Can you have dyslexia but be able to read well?

[WheresItTo]

DD is in year 7 and her teacher thinks that she may have dyslexia based on her spelling and writing abilities. She can usually spell high-frequency words but has a hard time learning to spell new words and even though she can learn a few words (would usually get 4 out of 6 correct) for a spelling test she will forget them the next week when she gets more to learn and she never puts them into practice when doing other written work. She does still put a couple of letters and numbers the wrong way round, and her writing is big unless she really concentrates.

The thing that I am confused about is that she can read really well. She exceeded her reading targets at the end of year 2 (but she does miss out small words such as the, and, it etc). Could she be dyslexic but be able to read well? Everything I have read regarding dyslexia since discussing with her teacher a few weeks ago seems to say that reading is a big issue and is hard for children with dyslexia. I am confused!

For example, if I showed her the word 'because' she could read it no problem, but if I asked her to spell it she would put something like 'bocse', and then read it back as 'because' and not notice it was wrong in her own writing. But then if I showed her 'bocse' in some other way such as on a screen or printed out she would read it as a nonsense word and know it wasn't 'because'. Does that make any sense?

The Senco is going to work with her and they have already tried the coloured overlays with varying success.

I must say that school are great and DD is the happiest she has been since reception. Academic work doesn't come easily to her and she is much more of a creative child, loves making, designing and drawing and wants to be an architect when she grows up (as well as being a popstar on the weekends!! ) Any advice would be great.

Marshabell, that makes complete sense when you put it like that! We keep being told that a child needs to read a word 15/20 times before they will be able to spell it, but DD has read so many books and would have read many words that she cannot spell hundreds of times and yet still cannot spell them, or for that matter, even copy them accurately.

Corestrategy, I have so much to learn about this, despite having read about different types of dyslexia a few years ago for a uni course, I still didn't see it in my own child. It seems like there is so much to take into consideration when they test for dyslexia.

Whyamihere, your DD sounds very similar to my own. She has trouble with her tables too, but slowly gaining confidence in maths. Is your DD getting plenty of help in school since her diagnosis?

Thanks again for all the advice. I suppose dyslexia is one of those things that you don't really investigate until it happens to you or someone you know.

Wading in as well. Just got the Ed Psych report on our DD. She's in yr 6, reading well ahead, spelling ahead of target so school said everything fine. I've wondered for years as spelling was so hard for her. We worked really really hard to keep up. I decided I couldn't worry any more so got an Ed Psych.
Def dyslexic - she will get 25% extra time in exams as a result of the assessment.
If in doubt - check.

Yes, when tested by the EP DS1 had a reading age 2.5 years ahead of his chronological age but his spelling was significantly behind his age. He is learning to touch type in school which will help.

DS2 was quite young when he was tested so currently both his reading and spelling are behind. However, if he follows a similar pattern to DS1 then his reading might well take off over the next year or so but his spelling won't.

Both of mine struggled with their tables but they do get there in the end. On the plus side, they both have an interesting way of looking at the world.

One thing I find helps with organisation is large sandtimers. Both of mine lack a concept of time passing and being able to plonk a large sandtimer in front of them and say "you have 10 mins to do x" helps, especially as the sand moving is a physical representation of time passing.

I am starting to suspect that my DD(8) may be dyslexic too, she reads fluently by sight, struggles with phonics, is a poor speller, poor hand to eye coordination and poor grasp of time. It's hard for me to know what's normal for her age as her older brother has dyspraxia and therefore his capabilities aren't typical for his age either, so I haven't got much to compare with, but there's some really useful information in this thread, thank you.

It all makes total sense.

My son was called lazy by the school - he could read extremely well, was very intelligent, just couldn't write. As a 9 year old he couldn't spell and his handwriting looked like a 5 or 6 year olds. As he could read, I thought maybe the school was right. He was also very disorganised, clumsy, slow at doing things. I had to push for an assessment and it came back - dyslexic. I felt terrible for not doing something sooner.

His Special ed teacher explained to me that reading and writing are two completely different skills. A lot of dyslexics can read ok. Doesn't help them with their writing.

I find it amazing how there seem to be so many variations. My DD is now 12 and in year 8 and was diagnosed as quite severely affected part way through year 6. She has a phenomenal memory for some things and learnt her tables really quickly, no problem at all. She always did well in spelling tests where she had prepared but I spotted something was wrong when she went into year 6 and was given a spelling test of 50 words, unprepared. She scored 14 and came home in tears.
She can't do phonics very well and it turns out her fluent reading was done using a sort of predictive text method. The ed psych was stunned by how poor her reading of random words was but how good her comprehension of a passage was.
DD managed to disguise reading difficulties by having favourite authors and reading lots of books by them as she can then predict more easily. It's as if she stores up the knowledge of the styles used. Give her a book by a different author and she will struggle much more.
We also investigated coloured lenses and this does help her a lot. Not all dyslexics are helped by this though but in DD's case they help her to deal with phonics as she finds it easier to read words and sentences left to right without anything changing places.
When she was tested, we were told she might well need a scribe and a reader. At the time, I found that hard to believe but as the years go by and school work becomes more challenging we shall have to see.

