DD not able to 'read' the spaces between words - is this a typical difficulty?

[mammal]

DD has just turned five and has finished reception year at school about to return to year 1. She finished reception as 'emerging' in most areas and has had some additional support over the first year. There is no diagnosis of special needs.

She has struggled with keywords but is now reading them well when they are presented individually and out of context, e.g. on flashcards. However, she struggles with the same words once they appear with others as text in a book. I have now realised that she can't 'read' the spaces between words and can't tell where one word starts and finishes, e.g. if I point to a word in the book we are reading and ask her to sound it out, she might begin with the last one or two letters of the preceding word.

Is this a common difficulty when children are learning to read? Do I need to raise it with her new teacher and try and push for some extra support for her?

She is very good at disguising her difficulty: she has a good memory and after only one reading (mainly me doing the reading; DD will sound out the occasional word) of some quite lengthy books this summer she has then appeared to 'read' the book well on a second reading but in fact is reciting from memory. So I imagine this might be why her problem has been missed in reception year and which makes me worried that she may slip under the radar again this year.

This is not something school can help with. It's a mild vision problem, with lots of different names, which you need to help her with.

It can be called visual stress or Irlen syndrome or eye tracking or convergence insufficiency.

You can see a behaviour optometrist (which is very expensive) or you can do manual exercises like pencil push ups or Brock string. Or you can play Engaging Eyes - which is my recommendation.

It's quite common for children who are taught whole words by sight not to recognise them in context I'm afraid and not often a vision problem IMHE

Mrz - how do you explain her sounding out the letters in the preceding word? That is indicative of a vision problem.

that's indicative of a child not understanding the concept of words in text

I agree with Mrz but I would still take her to a behavioral optometrist to check for a vision problem. My DS has just been diagnosed with convergence insufficiency and longsightedness. He was taught phonics properly but still has this problem.

sorry, meant to write I agree with mrz and cheryzan - but I would still try etc etc

DD wears glasses for long-sight and poor binocular vision. So sight problems, yes, but corrected by her glasses.

She is being taught using Jolly Phonics. Her teachers have sent a few keywords home each week on individual slips of paper, which is what I meant by flashcards. Obviously, the first few were learnt by sight but as they have been taught most sounds now, DD sounds out and blends all but the most irregular words.

We have spent some time looking at and sounding out these keywords on the slips of card sent home from school but the majority of the time we read books and read in context. It is because we do both that I have realised she has this problem. Whatever reading we do, she always sounds out, never reads whole words by sight.

I have googled Irlen syndrome and nothing on the list of symptoms seems to correspond with DD's difficulty. I am confused now as to whether this is an educational or vision problem.

mrz, in your opinion, should I raise this with her teacher?

has she been offered any vision therapy by the optometrist? The doctor my ds saw said that the glasses may correct it, but it may not and he will be given further therapy in that case. He was only given the glasses a week ago.

Poor binocular vision is another name for convergence insuffuciency and is not corrected by glasses.

It causes the exact symptoms you describe. You pointing at one word and her reading a few letters away.

Prism glasses help but only when you wear them. They don't correct the problem in the same way that strengthening the muscles with vision therapy does.

Irlen syndrome or scotpic sensitivity syndrome can be helped with colours. Sometimes the black print on white background makes the words appear like ants, moving around, or really blurry.

Coloured lenses in glasses can help as can coloured over lays or printing on coloured paper.
A good 'neutral' colour is cream paper, could you try printing something on cream paper and seeing if dc can make the words out any better?

I would bring it up with the school, it may be nothing, but mentioning it can't hurt and if help is needed its better to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later.

Really? That is not what my optometrist said to us. She has given us glasses to help the problem and suggested that we come back in three months. The glasses are specifically for his long sight. I was puzzled myself how it would help with the teaming issue, but one website I found confirmed that this was the treatment. Is this not so?

sorry for the hijack OP

Humphrey - I think it's very unlikely glasses for long sightednes will improve convergence.

My DH has just pointed out that the optometrist said it would help by removing one source of strain for DS in dealing with the long sightedness. Would you go straight to vision therapy? The optometrist has suggested waiting for three months now.

I would go straight to engaging eyes. Absolutely.

Why should she struggle for 3 months longer than she has to? I can't think of any advantages to waiting.

Thanks Cheryzan. Sorry again for the distraction from your point OP.

Cheryzan, thank you for the link to Engaging Eyes. I will start DD on the program. Hope it helps.

Humphrey, hope your DS improves soon.