Boys and Reading

[rosie76]

Hello, does anyone out there have a boy struggling with reading?? My ds1 is nearly 7 and just finds it so hard.

Frances5 - I missed this bit of your post- there is no way that a dyslexic brain is "defective" it is simply wired up differently.

You can't compare dyslexia and low ability and say they are both "defective" brains.

Why do you not want to seee that dyslexics are "different" and deserve extra help? Have you got an axe to grind about a child who isn't and doesn't get help?

Children who have low IQs have problems across the whole curriculum. No-one is saying they are less worthy of help,but this seems to be your take on all of this.

i agree that dyslexia sems to be the 'catch all' excuse for schools that are failing their pupils. Of course it exists but i do not agree that it exists in the significant increased diagnoses that have been happening in recent years - same as dyspraxia, which seems to be the next 'excuse' for ABT.

My step neice was diagnosed as dyslexic and went through school and college with great difficulty. Now my dc's are learning to read she has, for the first time, learnt about phonics - she was NEVER taught herself and was not one of the lucky ones that pick it up automatically. She has worked with my dc's and her own reading and spelling has come on tremendously - to the extent that she would no longer be classed as dyslexic (she tells me). This shows that it can be caused by improper teaching in some cases - and it is worse for boys who automatically use the affected side of the brain and do not form the neural links through 'look and say' that they would through the multi sensory phonics.

That notwithstanding, a close friend of mine is dyslexic, as were her mother and grandmother before her, so it does exist in the entire spectrum as others have mentioned, but ti should not be used as an excuse for poor teaching.

i note that phonics is supposed to be the cure - interesting to see if schools ever implement it fully and if so what the results will be - I have heard that at a school near us (St Michaels) the children's and writing is excellent becasue they use Jolly phonics, and isn't there a similar position in Dumbartonshire. I wonder what the dyslexia levels are in those areas.

Dyslexia would be at the same level in any school- it is estimated that 10% of the population have it, to some extent. It is not something that can be cured- and if you read my previous posts you'll see that dyslexia is not just about reading or spelling.

There are special assessments to identify dyslexia- they are not just tests for reading and spelling ages.

Dyslexia cannot be cured but you can help overcome the problems with good teaching, but as an adult you might have problems with memory and organisation.

My own son had a spelling age of 15+ when he was assessed at the same age, but because he is bright, the ed psych told us his spelling age should have been 18+.

There is no way a school could use dyslexia to cover up for bad reading scores- but dyslexics will not learn best if the school uses the wrong teaching methods.

Its good to know I'm not alone, I've read some stuff on dyslexia, and he doesn't really have any of the sighs. He could have a good conversation when he was only one, it was quite funny. I am really trying to be patient and just try lots of fun reading at home. He cam home Friday, and he's been moved up to the middle spelling group, i was so excited, it's the first time he's been moved up on anything!!!

Frances - when you see your child go through the process of trying to get to grips with reading and failing, and compare them with your other children who can just pick it up, then you know that something is stopping them from learning. IQ can be measured and it's very helpful to know that it's not just general learning difficulties, but a specific learning difficulty that's the problem. For one thing it ensures that schools have to try to meet their specific needs.

TheWillowTree asked 'I have heard that at a school near us (St Michaels) the children's and writing is excellent becasue they use Jolly phonics, and isn't there a similar position in Dumbartonshire. I wonder what the dyslexia levels are in those areas'

You're absolutely correct that synthetic phonics eliminates dyslexia -Dumbartonshire is aiming for 0% illiteracy (it's already down to 6%) and schools that use synthetic phonics properly i.e. NOT as a mixture of methods have no 'dyslexics', in fact, there are whole countries without dyslexia -Austria and Germany -they have a transparent alphabet code and use synthetic phonics to teach reading.

The IQ discrepency method of diagnosing 'dyslexia' is no longer used -there is NO way of separating out 'dyslexics' from other poor readers. They all have the same problems and respond well to the same good teaching -synthetic phonics of course :-)

Dyslexia isn't just about finding decoding words difficult though. Children who have specific learning difficulties also frequently lose their place when reading, reverse words, have trouble copying from the board etc But I agree that how children are taught to read makes a massive difference and have also read about other countries not having dyslexia.

Glyn - just the sort of person I'mm looking for! could you, and anyone else on here who has knowledge, please have a look here?

Could really do with some advice before IEP meeting on Thursday. Thanks in advance

here is my thread

Maverick, not quite true to say all dyslexics have the same problems. There are different forms of dyslexia (eg auditory dyslexia)

I've just been on another dyslexia information site, and it looks much more helpful. Do you think I should get my son assessed? If I do, and he is dyslexic, what do I say to the school? I know it seems silly but I feel like If i do, i am trying to make excuses for him. His teacher basically said at last parents evening that he couldn't be bothered to do any work.

I said earlier on that son "got" reading at7. However he has been described as having dyslexic traits.
His spelling is over 2 years behind, despite a lot of individual help. They have done wordwall and stareway to spelling with him.
His year 4 teacher said she would have been happy to see the english work from a Year 6 child, however the spelling and grammar bought it down to a level 2.
He reads well but does have trouble following the lines in books. He got over this himself by using a ruler to keep track of the words.
He knows the notes in music but can't follow it fast enough to play a tune. He has to learn music by heart.