What would be organisational skills and sequencing for a 6 year old? I am waiting for an ed psych assessmsnet for my 6 yo, who struggles with spelling and writing. He has tried ever so hard with his reading though and is now reading about the national average. He also seems to skim over words like he, the, and etc.

Yes.

My sister is dyslexic and it wasn't picked up until she was in Y5/6 because her reading was so good. It was the school where my mother taught and ultimately she was identified because the staff had an INSET day on "The Undiagnosed Dyslexic"; my mother says that as the speaker went on virtually every member of staff swivelled round to look at her meaningfully because the "typical" example was such a perfect description of my sister, who they'd all taught at one point or another...

WellTidy, how is he on, for example, days of the week or months of the year?

Yep. Partner and my dad both have dyslexia but excellent at reading. Dyslexia has no relevance to intelligence, partner could easily do a uni course on physics (as an example) and pass with flying colours!!

Buck, he can recite them in order from January to December. But he would struggle to answer if you asked him "What is the month before June?" unless he was able to start from January and recite. I am grateful for your reply, but I won't be able to come back to the thread until tomorrow, so please don't think I'm ignoring your help!

That's how I am too, well. Not with months, but I don't know my alphabet properly except by saying it through.

When I mentioned this to my mum (undiagnosed but dyslexia is all over her side of the family) she looked puzzled and said 'but that's how everyone does it'. She'd never realized it isn't!

My God, this sounds just like my 10-year-old DS. He can read, though he was a bit late to get going. His writing is painful to watch and his spelling just isn't there. Has learnt his times tables because he gets them for breakfast. Pure arithmetic, especially mental maths, is fine. Maths expressed as words, really difficult. He can't remember more than two spoken instructions at one time, which may have been behind a lot of his difficulties in the classroom.

The school have not been helpful. I think they must have an ideological opposition to the word 'dyslexia' because the staff tune out the word if I ever mention it, and I've had people pooh-pooh the idea because DS can read, swim, do karate at an age-appropriate level and isn't 3 or 4 levels behind at school. What should I do? I don't have the stomach for a protracted fight with our skinflint, skint LEA, and likewise don't have the odd five or six hundred quid to throw at an Ed Psych, even if a dyslexia diagnosis didn't already look like a very expensive labelling exercise.

How and where have other people on here been able to access help?

I'm wondering what to do too, I'm already in the middle of trying to get a statement for DS, I have expressed concerns about DD over the last few years and they have done s bit of screening, but right at this moment I am definitely not their favourite person because of the statementing process for DS. They are aware of my concerns over DD but seem to think she's OK (of course!).

But my plan is as follows:

1.Get DD's hearing checked (GP referral hopefully).

1. Do some proper work on DD's hand to eye coordination, sequencing of dates, organisation etc and keep notes as to progress. We always did a lot of hand to eye stuff with DS because of his dyspraxia and it has really paid dividends, but we assumed DD's would develop of its own accord and I really don't know what's normal for her age. Conversely with sequencing, DS is brilliant at it, we never had to do anything for it with him, so it is possible we haven't made the necessary effort with DD either.

3. Start asking around other parents I know about local EPs, dyslexia tutors etc. Probably aim to get her assessed in the new year, once DS has either got his statement or we are in a quiet patch waiting for appeal, I really can't do both at once.

I feel very bad that I have focussed SO much time on DS and his needs that DD has been left to get on with it to some extent. However at least it means I know the system a bit.

JeanneDeMontbaston, my mother said also (about other children she taught who were diagnosed while she was teaching them -- these are children who'd be in their late 20s to late 30s now) that it was remarkable how often it happened that, when they had the parents in post-diagnosis to talk about what dyslexia was and the sort of difficulties it might cause/tasks a dyslexic might struggle with, one or both would say "but isn't that how it is for everyone?". Whole swathes of undiagnosed dyslexics in older generations went through school being told that they were thick or lazy (not that that doesn't still happen, but at least we've made progress).

Yes, it's fascinating to think how people must've made adaptations, assuming it was normal to have to do that. My mum is actually a teacher of dyslexics, so she has a foot in both camps - she used to listen to her own dad saying 'but doesn't everyone do that?!' and grin, but now she does it too. I really like it.

It is sad when it means someone's struggled without a diagnosis, but also fascinating to see how much people do adapt and cope, and only find out later they were doing something quite complicated and unusual.

Definitely get the ed psych assessment; they do a variety of tests and can then assess. It is basically a problem in decoding letters and from there onwards it causes a variety of problems.
Dyslexics can develop very good memories as a way of overcoming, which may explain the lack of issues with primary-level spelling - easy to remember a set of simple spellings but the "rules" non-dyslexics use unconsciously when facing new words/odd spellings don't work so each word can represent a new challenge and eventually memory isn't enough.
With proper diagnosis, whether dyslexic or something else, the right strategies to cope can be set up. As there is no one type of dyslexic, there is no one solution.
And remember Albert Einstein was dyslexic, as is Jamie Oliver

Wheresitto if your child has a phone, using the calendar, notes and reminder functions will help a bit with organisational skills. Might also be worth signing up to an online thing called Jungle Memory which aims to improve working memory.

