Ds can’t/ won’t read

[Howmanysleepsnow]

Ds is 6 (year 2 but August born) and can’t read. He’s on stage 3 books (Oxford) and sounds out words but often still can’t recognise them. He’s very reluctant to read at home and often refuses as he “can’t do it”. He won’t even try to sound out words on signs/ in games anymore. His hearing is ok, according to the screening, but he can’t tell the difference between end and start sounds in words day to day (eg 14 and 40). He had speech therapy for the frequent mispronunciation of start/ end sounds and was able to recognise and replicate in sessions. He’s discharged now: partly due to improvement, partly because he hated it and stopped trying/ engaging.
How do I help him when he won’t try at home? Apparently he tries hard in school and is a hard worker and really conscientious, but at home he refuses. I have a meeting with his teacher next week at my request. What do I ask for? He already gets extra small group support.

Op, ensure the reading at home is fun and not too hard, kids learn at their own pace and if he is under pressure and not enjoying it that will not help. Small bits of reading, positively encourage all improvements. Try other books, based on his interests, comics, where’s wally type, factual books, superheroes etc. Make it easy at home (you don’t have to constantly challenge his learning, reinforce it or make it fun is good) school is pressure enough.
I’m sure he will get there but reading is a marathon not a sprint.
Do you play any games? Scrabble, word games etc?

Also, have you tried using colour 'shields' over his books? If he has dyslexic tendencies then often a white background makes it really difficult, so a filter over the page can often really help, especially if 'the words are dancing all over the place'.
My DD6 has had similar issues, but because her DF is dyslexic then he understands that her brain works differently and her reading has come on massively since we forgot the 'phonics way of learning to read and followed her.

Have you had his eyes tested? Check he can see first and the eye muscles are working correctly.

Overlays (filters) do work, but only occasionally and you need to be assessed properly. I've had a glut of children recently using them and the majority of them had over issues (and a couple of them were being encouraged to use them when they weren't actually helping!)

Colour filters are a load of hogwash.
Did he pass his Y1 screening?
If not, is he getting extra phonics help?
Sounds like he needs a bit more familiarity with the sound/letter links (GPCs) but books are not helping at the moment.
I'd go for an app or workbook - Teach Your Monster To Read is a favourite here.

Has he had a proper hearing test?

My DC was like this at that age – would make the effort at school but felt it was a chore at home and would much rather play with their toys than read. Meanwhile their friends were devouring books. I was worried like you are that there was an underlying issue, so I checked with the school and they said no, so I suggest you do the same. Eventually the reading gene did kick in, around 8, and now they devour books too. Taking them shopping to choose what they wanted to read really helped.

Sounds exactly like my Ds (also summer born) school by the time he was in year 2 had washed their hands of him and I ended up HE him as he was getting no where in school

He has dyslexia and dysgraphia (not diagnosed till he was 16)

The coloured filters only really help a certain type of dyslexia. Dyslexia is an umberella term for a lot of different learning and writing issues

FWIW Ds didn’t click with reading until he was 12

Those school reading books can be utterly dull which often makes children reluctant to read them. They say "It's to hard" but actually mean the book is just boring but they don't know how to explain that.
Beano, Argos catalogue, fact book about whatever their favourite obsession is should always be available to 6 year olds.

Without this sounding like a cop out can he read in his head?

I’m dyslexic and as I child I absolutely hated reading out loud. I found I so much harder than reading in my head but I would happily read ‘in my head’. To be honest I still do find reading aloud to be much more effort.

This is probably a stage or so ahead of where your DS is.

Have you tried reading a series like Harry Potter with him? My parents started off reading these books to me and then eventually I’d want to read the next bit myself because I enjoyed the story so much.

He had a full hospital eye test after the school screening: he was borderline in school but did ok on hospital tests, followed up in hospital a year later (1 month ago) and eyesight was very good, no issues.
Had hearing tests (basic childhood ones), no problem.
He likes where’s wally type books/ comics but will tend to look at pictures and avoid words. He likes football cards/ Pokemon cards but won’t try to sound out names etc. Loves games... until they involve letters/ words. Basically all he will read is a couple of pages of his school book about once a week

My daughter was summer born and didn't read until she was 7. Years later now and she got excellent GCSE grades and is looking at university applications. Maybe he's not ready!

