dyslexia? Visual sequencing problem? second guessing myself.

[HattiFattner]

I had DS2s parent/teacher assessment this week. A very lovely and experienced teacher, who has taught both his siblings, and so knows our family.

SHe (and I) has concerns about DS2s reading, writing, spelling and numeracy.

On reading, he has not progressed from Y2 Sats level. He is in Y4. He is very hesitant, still does not really see the difference between "what" and "that" or "Where" and "There", but can pick up on very long words and decode them. Still hits a major block with certain sound blends - ai / ay in particular. Reads words from the middle - so last night, the word "rudely" became "Druley?" He was in reading recovery in infants.

His handwriting is a mess, which I have put down to him being a left hander. Teacher implied theres more to it than that - letters are transposed, badly formed letters, writes everything in very big letters (about 2 lines deep for each letter). He has done a writing/coordination scheme through the school last year, to try and get him better hand control.

Spelling he is 2 years behind his age. ALthough he gets 10/10 for every spelling test, he forgets the spelling when he has to write them in stories.

In numeracy, he also transposes numbers - so 315 becomes 351. He also writes numbers back to front P for 9 for example.

Teacher says she will now keep him on her radar. But im wondering (and second guessing) if DS has some form of dyslexia or visual processing issue.

And if so, what ....and how can I help him?

His confidence is taking a big knock because he is not moving on to the later books, he hates reading out loud and now avoids doing so ("I left my book at school" and "I finished it in class".)

He is otherwise a bright boy, funny, articulate. Just falling behind.

:( What a nightmare. clearly I am going to have to research this carefully. :(

That's a bit harsh. Yes it is doubtful you'd get a statement unless his performance in school was severely hindered by it but it may give access to small group work targetted at basic literacy skills by which, in tandem with any other therapy, he may gain more confidence in his own ability. Potentially longer term it may give access to a laptop and extra time in exams , or a scribe/reader, depending how much progress he makes in the interim.

An EP report done in Y4 won't help at all for GCSEs. It needs to be done in Y9.

Nor do you need a dx of dyslexia to get readers, writers and extra time. You just need a SENCO who knows what she's doing. But absolutely if you have an EP report it has to be very recent.

(Almost anyone can get a reader or scribe for Y6. That certainly does not require a dx)

Again you don't need a dx to do small group work targeted at basic literacy skills - and as school has already raised their concerns, it's fair to assume he'll be offered something like this if they have it.

Laptops, again schools vary. Some schools never allow them, most allow them quite easily. But again I wouldn't be counting on a report done in Y4 for it. Most schools will allow a kid to use a laptop if they want to and there is a huge discrepancy between their written work and typed work. And if they won't allow that then an EP report is unlikely to convince them otherwise.

(But of course the option to get an EP report never expires. If in Y6 or Y9 it would seem beneficial, she can get one done then.)

Really it's not harsh. The only times a dx of dyslexia helps is if school thinks your kid is stupid. If school agree with you that your child has literacy difficulties - then an EP report is very unlikely to help.

I had a LEA EP report stating my son needed to use a laptop and the school still refused to allow him to submit work produced on a laptop... they even refused to allow him to take his laptop into school and wouldn't provide one for his use.

Indigo, officially you don't need an Ed Psych report for many access arrangements (ie. laptop) for exams at secondary level - it just has to be recognised as the established mode of working. However agree a Year 4's report won't carry much weight in a few years' time - ds has had one in Year 6 and Year 8 and may well need another before GCSE.

As someone whose dd2 has been assessed by a BO as having visual tracking difficulties but is not otherwise getting any advice, can anyone suggest ways to work on improving that? Having read this thread with interest it is clear that contacting the school will be of no use whatsoever.

Don't mean to hijack your thread, but hope this might be useful for you too, Hatti.

No you must contact the school so they are aware there is a problem and the cause visual tracking is the most common cause or reading problems

www.eyecanlearn.com/#Tracking%20Skills
www.fonts4teachersblog.com/8-visual-motor-activities-improve-visual-tracking/
www.phonicslessons.co.uk/trackingactivities.html (i'm sure Indigo recognises this one from Apples & Pears)

indeed breadandbutterfly, i think its a bit of a minefield, not really knowing what to do and where to go with this. Mrz linked some online games above, plus I have found this

These are the types of exercises I got from the BO for eye tracking:

Read first word (or letter) then the last word (or letter) of every line of a page.

Stand behind your DC and shine a torch in a figure 8, which they then follow with their eyes.

