common indicators of dyslexia in a 6 year old

[hellocatty]

DS 6 is really struggling with reading and writing.
He does have eyesight issues.
He generally has 4 easy spellings each week which he gets wrong whether he practices them or not.
This week he had "saw" but wrote "sor" and was "wos" even thought he had got them correct at home.
However, when he has a spelling test with the whole months spellings ie around 16 spellings he has flummoxed me every time by getting them all correct.
Are these mistakes common or early indicators of dyslexia - I have asked school but they won't comment?

No they are common errors for 6 year olds

At 6, my DD, subsequently diagnosed dyslexic, was reading saw as was, new as when, confusing had and and. Other key signs were a surpising ability to read complicated words (eg prehistoric) using context clues, but a relative inability to read little connecting words (of, to, and, sometimes even a) because there were no contextual clues. But by far the biggest sign was the fact that her struggles with reading were totally unexpected given her general intelligence, love of stories, and long-standing desire to read for herself. If the only sign is a tendancy to write words phonetically, I'd guess you have nothing to worry about.

I wouldn't say you have nothing to worry about.

I'd say your child may or may not have dyslexia.

He certainly doesn't have severe dyslexia, but may have moderate or mild dyslexia.

The school not telling you he's fine is a big red flag for me.

What other concerns do you have?

I wouldn't worry about it for now. Although I write this as someone who has a child who also struggles with spelling.

DD1 has mild dyslexia, but also think it doesn't help that spellings are not corrected unless it is a day when are. The reason I'm told for this is that the teacher doesn't want to upset her with her work having lots of corrections. Which I understand but it really doesn't help with her learning.

I have ALOT of concerns but not sure if they are driven by the school expecting alot or because there is a potential issue.
He has been learning to read for nearly 3 years and has made little progress. He has gone up one reading band :0(
School have asked me to see a behavioural optometrist to see why.
He does have vision issues (occular albinism).
His writing is terrible but his school have taught cursive writing since age 3 and I think this has made things confusing for him as it is too young in my opinion and has probably put him off.
I think his writing is OK for a 6 year old boy can form most letters (not cursively) and can write a paragraph/page which is reasonably legible.
He is in learning support every day/few times a day.
He recently got 1C in his report for everything except writing which was ungraded which I thought not too bad.
His school does have very high expectations.
His reasoning skills and intelligence are above average (when graded by Ed psych and were put at age 10 when he was age 5) so I know he is bright enough he just is struggling so much with reading writing and spelling.
Maths seems OK.
I just wondered if anyone had specific things they noticed in dyslexic children before they were officially tested.
As I say school won't say what they think at this point but suspect from what he is tellong me that they are testing him.

Do you know how the school teaches reading and spelling...which programmes/reading schemes etc?
Cursive writing can help in the long term but personally I think it is best to teach single letters before starting joins.

they use jolly phonics but not sure in depth. His teacher has been great and has really worked hard to help him/me.
I actually thought he was just lazy but she said he tries very hard at school.

sorry - oxford reading tree for reading but now they have but him on a different set from learning support not sure what they are

I think given his vision difficulties it may be worth following the schools suggestion of the behavioural optometrist.

thanks mrz

www.dyslexiaadvice.co.uk/vision.html

thank you

Hi Hellocatty. My DD 8 and DS 6 have both been diagnosed with dyslexia. DD has excellent results on spelling tests most of the time but then is at a loss oftentimes when it comes to spelling simple words while writing a sentence. Same for times tables... she can study for a quiz but then speed and accuracy are lost when she needs to apply into real situation.

Like your DS, our DS struggles with spellings sometimes but is inconsistent 0 some tests come back with 8/10 or 9/10 correct. Same with his reading. If all is good he can fly through pages of level 5 Magic Key book whereas on "off" days he struggles with a level 3. (on these days he reads "saw" correctly on one page and then sounds it out slowly as "was" on the next page. I've been told that this is VERY typical of dyslexia.

As you've said your DS has been learning to read for 3 years with little progress, I think you're wise to suspect dyslexia. I was hugely relieved when our assessments came in. I can't recommend enough a book called "The Dyslexic Advantage" (American but available on amazon.co.uk on kindle and print) and associated website dyslexicadvantage.com/. The content and videos have really enabled me to focus on the positive side of dyslexia and better understand my children's strengths (and give me positive vibes for all the extra work I'm doing with the children to support their reading!!!)... without Dyslexic Advantage I'm sure I would find myself far more worried and frustrated than I am today (I still have my moments!!)