Great at reading but struggling with spelling

[flowerfly]

My ds(8) is good at reading but really struggling with spelling and handwriting anyone else had any experience of this. He can learn spellings (14 weekly) and get them all right in a test but when it comes to writing sentences etc. the spelling goes to pot "When" becomes "wen"," Need" becomes" Ned" the school are looking into it but does anyone else have any suggestions?

Thanks everyone, that's really interesting. I'll have to get his vision checked out as well as he has worn glasses in the past for an astimagtism. And I'm going to look at apples & pears now, so thankyou Indigo.
Poor sod has a right mix of problems really... he has mild dcd, problems with sequential co-ordination, issues with maths (dyscalculia) had glue ear, speech delay, was selectively mute, had glasses and also had to put up with a G&T older brother
Your post makes me feel really hopeful Bruffin, ds2 is bright enough imo,...just doesn't look it at school

DDs auditory discrimination problems were treated at the Sound Learning Centre. They were brilliant for DD, but are very expensive and not what you would probably do if you are only concerned about spelling.

Auditory processing is even harder to detect and treat. Sound Reading appears to be the best program out there for kids who are struggling with auditory processing.

So that is one reason I say concentrate on vision first - its far easier to diagnose and treat. So that's why it's a better place to start.

But the other reason I'm banging on about vision is that DDs current therapist is convinced that when we cure her vision problems ( with ReadingPlus ) her auditory processing will also improve.

Ie her brain is overloaded at he moment sorting out her vision, and that is why she has very poor auditory processing.

It's too soon for me to be able to tell you guys if he's right or not. But that's my current best advice :)

Indigo, thank you for that.

DD had her eyesight checked 2 years ago & it was fine - she kept coming home with one of those 'your child has had a bang on the head' letters so I thought I'd better get it checked out. Turns out they were all 'headbanging' so they could get a special sticker from the sickroom ......

Anyway, I will get it checked out again and thank you MrZ for your really helpful post - short term memory....Durrr - just didn't think of that one!

I suspect ds,s problems are memory recall, Dh has similar problems. Dh still writes numbers down wrong sometimes.
Ds said he trained himself to remember long numbers because he needed them for the cheats on adventure quest.
Its not just about literacy problems. It took Ds a lot longer than normal to know what day of the week it was and still has a poor sense of time.

That would be funny mrz. I can't imagine my DDs teacher on Mumsnet though, so perhaps not!

This thread has been enormously helpful. Thanks flowerfly for starting it. Getting some wordsearches sounds like a great idea and a low key way to help DD on this.

I had a look at my copy of Apples & Pears last night - and realised it had word searches on every page!

When I started doing it a year ago, I thought those word searches were just for fun, and to make the program more enjoyable. I didn't realise they were an essential part of learning to spell :)

brufin and those with older children with good reading and poor writing....were your children ever diagnosed with anything? My DS (7.5) is like this and is under the paed at the moment. I think they have ruled out gross motor problems (he has messy writing too), but I am not certain is dyspraxia has been ruled out (he is at the lower end for motor planning), and can't spell and has very bad problems getting thoughts downon paper. A specialist teacher observed him last week, but I am yet to hear what she thought....

MrsBaffled - not sure if you've been following my threads about DD and her dyslexia.

But don't worry if your child has dyslexia or dyspraxia or not.

All you need to do is work out how to fix his symptoms which are giving him the most trouble.

I have made amazing progress with curing DDs Dyslexia and DS's Dyspraxia and ASD. And there is no reason why you can't as well.

The only thing that will stop you helping your child is listening to the professionals telling you that they have this 'label' and there is nothing that can be done for it :)

Dyslexia is totally curable. But EPs and specialist dyslexia / SpLD teachers don't believe that, and won't give you good advice.

Yes, I am following you threads. I totally understand what you are saying. We are embarking on Vision Therapy in the New Year for his tracking issues. I think I would like some sort of diagnosis though, just to get some sort of help from school/healthcare professionals (even if it's just extra time in tests - poor pby is not getting anywhere in his times tables tests even though he knows them all, just can't get them down on paper fast enough). Also it would explain why he can't do something and that he's not 'stupid' (like he feels he is, despite us all knowing - and telling him - that he is one of the brightest children you are ever likely to meet).

I am thinking about starting "Write from the start" with him too, but I am waiting as OT are going to provide us with a kit with things to do, and don't want to overload the poor lad :S He will have VT, physio and OT things PLUS homework on top of that....

Well if all you want is an explanation to make him feel better, tell him he has dyslexia or dyspraxia or both - whatever you want. :)

Some people feel better with a label, some feel worse. He may feel it's a permanent dx and there is nothing he can do about it - which is not the message you want to give him. :)

None of mine felt better by getting a dx. But I know that some other kids do.

You don't need a dx to get extra time in exams - nor does getting a dx automatically give you extra time. If you'd like him to have longer to do his times tables test - speak to his teacher and ask for it!

