Dyslexia? Very good spelling and writing but rubbish reading.

[MollieO]

Ds in year 1. His spelling is excellent, as his is writing. He can learn and spell words like squirrel and can correctly guess the spelling of a lot of five letter words. His writing is very good from what I can see he is in the top three in his class.

His reading is truly rubbish. He spells out every single word, no matter how many times he sees it in his reading book. Even words like 'it', 'to' etc. He will also guess what the word should be even if it makes no sense.

He knows and recognises all his letters and letter sounds so I really don't understand why he has such a mental block on reading. He has two books a night but I've realised that his reading isn't improving at all.

Is it possible that he could be dyslexic even though his spelling is so good?

So you don't believe that dyslexia exists Insider333?

Ds has been a member of the library since he was a baby. We regularly go and he chooses books (we live about 3 mins walk away). I have no idea how many books he has but I reckon 300-400. I read to him every day and have done since the day he was born. He appreciates that reading is an enjoyable and fun activity. He just can't do it and yet is so able in other areas of his life. I don't care what 'label' he has. All I want is to understand what is the reason for his difficulty.

I have also offered all sorts of bribes in an attempt to get him to remember basic words. He really tries and I know he is trying, he just can't. I don't really want to wait until he is 7 to find out what the issue is!

Ignore Insider333 Mollie - they have been posting contentiously on various education threads.

I suppose I'm a bit frustrated with ds's predicament rather than anything on here. I completely understand that some posters have strong feelings about education. I'm happy that ds is in formal education. He is a bright and inquistive boy and learning through play or whatever else he would do until 7 would drive both of us demented.

Insider, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders, appears to recognise the existence of Dyslexia. Perhaps they've read the research on clusters of neurological dysfunction in individuals with dyslexia. Or maybe they are deluded, perhaps you should enlighten them.

Mollie, no one can diagnose your DS over the internet, I think from what you say he may well be fine, (my DS had a wide range of symptoms),but that is only opinion. If you are worried about him I would always say trust your instincts.

Just seen your post Cornsilk, hopefully Insider is just an attention seeker, not a real teacher.

Let's hope so.

I don't expect a diagnosis here. I was hoping that someone would come along and say that her dc was the same and there wasn't a problem. He will be assessed so that isn't the worry. I suppose I am trying to understand as we have wasted so much time getting nowhere and doing reading homework is so utterly painful. No hope of an assessment before ds is 5.5 and that is next term.

We are 10 days away from the end of term and that has got me thinking about ds's progress or lack of it.

Mollie0:

Don't worry, I'm not suggesting that you wait until your son is 7, lol, wouldn't really be a sensible option. I'm just trying to show the extra pressure that children in the British education system are put under compared to those in Europe.

Unfortunately, many children, especially boys can find lots more interesting things to do than sit down and read books.

Just stick with it.

KurriKurri and cornsilkwearscorsets:

Chill baby!

Don't be afraid of an alternative opinion, be tolerant.

Don't be like Adolf Hitler, the BNP, the Klu Klux Klan, etc.

Be cool!

Molly, DS is doing brilliantly, he is now 14 and one of the high flyers in his school. He is still considered to have a Specific Learning Difficulty, because although his writing is above average it is still a long way behind the rest of "him" IYSWIM.

I do understand your frustrations with reading homework. DS hated it and in particular the sight words we had to learn and we gave up on them in the end. MY DD was so completely different, she just absorbed reading and was reading words like architecture within weeks of starting school. There was such a stark contrast between the way they learned to read.

As Kurrikurri says trust your instincts

Oh dear, Insider you have irreversibly outed yourself as a loon.

Well- my DH is dyslexic, and he has excellent spelling- because he learnt hundreds of spellings by rote as a child. He finds reading extremely difficult, and it takes him a long time to read things.
He couldn't actually free-read until 9 or so.

Insider- you may well be a teacher, but that does not make you the fount of all knowledge. DH was diagnosed dyslexic by a teacher- a teacher who specialised in SEN, and in dyslexia in particular.

AnalysisParalysis:

Well, that SEN teacher who specialises in dyslexia WOULD diagnose a child as dyslexic because her extra points on the pay scale depend on it! Get real!

KurriKurri:

Ahhh, tolerance, what the world is so short of these days.

Mollie, imho it doesn't sound like dyslexia as such, but I do think there may be another issue worth looking into (scuse the 'looking' pun) - the others have said it all really, there are all kinds of processing and visual disorders which can cause this type of problem. My ds1 is severely dyslexic and his writing and reading are both rubbish, he can still only spell cvc words at almost 9yo. Recall is hopeless at times, although for other things (not spelling related) his memory is excellent.

Perhaps he has some trouble with the recall aspects, and if he 'learns' a word - which he is clearly good at doing, then he's fine, otherwise not remembering it in the short term iyswim. I'm also a sen teacher (!) and there is an enormous heap of things that can be done to help him with reading, some children do have dyslexia but "get away" without being tagged because they're basically clever in other ways and use their intelligence to hide it. IMHO see the senco at his school, ask for an EP referral if you can get one. I think that you also need to write down your observations as evidence as that's the important bit if he's assessed by an ed psych or similar.

Sorry if i've duplicated anything that others have said, I only skim read the thread after seeing another name on it - someone posting nonsense [imho] who I've seen elsewhere.

It is becoming more common in many schools to photocopy resources onto blue paper especially for dyslexic pupils or those considered 'at risk'.

Coloured films or clear coloured rulers may be worth a shot.

I have difficulties myself with words jumping if it's white text on black and with Ceefax coloured screens and I do not have dyslexia or reading problems.

spot on shepherds - at the start of term I provided school with a heap of cream paper, that's what works best for ds1 - so that he has more of a chance of getting the words to stay 'still'.
Another thing worth a try.

erm- don't be a wanker... this was 15 years ago- no extra points were involved, DH was not a pupil of hers because she is a friend of his family.

Why don't you make an appointment to speak to the SENCO and express your concerns?

They may have encountered this before and have strategies to help your DS.

He will see the SENCO in the New Year when he is 5.5. I only started this thread as I realised that he has made no progress in reading in over a year and that doesn't match the other areas of his life or education. As I said earlier I was rather hoping someone would come along and post that it was completely normal and nothing to be concerned about. I am going to do a note to his teacher to find out what his reading is like at school (they do reading to the teacher or TA every day).