Is this normal? (or does this indicate a greater problem?!)

[youarewinning]

DS (8), year 4.

He struggles with literacy and mostly, I think because he struggles socially. He has been referred to Camhs.

He doesn't spell well, but always gets 9 or 10 out of 10 for his spelling tests . His writing can be neat but writing as he thinks and general writing can sometimes be so unsteady it's hard to read. He got 0.4 in DEST and then tested DST lat year and not at risk.

He has fantastic verbal skills and uses the most unusual words - very descriptive/ adult words but his speech is very much one sided and quite flat.

He has an IEP and is on SA for his literacy - although he still hasn't managed to use b and d correctly 5 times yet to pass one part of it!

What I'm wondering is - is it common for pupils to have such a vary in their abilities from subject to subject? I get some will be stronger at things than others but DS QCA tests in year 4 have placed him as 2b - literacy, 3b - reading and 4b - maths. Considering pupils in juniors are uually expected to make a level progress over 2 years that places his levels over a huge spectrum!

TIA

If they DST/DEST surely the school are suspecting dyslexia? His spread of skills and weaknesses seems to imply it, so yes I expect it is usual to have a big difference between literacy/writing and other areas. How precise is the IEP at targeting literacy skills (beyond the b/d) and what support is identified on it?

They had considered dyslexia but he is not at risk. He can write fairly well, and can learn his spellings but just cannot maintain or use his knowledge in fictional writing.

Interestingly my friend who' a teacher did a 'test' for me. I asked her to give DS a piece of fiction and non fiction text and tell me what he thought. I wanted to see if she saw what I did.

She gave him a level 2 piece of fiction writing. DS read it well but wasn't with great fluency and very 'flat' in intonation.
Then she gave him a level piece piece of non-fiction text which he read fluently and even empathised some word for effect.

She noticed this but is also at a loss as to the reason why!

that should be level 3 non fiction.

Does he tick any 'boxes' for ASD? If he doesn't understand the fiction text, he won't be able to put the correct intonation and expression in.

He has been referred to Camhs for his lack of poor social skills. I do see ASD in him (but hard at times as I see it daily in work so the boundaries of severity and normality get blurred!) There has been a mention of Aspergers from teachers/ club leaders that know him but not his own school.
His own school know he has been referred to Camhs.
They have never mentioned his lack of fiction ability being related to his social skills (or lack of!), hence me writing this thread.

I wanted to see if anyone would come up with what I was thinking given the facts but not my suspicions. I tried to keep my OP factual.

Thanks lougle you have confirmed my line of thinking - and made me feel less of a loon!

Bear in mind, though, that I also have (at least one) child with SN, so I'm more tuned into that line of thinking. I didn't see that it was a SN 'regular' who posted, so it was a genuine line of thinking.

Ignoring pronounciation, if I were reading in a foreign language, I may be able to read the text out. I wouldn't know the meaning of it, so I wouldn't be able to add emphasis or intonation appropriately. If your DS doesn't understand the social element of fiction stories, especially dialogue, he won't be able to give expression. However, the factual stuff may be right up his street and for example, if the subject is meteors, he will know that a huge meteor is a very impressive sight, so may emphasise that word. Factual stuff stays the same regardless of context, generally. Fiction is tricky because context is everything.

Actually - that makes sense. It's only jut dawned on me the non fiction text was called 'land transport'. ANYTHING Transport is DS!

An example of his social communication - walking to (he was on bike) hop earlier to get an ice cream. He saw his friend from the street - who he'd spotted earlier in the school field which his after school club shares. DS says "you go to X school". It's all factual statement, no actual conversation iyswim? ignoring the fact the school changed it's name last September and DS kept arguing that he did go to X school (not y as the boy said) as he'd seen him there!

strikeout fail!

Hi My ds always got the spellings in his weekly test right but often couldn't spell had or went. I got him tested and he is dyslexic, his school never picked it up. He also had big discrepancies between writing & maths too. He struggled with reading books but did well on SATS reading levels as this is comprehension.

At a recent conference by Dyslexia Action the speaker said dyslexics are often more confident with factual books but I can't remember why ( at least I am pretty sure I remember her saying this ). One simple test you can do is try getting him to memorise your phone number, if he can't I would get him assessed. My ds couldn't even remember the first 3 numbers of my mobile numer after me repeating it daily for weeks. Ds2 got it in a couple of days. It's something to do with working memory ( I think)

I would ask CAHMS about possible ASD to be honest.
Also start recording what you spot. What he enjoys? Interactions with others? Way he speaks? Taking things literally? And so on.

He was 'diagnosed' with a poor working memory when he had the DST. That was the outcome! We have been working REALLY hard on the information given to us. It is a slow process though!

The funny thing was that he cored above average on verbal fluency - yet he can't sustain a simple conversation. I can only think they got him to talk about something - no problems with that.

mummytime Thanks. I have begun recording all those things and it was these things that I put into the email to Camhs (they received letter from GP and wanted to refer to Ed Psych and said wrong professional). Should I be worried that after my email they gave me an appointment!

I wouldn't worry as such. A diagnosis can be a good thing, as it can suggest ways of dealing with behaviour, it can also help guide teachers to look beyond the superficial explainations.
However, a diagnosis can't be made over the Internet.