, spelling age 2 years behind at least if she had formally taken SATS she would have struggled to get a level 3 for SPAG. High verbal reasoning much lower non verbal reasoning. Auditory processing 6 years ahead of her age and visual processing 3 years behind.
Prior to assessment I had teacher after teacher telling me 'lack of concentration' 'doesn't seem to want to push herself'.
The real issues only appeared in year 5 when her copping strategies stopped working as the work got harder and the pace faster. Twice exceptional children ( bright with a Spld) are really good at covering for their difficulties.
Again in senior school we got the same difficulties with teachers who were shocked that when assessed for access arrangements that her processing was so poor that she will have 25% extra time and a lap top.

Phonics don't work on Dyslexic kids
Complete and utter nonsense. Its in fact the opposite.
Op
Your dd sounds like my Ds. Good reader and comprehension skills, but poor writing. In year4 his language was year 6, but spelling and grammar below average.
He has short term memory problems and could spell the same word differently 4 or 5 times on the same page.
DH also couldnt read until he was 10 because he was taught Look and Say and had to be taught phonics. His headmistress admitted to MIL that he was never going to learn to read using word recognition , but her hands were tied (late 60s) I was also told that DS could read well because he was taught phonics early.

Could I ask some advice? Given that DD is 6 (year 2) should we just forget about any assessment until she’s older and just keep helping her ourselves for the time being? And how should we address is with school? Thanks

That's my worry Lonecat, the teacher had nothing but praise for DD's level of knowledge and understanding during class topic work but I fear it will be increasingly difficult for her to cope with the written work as she goes through the next few years.
I've signed up to the nessy site and will be using the programmes on there to help DD, really interested in the touch typing as I think would be a great help for her.

OneFlew, I'm just starting looking into the assessment options, the schools don't seem to always have the funding on place to do them but worth speaking to them anyway as there could be things they could put in place without anything formal

You might be better to get this moved to primary education rather than Children's Health.

youlemming

As i said above DS sounds very much like your DD. He got individual help in year 6 because of his capabilities. His scores for Sats showed his limitations. A 5 for comprehension and one mark off into a 4 for writing so overall 1 mark under a 5 for english overall. Science he got 98% and maths another high 5.

I always find it interesting that he can spell out loud but not on paper
He says he struggles to concentrate on getting both right.
His secondary school did CATS before he started Secondary school (dcs school unusual as they did it transfer day) and found out later they were around 120 in all areas.
They put him in top sets for all subjects and t G&T for Science. He then struggled in MFL (2 languages and expected to get 75% every test). Went to see SENCO who immediately put him back on their SEN register.
He thrived and teachers all said dont worry he is in the right sets.

Come GCSEs he was tested and got extra time did well with a handful of As except German where he couldnt cope with the exam style ie having to remember passages.
He got a scholarship for 6th form and Gold in the UKMT senior maths challenge
A levels were a mixed bag but they cancelled his extra time the week of his A2s because they changed the criteria for extra time . His lowest scores are just below average. But part of his problems were not using the calculator on the right setting or bring forward the right number from the previous page.

Ended up with ABB maths and physics
Went to uni and dropped out after 2 years, Finally got a temp job in a pharmaceutical company , they gave him a permanent job within a few months and now a few months later they promoted him again.He starts that job in January

So you can see it is not all plain sailing but his intelligence does shine through and people want to help him to do his best.