Interesting thread. DS (year 6) is being tested on Saturday as I have my suspicions based on writing and spelling. His reading is fine and he doesn't have dyspraxia as has been tested for it (his sister has it).

Most of his cousins have dyslexia so it wouldn't be a big surprise. I flagged it up o Year 3 and the Head of his school at the time gave him a test on the computer and said he was fine.

I got the glazed over look at parents evening recently. Because is is academically able and achieving the don't seem to realise there are issues. These come out at home with HW and we get it in the neck.

Very interesting to see the what month before / after and the alphabet without reciting chunks is linked to the dyslexia! Never correlated those before.

I CANNOT do DS1's phonics. DH (who has English as a second language) has had to help me. I just cannot see the sounds. I have to come up with a word that has those letters in and work it back.

my 10 year old recently diagnosed dyslexic. I raised concerns with the school over his inability to write more than a few sentences. He was tested by the school's special needs teacher. V.good at reading and comprehension, however things like sequencing eg being able to recite months of the year in order, were below his age and tested low on processing skills and short term memory so unable to follow a set of instructions well. Because he was doing so well in some areas, the school weren't quite sure so his case was referred to the LA educational psychologist who confirmed from his test results the diagnosis.

For my local authority having an official diagnosis means when he is at high school he will not get marked down for spelling and will get some extra time in exams. This is something to bear in mind in getting a proper assessment.

My son has time on a computer programme called Lexion everyday, but is above the support groups they offer for those struggling to learn so other than that its kind of up to us to help him. There are loads of online resources and apps and information on dyslexia websites. We were given this "Wheel of apps" and have used some of the memory apps.

www.callscotland.org.uk/Common-Assets/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Wheel_0f_Apps_V1_0.pdf

We also put him to a maths tutor( £120 per month for 1.5hrs each week) which has helped him greatly as he can concentrate much better.

My dd wasn't diagnosed with dyslexia until she went to university. She was a fantastic reader in primary school, but by the time she was at secondary, she didn't read for pleasure, she still doesn't actually.

She had awful spelling and grammar, terrible memory and organisational skills. However she was given lots of advice at uni and has developed fantastic coping strategies. She recently graduated and is in her first job, a huge part of which is being responsible for organising many people. She's doing really well, and I'm so proud of her

So I hope your DD gets all the help she needs!

How does one get an Ed Psych assessment? I have had my suspicions with DD age 10 in year 6 for a while now but in Year 4 her teacher had a special needs teacher look at DD's work and said she isn't typically dyslexic so no more was done about it and DH is of the 'how will a dyslexic test help her anyway, she's either got it or not' but just a pp mentioning extra time on exams has made me think that it would be worth getting one done.

DD was above average at year 2 sats tests in reading but below on writing and bang on average for maths. In year 6 she is 4c over the board in all areas and her reading level hasn't moved in over a year!! Her spelling is diabolical but was moved to top set in year 5 as she memorises spellings for a test but fails to remember them for normal writing but now in year 6 she had the 50 spelling word test and got 18 so is now in bottom spelling set. She has poor time keeping e.g takes ages to get dressed and has to be reminded to clean teeth, turn her bedroom lights off, feed her fish etc all the time. We have a white board with jobs to do for the morning routine but she still needs me to actually say what needs to be done or remind her to look at the board.

I'm seriously thinking from reading this thread that she may well be dyslexic/dyspraxic but how do I get her seen. Her school won't help private one and seems want no special needs flagged up as we were rebuffed a couple of years ago

Is there a waiting list and does the school have to even know?

Help

Yes you can, however there are overlaps with dyslexia and other conditions such as dyspraxia or Irlens syndrome ... It may be worth looking at the British Dyslexia Association website?

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/educator/hints-and-tips-primary

Following this with interest, as I've wondered about DD1, who is bright but really struggles with spelling.

She is in year 7, she got level 5 in yr 6 sats for English, but I think she managed that by being good enough at grammar to compensate for the spelling. She is good at learning rules, so can do grammar, but English spelling often doesn't follow easy rules. She's very good at maths.

She seems to get even some of the high frequency words wrong sometimes - things like mixing up "were" and "where" or spelling "with" as "whith". She can also get muddled with vowel sounds, eg writing "injoy" instead of "enjoy".

I don't think she struggles more than normal with organisation and memory, just the spelling and writing (her writing is a bit messy).

She likes reading, but doesn't read much in term time. She used to read at bedtime, but now she needs to get up earlier for secondary, she just wants to go straight to sleep, so only really reads in the school holidays. When she does read, she enjoys things like Percy Jackson, the Hunger Games, and the Hitch-hikers guide books.

Does it sound like she could be dyslexic, or just like she's got a bit of a blind spot with spelling? Are all bright kids who struggle with spelling dyslexic, or can there be other causes? How do you go about arranging an assessment?