Gifted and dyslexic - any experiences?

[parrotonmyshoulder]

Just had an ed psych report for DD that basically shows her to be gifted yet dyslexic. Her verbal comprehension, processing and perceptual reasoning are all very high, while working memory and literacy skills are poor.

Does anyone have experience of supporting their child with these types of difficulty? Her primary school is excellent and will try to be supportive, although the report was a private one due to her average attainment in class.

Many thanks.

sicilianbuttercup tha's really interesting!
My ds is 9 and he just stands out as different, is't obvious to anyone hearing him talk that he is both different and extremely clever. He is doing ok at school, above for reading but his writing is poor and maths uneven. He gets told off a lot for getting distracted/fidgeting/not focusing, even after having explained to his teacher that he finds all this very difficult. His dyslexia support teacher, who he only sees once a week, understands him perfectly as they have one-to-one contact and she thinks he is a wonderful and very exceptional child, but this is not good enough from the school, is it? But it is all I will get, and I am very worried about secondary school and him being placed in low sets, which would crush him!

This is my DH. I'm still learning what it means and what to do to support him.

He's dyslexic and dyspraxic. He can remember volumes and volumes of information and regurgitate it on mass however cannot analyse pieces of information and the associated feelings and emoticians attached. His memory of day to day things is poor but can remember facts about a war that took place 500 years ago. He came accross as very intelligent at school so didn't really get additonal support as until GCSE it's very much comprehension. Then A Levels and Uni it became more noticed as it's less comprehension and more analysis. He got additional support for uni which means he finished with a 2:2.

He now manages his job by writing lists and noting everything down.

It's more frustrating for him than me but we now communicate by whatsapp if he's out of the house as there's a paper trail of the information and dates that I've sent him. He can't forget as it's there in writing to look at. Anything I tell him verbally will be forgotten.

I am OP with name change.

I sadly misjudged the school, I think. DD has received no support so far at all and is now in Year 3. Her reading is now excellent - she can manage and enjoy lots of books - although still can't decode out of context.

Her spelling remains very weak and she seems unable to hear/ write/ remember spelling of 'schwah' sound in particular. Her handwriting has slipped over the last few months too.

Class teacher says that it's not possible to offer support I suggest (like making sure she is copying handwriting practice correctly or spelling her OWN NAME right!). She is currently being withdrawn for literacy with a TA in a group but, as far as I can tell, this is not supporting her specifically.

I am disappointed but also feel helpless. I have met twice with SENCO who just claims no money. What can I do?

If your daughter is on the Sen register the school will be getting. Notional Sen budget of around £6000 per year for her - plus the additional child funding. Ask how they are spending that and also remind them that under the Sen code or practice your daughters Needs should be met within the classsroom by differentiation and additional support where needed to meet her needs. If they do not listen speak to sendiass

She's not on the SEN register. They don't seem to be accepting that there is SEN. She is clearly not making acceptable progress but I don't know how to approach the school again.

Have they not discussed issues with progress with you? Do they not accept the diagnosis/identification?

I'd get sendiass involved and have a meeting

I think they're happy that she's no trouble!

It is very difficult for us to get into school (both work very full time and have a childminder) so any contact has to be a specially arranged meeting. I don't know why it's so hard to arrange these.

Should I ask to see the this time or just the SENCO?

If you have spoken to the senco already and feel you have not got anywhere then I'd speak to the head this time.
I would also find your local sendiass ( parent partnership) & speak to them.

I know it's tough getting into school when you work, but unfortunately no other option but to arrange time off when things like this happen

I'm a teacher. Arranging time off isn't an option!

I thought that the whole thing with dyslexia was that you had these peaks, or in other words IQ/non-verbal reasoning/spatial awareness very high yet output (written exams) very low by comparison.

It's this gap that highlights SEN, no?

That's how they explained it for my DS anyway.

But thanks, I'll make an appointment somehow.

I'm also a teacher, I know how hard it is... but as I said needs must.

No that is the old discrepancy model of identification which is now widely accepted as not being accurate. It is a persistent and severe difficulty with specifically reading or writing at a single word level.

If is child is 'average' in all areas except reading/writing, where they are significantly lower at a word level they can still be dyslexic... they do not need to be 'high'

I don't know what sort of iq you have to be regarded as gifted so no not sure if my sister and I count with our 140iq's but wanted to give you a couple of positive experiences. I am a chartered structural engineer and find that dyslexia is far more common in engineering and architecture that average. I understand that dyslexics often have very good spacial reasoning which obviously helps in this industry. My sister is also a GP and likewise my dyslexic dad was a doctor too. I think knowing about the dyslexia is really good as bright kids often find good coping strategies that mask the problem. It sounds like you are doing a great job but realistically you do need to make extra time yourself to work through things with your kid and not just rely on the school. I recall doing lots of exercises at home to help and sure it made a difference. Keep pushing the school though as I'm sure I coyld have done better with more engagement from the school.

