could my 7 yr old be dyslexic?

[tiredlady]

Hello. Never done this before, so please bear with me. My 7 yr old boy is just really slow at reading but is a bright kid ( was seen by an ed psych and has IQ of 135). Hearing him spell out every word is just painful. The school aren't bothered because he is coping. They did reading test on him and said he had a reading age of 6 yrs and 8 months ( he is 7 yrs and 6 months)Given he has such a high IQ shouldn't he be at least avaerage?

Just realised I can't spell average

I think you should wait and see say a couple more years. How come he was seen by an ed psych?

My DD didnt click with reading until she was in year 5 and went up 18 months in 6 in the reading age. She only caught up to her reading age in year 4 aged 8. She still struggles with spelling although this is starting to click at 13. She is a wizz in maths and science and her english is pretty good too.

I also posted a thread re dyslexia and was advised on here that she probably was, but she was having none of it at this age.

The problem at junior school is that they tend to equate good literacy with intelligence and this is often not the case.

We paid for him to see one. His teacher at the time wasn't that great, and just thought he was a very average kid with no real problems. We had the assessment mainly because we felt he had the potential to be doing better. It's very difficult to know what's the right thing to do as it's so easy to come over as a pushy neurotic mother.
I worry about leaving it a few more years in case he gets disheartened and eventually put off school

Yes, after I posted I did think about this. If you are worried about it then maybe get him tested before he can object.

He has high intelligence by the IQ score and it may be that his literacy will catch up. FWIW my DD to whom I related a similar learning curve to, is (whispers) G&T which was not identified until secondary school.

It's all coming right now but her spelling has only just caught up so perhaps dyslexia may have been her problem. Was just told she was average so its only recently that I began to question it IYSWIM.

Would the ed psych not have picked up on any dyslexia?

We're getting dd (7) tested for dyslexia by an ed psych next week.

i would have thought the ed psych would absolutely have picked up on dyslexia or other learning issues

DS is dyslexic, picked up on towards half way through year 2, when you would expect most children to be fairly competent at reading etc.

The Ed psych deliberately didn't do a very detailed reading assessment and said the main aim was to test his general cognitive ability. At that point we weren't even thinking of dyslexia. The ed psych said because of his IQ he would be expected to be reading much better than he was, but at that time, we thought ( wrongly now) that the problem lay with his teacher's attitude towards him i.e boisterous boy - not especially bright, just plodding along. We thought her low expectations were rubbing off on him.
I have decided to go to our dyslexia institute and get him properly assessed.I fear the school will think I am some hideous hot housing mother. I shouldn't really care.

tiredlady, this is exactly the same as my ds (now 10) except for he can read ok, but absolutely, cannot spell and handwriting is appalling. He hates school as everyone treats him like an idiot. ''they give me stickers for standing upright without falling over'' as he puts it...Dyslexia Action decided he was dyslexic but the school even now, 3 years later, refuse to use that diagnosis and insist he will catch up. It's very difficult, especially as I cannot afford DA's lessons.

no way? How can the school refuse a professional diagnosis?

Unless your ds came out about 18 months or more behind his chronological age , he is unlikely to be perceived as having problems and warrant intervention unless you have a diagnosis.

My DS 12 didn't click with reading until he was 7 and now reads well but reluctantly, however his spelling is awful. He had a lot of extra 1 to 1 help in Primary using wordwall and Stareway to Spelling. I got told the reason he got the help was because he was a very bright boy. His spelling was way below his ability in everything else.
He just scraped a level 4 by 1 point for his Year 6 SATS for writing whereas everything else was a high level 5 including reading.

At primary school he was on and off the special needs register and said he had a Specific Learning Difficulty, but not dyslexic.
He started secondary last September he has been put back on the SN register and think he is almost certainly dyslexic.He is also on the g&t register.

christy. And that makes me scared as that is so similar to my school's attitude. They have even told me it's because he is immature...like you can be top of the class in maths and science and only 'immature' when it omes to being able to write coherently and spell?

as you can see tiredlady, you need gumption and assertiveness (sadly I lack both) to help your boy.

Actually it is quite possible to be immature in one area of learning and not in others. Boys in particular develop literacy skills much later than they do maths skills.
Boys tend to be more kinesthetic, more hands-on, more spatial-mechanical. They don't tend to sit still to learn as well as girls do. Of course, this is an average; there are some who can. They don't tend to use as many words, they don't produce as many, and they don't think in words as much. Boys have about half the verbal centres girls have, so they don't rely as much on the words. They don't utilize their fine motor skills as much, and these don't develop in the brain as quickly.
Boys have an added dimension to brain growth - testosterone. At around the age of four a boy, (the year he starts his education), has a huge surge of testosterone in his body just as the front of his brain is laying down new connections. Testosterone inhibits the connections made between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/Story?id=2274147&page=1

your instincts are probably correct
suggest you do some research on the web
you will have to push the school a lot to get support for your ds, be prepared!

yes granted mrsz, but in my son's case, he was identified as having problems in these areas at 5 or 6, then tested, then IQ tested and is now 10 and a half...and still the school are saying ''he'll catch up''.
plus, he is extremely articulate and has alsways had a vast vocabularly. All I'm saying is it's hard for parents when schools dismiss identified problems as blanker 'immaturity' IFSWIM.

Christy Dyslexia is often referred to as a Specific Learning Disorder if your DS had 1-1 and was using Stairway to Spelling it would indicate that the school was supporting his difficulties in this area without actually using the term Dyslexia
www.schooldoctor.co.uk/11.html

www.dyslexics.org.uk/

Mrz I realized that. But his teachers said they didn't think he was dylexic, I think they made the mistake because he read well that he couldn't be dyslexic.

I wasn't bothered what they called it as they were giving him plenty of help.

We have been very fortunate in that we haven't had to push for help for him, I don't think he even had an IEP. His new school is very supportive as well.

If your son was on the SEN register and receiving 1-1 he must by law have had an IEP although I'm afraid not all schools have shared these with parents as they should.

One of his teachers inb primary did tell me that he wasn't bad enough for an IEP, think that was in year 4 or 5, when he was getting help.
I know he has one now in secondary because I have had a letter laying out what is to be done and what help he will get.

Tiredlady, my ds (now 8) also very slow learning to read - he didn't get an IEP till year 2 (though should have got one before). The wonderful Y2 teacher very reluctant to label him dyslexic which in retrospect I think was absolutely right - I checked out all the dyslexia info and he just didn't seem to 'fit' profile of dyslexic child.

Reading and phonics did not begin to click until end Y2, then he made astonishing progress in Y3 and is now a very good and confident reader.

Check out all the dyslexia websites and see what you think after that.