Talk to the SENCO, and arrange whatever help he needs. The SENCO doesn't need a dx to act - and neither do you or his teacher.

No DS has not had an official diagnosis, but has been on the SEN register for both primary and secondary for a SLD. He did have a set of tests again recently which they said indicated an SLD and he has now been given extra time for his mocks.
When he started secondary he had an IEP which allowed him to use a pc for homework wherever practical.
As I said above he had a lot of 1 to 1 help in primary because they realised what an intelligent boy he is and they wanted him to reach his potential. They did say if he was all round average he would not have got the help he did.

MrsBaffled - I don't know / can't remember what other problems your DC has that means he's under a paed.

I do think a dx can be a good thing - more so IMO for ASD / ADHD / Dyspraxia, then Dyslexia - but yes, a dx sometimes helps.

I know 2 kids who got a dx for dyslexia because they were great at reading and bad at spelling. In both cases all this meant for them was that they believed it was OK that they couldn't spell.

And their parents believed it was OK that they couldn't spell. :)

If you child needs extra time at GCSEs, that needs to be organised when he's in Y9. A dx of dyslexia when he's 7 won't help.

Another vote for Apples and Pears here. Have been doing the programme wth DS1 (10) who is dyspraxic, since the summer. His spelling and handwriting are improving all the time, though both still deteriorate under pressure. Its the best programme Ive ever tried - you see real results very quickly. He hates it mind you, but I've built in small rewards after every mastery test, and we only do it for about 20 mins every other night or so. He's another one who's a great reader btw.

My 11yo is a good reader and terrible speller. She can't do spelling tests at all, she can practise all week and manage 2/10, but she reads at a high level and is good on creative writing. No vision or hearing problems. She still writes some words backwards too.

I do think she has some dyslexic tendencies, haven't had a formal assessment as the school doesn't think she's got a problem, but I can see there are traits of dyslexia there. I can't see that a diagnosis would make much difference really either. I keep meeting adults who are getting dyslexia diagnoses as students, which is interesting, it suggests there are a lot of people out there with these tendencies.

I don't really have a suggestion, now she's learning French properly it's a problem as her French spelling is really, really appalling.

Fennel - How do you know her vision (and hearing) is fine? Has she been tested by a behaviour optometrist?

A diagnosis wouldn't help her at all. But if she has vision problems, then good vision therapy would help her. But it's expensive and not offered in many places. :(

If her vision isn't the problem - then something else is. There's some reason why she can't spell adequately.

My DD is the same, good at and likes reading, but appalling at spelling. I feel her problem is concentration, she can't concentrate. When she does, she makes far less mistakes. She doesn't seem to remember or even notice how words are spelt or what they look like when reading, so then of course can't spell them later.

Have you seen this? dyslexicadvantage.com/forum/topics/stealth-dyslexia-writing It describes my ds perfectly and we are just starting out working out what we might do about it.

Thats my DS as well daylightdreaming especially the bit that there is something missing between what is going on in his brain and what actually gets onto the paper. He can often spell a word correctly if he says them out loud but mispells it on paper.
Thankfully we do live in a world of computers and having to handwrite anything in the work place is becoming rare so that it doesn't matter so much.
this little bit of research at my DS's school before he started that boys learn to spell better if using pcs

Wow Daylightdreaming - that article describes Ds1 perfectly! Very very interesting.

That is really interesting daylightdreaming ...that article could just about cover every issue ds2 has had,...yet no-one has ever considered dyslexia...
I'm definitely booking an appt with a Ed psych for the New year. I weirdly, feel quite hopeful.

What an interesting article, thankyou so much for linking. DD definately sounds like she's on that spectrum. Now, need to work out how to help her.

For what it's worth, we are focusing on the Apples and Pears programme, on typing and on proof-reading written work. It's a slog, but it's getting results. DS1 left a notebook on the sofa last night where he'd been writing down the rules of some immensely complicated role-play game he's devising. 'Porcupine' and 'potion' were both spelt correctly - this would not have been the case six months ago.

Interesting thread. DS is 8 and in Year 3. Autumn of year 2 his teacher said his spelling was shocking, didn't think too much of it. Then this year his writing is an issue . His sister has dyspraxia and his cousins a mix of dyspraxia and dyslexia. I had always assumed you couldn't have a good reader with dyslexia.

As soon as I realised you could, I approached the school and the Head screened him for dyslexia which apparently was fine. He's having an assessment of dyspraxia soon with someone who initially assessed DD and I know she's spot on. Am a little concerned as to how comprehensive the School's dyslexia test likely to have been though but was going to revisit that depending on dyspraxia assessment and have friend's Mum who is retired Senco lined up if needs be to an opinion.

Have found we have a behavioural optometrist not too far so can look into that and have just ordered Apples and Pears, thanks for that.