This is my Dsis. My Mum and Dad were always fobbed off when they asked the school why she wasn't learning to read or write. They were told she was "Of average ability but lazy".
Well, they knew she wasn't lazy because they could see her really struggling to get things and horribly frustrated.
So they took her to MENSA to get tested and Lo and behold, she turned out to have a genius IQ. Mum was down to see the teacher next day, waving the test results and finally some dyslexia help was forthcoming.
Tbh, she continued to struggle all the way through school. I'm not sure if this is because the help was insufficient or because the problems are especially severe. She eventually got into a prestigious drama school to study contemporary theatre and came away with a first. This came as a complete surprise as she was in the habit of ripping up her assessments without looking at the marks given so she had no clue whether she was doing well or not. Her reasoning was that she felt confident in her artistic vision and didn't want to risk having that confidence knocked by seeing a mark that might have been influenced by the poor quality of her written work, which she couldn't help.
She's now a big shout in the contemporary theatre world but persistently skint.

Hello - been reading this post and only just seen that it's a bit old but thought I'd add to it as it's clearly still being read by others, including me! My dd is 2e and one of the main problems I found was her level of frustration, which was much stronger than that of her other friends who were not dyslexic but not very academic and seemed more happy with what they were achieving. I'm not a pushy parent at all and the academic achievement has never been the main concern but I hated to see her frustration and was worried she would turn off and give up. Her first prep school was strongly academic and had a rep for getting it's pupil's scholarships. It didn't take on kids with SEN but as my dd was diagnosed whilst a pupil she had extra tuition but it always felt like a begrudging obligation of the schools and not part of their ethos. We moved her to her current school (first Westonbirt Prep and now Westonbirt School) and I have to say that it's only now that I see what good support is that I feel so frustrated that she didn't get it sooner. Particularly as she is academic, and she is now at a school that both supports and stretches her where needed, a key component for a child with 2e. One thing I told her when she was younger and which she felt helpful was that her dyslexia was similar to being on a running track with other students, all running the same distance, except that she had added hurdles. This made her laps much harder, I explained, but that she was doing extra training and would end up much more limber and fit than the others in the end. This was the only way I could show her that there was something positive about being 2e. Hope this helps.

Thanks, boogie, that does help a bit.
What sort of support is your child getting now? DD is beginning to get more frustrated and talks negatively about her abilities now. She doesn't produce much work any more and there is clearly an impact on all curriculum areas, not just English.
School have never acknowledged the 'gifted' part of her ed psych report (and have only recently, after a lot of pushing, started attending to the dyslexia part).

I'm still really struggling with this and have got no further with school. I wonder if anyone can advise on what to ask for next.

Thanks.

Hi, OP here again.

I wondered if there was any new advice to add.
DD has just reached the end of year 3 and, although her books shows she's writing a bit more in terms of quantity, there is no improvement in spelling at all.
In each piece of work there may be ten (very basic) words spelled correctly. Much of the rest is unreadable.
Class teacher says she is 'doing fine, except for spelling'. I don't agree. She isn't using Year 3 grammar either but keeps being marked as though she is (when marking has occurred). Work in books other than English has barely been marked all year.
Various interventions have been haphazardly put in place and let to drift away all year. Nothing consistent and nothing that helps.
I am doing 'Apples and Pears' - she does fine in the sessions but I haven't seen it applied yet.
New class teacher next term so I can hope for better but I just don't know what to do or ask for to help.

My DS in Y5 has severe dyslexia and is very smart and creative. No 2e diagnosis. He has just started doing his written homework using Dragon Dictate which is a speech to text software. He has gone from producing work which is probably around the lowest scoring in the class to the top of the class. Finally he can express all his amazing ideas and insights. The biggest impact has been on his self esteem. I would compare it to a boy with one leg suddenly getting a blade and realising not just that he can match his peers, but he can actually do something really special. I felt almost tearful when his teacher said "Everyone has always underestimated X. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to push him this year." No one in school has ever had any kind of ambition for him before. We will still plug away at the grind of spellings and handwriting, but now he knows he can also put his blade on figuratively speaking and outstrip the field.

Hi Op,

I've had similar battles with school. Have you got a full cognitive profile for your dd?

If so, can hou use that to apply for an ECHP to legally enforce any differentiated teaching your daughter needs? Expect the ECHP to be declined initially, and to have to appeal the decision (at that point most cases win). Bonkers system.

I have a dd in the same year group as yours? (yr4). She's clearly bright, still reading yr2 level books. School says she's fine! The biggest issue for my dd is that her confidence is so rock bottom she doesn't ever stick her neck out to speak in class. The teachers have no idea that she's bright, and won't call in an Ed Psych.