He had swimming lessons from the age of 1 and piano lessons from the age of 6, which I think have helped him a lot because they help with using both sides of the brain.

Maverick- can I ask where you got the info that IQ is not used to separate dyslexics from poor readers?

I work all day and every day with dyslexics and read their ed psych's assessments so that I can teach them properly.

I am sorry to contradict you so blatantly, but what you say is incorrect- one of the main criteria for dyslexia is a gap between performance and ability levels.

Filthmindedvixen- there are not differnt types of dyslexia-sorry- some people have weaker auditory or visual memories, but this is not a sub-group of dyslexics.

I will try to answer your other post- just been teaching dyslexics and advising parents for 5 hours today!

ok glyn, i have obviously misunderstood what I was told about my ds's problems. But I still think it is fair to say that not all dyslexics have the same problems. But I would value your opinion on the thread I linked to if you have time before thursday. Thanks.

oh bugger, sorry Glyn you already said you would, really sorry, too tired to read properly...

For FMV (love the name- mind boggles!)- no offence taken. Have replied briefly to your post.

Rosie- I suggest you look at the BDA website
www.bdadyslexia.org.uk and go the the FAQs for parents- if you son seems to have other indications of dyslexia, contact Dyslexia Action for details of assessment centres near you.

"Laziness" or "can't be bothered" is one of the most common comments by teachers about children who are in fact dyslexic.

It might interest you to know that out of 450,000 teachers, only 18,000 are qualified to spot and teach dyslexia, so the odds of your son's teacher being an expert is pretty low.

Rosie, you said your son could hold a conversation age one. Dyslexia doesn't always affect speech development. I identified that my son had a problem, because he was articulate with a very good vocab, but his written work and reading were way below this.

HTH

Fizzbuzz, I know what you mean. Now I am confused about what to do. I got an email back from dyslexia place and it's 340 quid for the assessment, which I can't afford. It also suggests going to see the school, but I'm really worried about doing this. I remember ages ago someone telling me that schools didn't like sending children to be assesed. I don't know if thats true or not. On the other hand I don't want to do nothing, and find out in a few years he is dyslexic, then I'd feel terrible.

Well I,m a teacher as well. First of all schools don't like sending pupils to be assessed because it costs money. If they are found to have a problem, the school has to help them. They also will not do an assessment unless it is a very very serious issue.

I had my ds assessed privately, it cost £250.00 which is a lot of money BUT the things it threw up would never ever been recognised at school. The BDA is very expensive. Also as they are administering the test, it will be in their best interests to find a dyslexia problem!

You ds may not be dyslexic. There are other symptoms like reversing letters and numbers, spelling a word as it sounds rather than as it is.

What WILL help your son, is paired reading. You can do this with him. Both read aloud together from the same book. If he faulters or stumbles wait for him to catch up, and then restart.If he comes across a new word he doesn't know, after you have read it, for him to work it out. He should be fractionally behind you with speaking. This can bring reading age on tremendously. ^ weeks on, then 6 weeks off etc, until he has caught up.

I also think the school should be offering paired reading

Yes I am doing lots of reading at home, and he is really improving. Do you think I should just stick at trying to help him more at home for now, and see if he catches up?
He doesn't really do the reversing thing, but he does spell words like they sound.
His spellings this week are word spelt differently that sound the same, eg poor/paw
stalk/stork, and he's finding this really really hard.

I think the school should be doing more TBH, he is going there to learn after all, and he should be receiving the help he needs there.

What rings bells for me, is the fact that you thought there were problems at other parents evenings. This must mean you had a slight suspicion that things weren't quite right earlier on

Ask the school what they are going to do, and can he have an IEP at least until he catches up (an IEP is an individual education plan). Ask them to stay in contact with you about it all, and you want to know how his reading is progressing. You have to push and push unfortunately.

Yes, it's really hard cause i don't want to be an annoying parent. When he started school, he was really bright, I did a lot with him before he started, and he just hasn't progressed with everyone else. In reception he seemed to be near the top end of the class generally, then year one he moved towards the middle, now in year two he's in the bottom six.

Rosie I think you need to be more assertive. i too am a teacher but i am also a parent of a dyslexic and had to push all the way- he is now in his 3rd year at uni reading economics.

I can't see that the BDA has a vested interest in finding dyslexics- they are a charity anyway, and they get the fee whether they find dyslexia or not. The ed psychs they use are self-employed who freelance. I didn't think the BDA did assessments- it is DA Dyslexia Action that offers assessments and they used to be called the Dyslexia Institute. BTW the fee you pay is split 50/50 between the centre and the psychologist and I think it's a fair fee- the report takes 3 hrs of 1:1 plus the same to write up. I do teachers' assessments myself and they take ages- far more time than parents realise.

You should ask school what they can do to help- but it won't be much, unless he is very behind. Where I am in Herts thelucky kids get 2 terms of 1:1, once a week, from an SpLD teacher from a dyslexia base who visits the school, then it's over to the TA and private tutoring for many parents.

I hope you get some help- don't leave it.

Unfortunately you have to be an annoying parent. The senco where I work openly admits this

Agree that BDA probably doesn't have a vested interest in finding dyslexics. BUT, I found them much much more expensive than someone who did it privately.