Dyslexia

[fairyfly]

I am convinced, the school is pretty much convinced but can't officially label his problems yet. I want to know what i can do in the mean time to help him learn, how i can assist him, what it means for future learning . I need some literature on the subject as i know nothing about it. He is 6 and goes into year two in september, Anyone in a similar position or anyone with experience on a dyslexic child who has any advice would be much appreciated.

[RTKangaMummy]

Perhaps the school will be able to come up with a way of making them easier for him.

There may be others in his class with dyslexia as well that you don't know about.

It is nearly a year away and alot can happen in a year. he may have worked out a way to read and write that will help him etc.

A girl I was at high school with many years ago had a dictionary that was called something like AN UNSPELLING BEE and it had words written in there mis spelt but how she would spell them and then the correct spelling and the meaning

So when she wanted to look up a word she could cos it was spelt how she thought it should be IYSWIM I have no idea whether she had a DX but she was a brill artist too.

[wanda]

Glad I found this thread. DD is 5 and just finishing reception. She has settled in well and her teacher has said she has been doing really well and displaying lots of ability. Her reading is coming on (she is on stage 4 of the Oxford reading tree)and I had no worries at all. Until yesterday.I had a quick word with her teacher to ask whether I should always correct her if she spells things slightly wrong (that morning she had told me that she knew how to spell Meat (or Meet). She said that it was METE and I thought that that was a good try! )Anyway this lead on to a discussion about the fact that DD still writes some numbers and letters the wrong way around and before I knew it the teacher announced that she had considered whether DD was dyslexic. She said that on balance she didn't think she was but I was so taken aback I was quite upset that it was handled in this way. So obviously I got straight on the net and found that DD does have some of the warning signs. She mixes up d and b but only occasionally and according to her teacher she has not yet decided which hand is dominant.Together with the backwards letters I am guessing that this is what had raised the concerns of her teacher. I am trying not to to overreact but has anyone lese had a similar problem and if so how did you handle it?

[swedishmum]

5 seems really young to be over concerned about reversing letters, though from experience I've found keeping an eye on things very helpful.
We took ds for a private consultation at the dyslexia institute shortly before his eighth birthday, but I had worked out the problem anyway. Up until then the school had not really taken my concerns seriously.
He was out of school while we were abroad for 8 months - gave me a chance to do lots of one to one reading with him and work on his phonics. His reading is getting there but his writing is still slow and laboured. The time out of school gave him loads of confidence.
He is getting back into school gradually - goes in just before lunchtime to work on Toe by Toe with an LSA. Next week he may also go in for numeracy.
The hardest thing is knowing what's right for him - he managed a level 2 for Literacy last summer and a 3 for maths (not that it's worth anything).
It's important to do as you are and boost his confidence - there's much more to life than dyslexia. Will look up some of the websites I've found helpful. As well as all the wonderfully creative dyslexic famous people out there, I know a fair few personally who have excellent academic qualifications, happy lives and well paid jobs.

[swedishmum]

5 seems really young to be over concerned about reversing letters, though from experience I've found keeping an eye on things very helpful.
We took ds for a private consultation at the dyslexia institute shortly before his eighth birthday, but I had worked out the problem anyway. Up until then the school had not really taken my concerns seriously.
He was out of school while we were abroad for 8 months - gave me a chance to do lots of one to one reading with him and work on his phonics. His reading is getting there but his writing is still slow and laboured. The time out of school gave him loads of confidence.
He is getting back into school gradually - goes in just before lunchtime to work on Toe by Toe with an LSA. Next week he may also go in for numeracy.
The hardest thing is knowing what's right for him - he managed a level 2 for Literacy last summer and a 3 for maths (not that it's worth anything).
It's important to do as you are and boost his confidence - there's much more to life than dyslexia. Will look up some of the websites I've found helpful. As well as all the wonderfully creative dyslexic famous people out there, I know a fair few personally who have excellent academic qualifications, happy lives and well paid jobs.

[Aniles]

Wanda, speaking as a reception teacher and the mother of a dyslexic child I'd say that if your child is making progress in reading and is reading books at age 5 then she is not dyslexic. Reversing letters and numbers and letters at this age is very common and nothing to worry about at all!

[wanda]

Aniles
Thank you for your advice. I just thought it was an odd comment made at an odd time! I know that there are far worse problems a child could have but I too think that it is a bit early. Her teacher did say that it was "just a thought" but it caught me off guard. Then when you start to research things you manage to find all the symptoms dont you!!! Anyway its one to watch but I wont get hung up on it except to say that I may have a quite word and tell her teacher that its not helpful to casually mention something like that and not follow it through. Yesterday DD recognised the first 45 words for key stage one totally out of context. Thanks again

[ChocolateGirl]

wanda, I heard somewhere (maybe the Jolly Phonics teaching video? not sure) that reversing letters was normal up to the age of 8! Recognising sight words is fine but IMO it is more important that my son knows all the letter sounds (there are 42 because you have to count the "digraphs") and can blend them to make words, e.g.
c-a-t = cat, b-oa-t = boat.

I am not a teacher and I don't have any personal experience of dyslexia. I have a boy in Reception and he has a speech disorder. I became aware that kids with speech problems can go on to have reading problems so I decided to help him with his reading (as well as his speech). I read a few books on reading and have come across some interesting information on dyslexia.

Fairyfly, I might have missed the first part of your post... but have you looked at the Jolly Phonics reading method? It is important that children are taught to read phonetically rather than by a look-and-say method. There are a few really good threads on JP from earlier this year. I'm afraid I don't know how to do a link to them but if you search you will probably find them. A teacher called Catflap post about the benefits of the Jolly Phonics system and says some really sensible things.

Dyslexic children often have difficulty hearing the sounds in words and/or blending the sounds to make words. It is especially important for them therefore that extra time is spent doing this, learning and practising this skill.

I've also read a book called Reading Reflex (pub. Penguin, authors McGuinness, it's on Amazon) which teaches reading in a similar way to JP. This method is used by a specialist school for dyslexics in the south of England and they find it very successful.

hth.

[Hairpie]

Thankyou chocolate girl only just seen this. I will buy some jp bumf and make sure i do it everyday with him over the summer holidays, Thanks for the tip