There's a good reason why they don't do formal reading and writing in many counties until 7

If it’s any comfort I wasn’t into reading until I was 8. Now I’m an avid reader and read for pleasure. Some children take longer, so long as the school is supporting him that’s the main thing.

Two of 3 my boys couldn't read until they were about 7 but even then they were a bit rubbish compared to other kids. Then it just clicked. One just got 10 GCSEs all grades 7&6, the others in year 8 and doing fine. I wouldn't worry too much.

Get him tested for Auditory Processing Disorder. One of the biggest problems my daughter has is with mis-hearing the starts and ends of sounds. It can’t be picked up with a normal hearing test.

For some children with APD, they can never learn to read using the phonics system. They need a totally different approach.

He definitely can’t / won’t read in his head either yet.
His interests don’t prompt him to read.
School books, though boring, are all he’ll try as he is very keen to stick to rules at school. I’ve not been insisting he try every night though as 5-6 nights a week he gets very upset about it as he “can’t read”

@Zodlebud did she mispronounce words? DS will say, for instance, beciting rather than exciting, so if sounding out words he won’t think what he’s reading is a word as he doesn’t recognise the ex sound as being part of the word he knows. In maths homework he’ll say “a 1 and a 4” for 14 to differentiate from “a 4 and a 0” for 40 as to him they sound the same.

@Zodlebud How was she diagnosed/ who by, and what was done to help?

Op I would really take the pressure off, if he only reads a few pages that’s fine.
Do you read to him? Does he enjoy that?
My ds8 loved picture books, we got some that you choose a path and each page had different choices, he could do it without bothering to read, but it all helps in the long run. Only in the last 6 months has he actively started reading TV, texts, signs etc.
Keep it fun and relaxed, if school aren’t worried, he has many years to get it.

I would also push to get him tested for dyslexia. Phonics is a shit way to teach reading anyway and I have no idea why it has become so popular. DD2 is severely dyslexic and really struggled with reading. She finds electronics easier than actual books and she also required a specialist colour overlay (or in her case coloured glasses), which made an amazing difference. However, that only works if they have Scotropic syndrome.

Mispronunciation is very typical of a child with APD. It affects every child differently- it’s a bit like dyslexia for your ears.

I just kept going back to my GP. She was acing every hearing test but I just knew she couldn’t hear properly. Turns out it’s not her ears but her brain.

She was referred to an ENT consultant who eliminated all hearing issues once and for all. She was then referred to an APD specialist from there.

There’s a really good website and associated Facebook group for more information.

apdsupportuk.yolasite.com/?fbclid=IwAR0qa4U0lIkWDMmZxGehX47Lz5seGQk2gTERenVQFWFZSDjAaXx7guyLLlo

Looks like the nearest testing place for APD is 6 hours away. If he’s not any better by age 7 or 8 I may have to holiday near a clinic!

I would read to him, trying different books, simply for fun and to see which ones he enjoys. When reading, I would point with a ruler, not exactly line by line, but roughly to what I am reading. Once you know which ones he likes, you can go over them again. A large part of learning to read English is learning to sight-read stupidly spelt words like 'any other friend would...' literacyproblems.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/reading-problems.html and many people don't appreciate just how difficult this is for some children, especially ones with logical brains who hate learning by rote.

£A large part of learning to read English is learning to sight-read stupidly spelt words like 'any other friend would...'*
No it isn't. You can't read English without phonics.

I think it sounds like a phonological deficit. A phonological deficit is when they find it difficult to blend sounds and break sounds down into words. My 2 kids both had this in addition to other problems. There is quite a good online screening test for Dyslexia which includes testing for a phonological deficit dyslexiagold.co.uk/DyslexiaScreeningTest and if it's not a phonological deficit it tests for other problems.