Swingball

Passing and catching a ball

more exercises: www.creative-writing-solutions.com/home-vision-therapy.html

Visual convergence exercises:

Focus on something close, then something far away - repeat

Read a book with one eye covered, as you bring the book in and out slowly, then with the other eye covered, then with both eyes together.

more exercises: www.creative-writing-solutions.com/home-vision-therapy-convergence.html

These kind of exercises should be done for a few minutes every day.

The Vision & Learning Handbook looks good - but I haven't bought it yet. (If you do buy it can you please tell me what it's like?)

1.Stand or sit with one arm straight out in front of you, with one finger sticking upwards towards the ceiling.

2 Look at the base of the nail on that finger so carefully that you would be able to see the nail move as it grows.

3 Now move the finger slowly from left to right and back again, while still focusing really carefully on the base of the nail. YOU MUST KEEP YOUR HEAD STILL.

4 Do that for 30 seconds.

5 Repeat the exercise whenever you can (in the car, waiting for tea, on the loo, in bed, in advert breaks watching the TV, etc...). You need to aim for AT LEAST 10-15 times per day.

EasyRead eye tracking game.

Yes, mrz is right, you could just do word search type stuff, but ask her to find all the letter 't's (or whatever)

I've noticed with the groups I work with some children will loop ts when looking for all the st on a line so it's important to make sure they are tracking left to right

mrz - do you deliberately do eye tracking exercises with your kids?

All kids or just ones who you suspect might need it?

And is this normal classroom practice?

I have 17 children in my class ( plus 1 extra from another year group with a diagnosis) who I am working with before/after/lunchtime sessions so not normal classroom practice just my practice.

My child with a diagnosis has exercises for ocular motor difficulties supplied by our OT service so I'll try eggi with him thanks for the link

Indigo,
First, how's this for a result:
Extremely bright DD who can't read at age 6. Go to Ed Psych and have battery of tests- diagnosis: visual perceptual difficult which is one of the diagnoses under the umbrella of dyslexia. Go to BO as recommended- patching and specs to pull eyes together as DD is processing two seperate and distinct images and can't follow a line of text, focus far to near, catch a ball or even tie shoelaces as it is a midline crossing activity. Go to tutor specializing in visual perceptual difficulies.
3months later can read fluently.
6 months later gains entry to a top academic school.
At age 10, reads voraciously. Confident. Happy. DD knows that if she can overcome the early hurdles, nothing is impossible.
This isn't about nutrition, or a need for snake oil suppliments. It just requires a pro-active parent to find the best Ed Psych, the best BO, the best tutor and advocate for their child. You can be as paranoid as you like with all that crap about the 'dyslexia industry'. It just reminds me of idiots who don't immunize because BIG PHARMA is making money and someone must be hiding the truth from parents. They aren't. If 100's experts, who have done studies and trials and tracked outcomes for decades, agree that dyslexia exists, who are you to say they know nothing. All those successful people who say they are dyslexia probably aren't doing it because they think they get extra kudos for having a learning disability.
Hatti,
Sorry this has been highjacked by people who really want to justify their own rejectionism and make you join the party. The Ed Psych has told you where the problem is (Yay! now your DC knows that they aren't stupid.). Go to the BO (PM me for a recommendation as there are too many who claim to be BOs and will tell you to do all kinds of exercises and expensive repeat visits when all you need for your DC are specs). Find a good tutor to teach the skills that have been missed from your DC's development- patterns, sequencing etc. Get onto the school and explain what would help DC to work more easily- photocopy into B/W anything colourful, cover up bits of the page that DC isn't working on, use card under each line of text. The tutor will help determine what works for your DC. Keep the SENCO in the loop but recognise that they can't see your DC enough to make a real difference. Make sure your tutor, SENCO and the teacher are on the same page.Do touch typing to get ready for secondary school.
Mostly, don't worry. You may find that your DC has amazing talents that include lateral and creative thinking and the confidence to meet any challenge. You can look at this as an awful thing or or a cloud that has a silver lining that will emerge in the future.

HorseM - So why do you say your child still has dyslexia? What symptoms does she still have?

I'm really, really pleased that you found a great tutor, BO, and Ed Psych. Can you tell us which ones? Lots of people reading this thread might like to use them.

Finding a good one is a minefield. They all look equally good on their websites - but they're not. Very, very few are good. I certainly don't recommend the BO or EP I went to.

I'm really, really, really not paranoid about the dyslexia industry. I just so far have not found anyone in it who can help my DD. Which is why I can't recommend anyone in it. But if you can recommend people, I'm very interested.

All I've found are kids who go to a tutor every week for years, and still struggle with school. If I knew anyone in RL who had found a tutor that helped I would have been there in a shot. Course I would. But all I've found in RL
are people who go to ineffective tutors and then give up on their children.

Are all dyslexia action trained tutors trained in vision perception difficulties?

Oh, and as for idiots who don't immunize - DS went blind, developed nystagmus and regressed within 24 hours of his 3 month vaccination. No-one in the NHS can explain why. It can't possibly have been due to the vaccination, because they're 100% safe.

And what makes you say supplements are snake oil? How much research have you done into them? Because there is an awful lot of very convincing research to say they do work.

If 100's experts, who have done studies and trials and tracked outcomes for decades, agree that dyslexia exists, who are you to say they know nothing

That is not what has been said ... perhaps you should read what people have posted. For every expert that says dyslexia exists there is another who says it doesn't and then there those of us who say ok dyslexia exists but what does that mean for this child? Is it the same as for that child? or those children and those children ... and the answer is no. So what Indigo is saying is you have to find the cause of the "dyslexia" not accept that a little word that is a huge umbrella term will solve the problem because it won't. Saying a child is dyslexic is like saying that they are a girl or left handed or blonde ... yes fine but how does that help? Your child's dyslexia was due to visual problems resolved by a BO but if you didn't know it was a visual problem how would you have resolved it simply from the label dyslexia because there are tens...hundreds of reasons for a child experiencing dyslexia (reading difficulties)
All those successful people who say they are dyslexia probably aren't doing it because they think they get extra kudos for having a learning disability. Who are all these successful people who say they are dyslexic have they been diagnosed by an EP? because half the people I know say "oh I'm dyslexic" and mean they sometimes get letter order confused ...

It just requires a pro-active parent yes and you look in the dictionary under that pro active parent right next to it is a picture of Indigo who is the most determined and tireless seeker of answers to her child's problems I know

and don't kid yourself that being told by an EP that your problems are due to dyslexia stops you feeling stupid when your little sister can read books you can't ...

And if your child's reading difficulties were solved by a BO and glasses and visual perception tuition - why do you want to call it dyslexia rather than vision problems?

This is what I'm campaigning for. Kids who have vision problems to be labelled with vision difficulties rather than dyslexia. And kids who have auditory problems to be labelled with auditory problems rather than dyslexia etc.......

And how did an EP help you? Besides recommending a BO? And telling you your child was very bright?

Horsemadmom

Developmental Dyslexia in Adults: A research review

www.nrdc.org.uk/publications_details.asp?ID=11

If you read the full report carefully you will find that 'dyslexia' is not as cut and dried as dyslexia 'experts' would like you to believe.

In fact, many 'experts' really, really struggle to explain the difference between 'dyslexics' and common or garden 'poor readers. (Because there really isn't any difference)

PM me and I'll happily tell you who we went to. And why.
My DS is older than DD1 and she was a much better reader from the off but DS was never made to feel stupid nor did he. DD1 couldn't kick a ball without falling down and didn't catch on to maths as fast and was not very good at air fix models. Reading is just one skill and they change and develop as they grow.
I agree with you that there are lots of sub categories of dyslexia and within those there are many variations. That's what a good EPR should tell you. My DD has no problem with multistep instructions and does not see words swimming on the page and her memory is excellent. She also has no issues with auditory processing or sound recognition.
She is very definitly dyslexic as her two hemispheres work equally and she does not have a dominant side. i.e. ambidextrous. The people who study these things find that is a consistent characteristic on MRI examination of people with the diagnosis.
Oh, just to counter your jabs experience, two of my friends watched their newborn daughters struggle for life in the NICU as they got whooping cough from someone who didn't immunize their kid. One of them was on CPAP for two years.

Disconnected Kids talks about problems with unequal left and right hemispheres, and contains a DIY program for how to fix these kind of problems at home.

Although his premiss is that it's a hemisphere imbalance which is the problem - not being ambidextrous.

Hhere is his website: www.brainbalancecenters.com/

She is very definitly dyslexic as her two hemispheres work equally and she does not have a dominant side. i.e. ambidextrous. The people who study these things find that is a consistent characteristic on MRI examination of people with the diagnosis.
Interesting because I fit that description and no one has ever suggested I'm dyslexic

From Maizie's link:

• There are many definitions of dyslexia but no consensus. Some definitions are purely descriptive, while others embody causal theories. It appears that ?dyslexia? is not one thing but many, in so far as it serves as a conceptual clearing-house for a number of reading skills deficits and difficulties, with a number of causes.

• There is no consensus, either, as to whether dyslexia can be distinguished in practice from other possible causes of adults? literacy difficulties. Many ?signs of dyslexia? are no less characteristic of non-dyslexic people with reading skills deficits. In our present state of knowledge, it does not seem to be helpful for teachers to think of some literacy learners as ?dyslexics? and of others as ?ordinary poor readers?.