What was your dyslexic child like at 6

[RockCrushesLizard]

Hi

I'm wondering what dyslexia looks like in 6 year olds - obviously it cant necessarily be diagnosed at that stage, but I'm wondering what you think were signs in hindsight?

My DD who loves telling stories, being read to etc, great at practical numeracy, is definitely a bright little thing (at a selective school etc).
However she has always had difficulty with speech (late talker, had 4 words at age 2), doesn't seem to hear some sounds, or distinguish between them (f/v/th, saying things rhyme that don't). We've been having speech therapy, which is really helping.
Her reading and writing is a bit worrying though. She has a September birthday, but is only on band 4 for reading, and frequently gets the hard words right, while struggling with eg. help, or reading on as no. This is with lots of support with reading, spelling etc, and lots of practice, because she hates feeling that she can't do it.
Her handwriting is pretty messy, and large, and she apparently has a strange pencil grip. Colouring in is definitely not in the same ball park as her peers. She can't remember left and right either.

She's also a bit antisocial, in the sense that she often would rather be on her own than negotiate friendships, and is very black and white/perfectionist about things.

On the other hand, she can do days of the week, alphabet etc without apparent difficulty, is kind, empathetic, and can grasp concepts really quickly. This morning I was explaining momentum/speed/weight, because I didn't stop with the pram fast enough, and explained that if a truck and a car are driving beside each other, the car will stop quicker, and she immediately said 'not if the car was going faster though'.

I just wonder if dyslexia can present like this?

Yep - only difference was my DD started to talk very very early (and hasn't stopped since!).
Reading and writing were a lot more than 'a bit of a worry' but she also has a very high IQ.
Also I can add that she was very clumsy - to the extent that the school nurse sent her Xmas cards (and still does even though she's now 17!!).
DD was antisocial too and preferred the company of adults (this sorted itself out when she was about 8).
Not sure if that helps?

It does help, I guess because I just feel I'm missing a piece in the puzzle of what's going on, and any insight into how that has gone for other children is useful.

What did you find helped? (Obviously simply identifying any cause doesn't solve anything on its own)

To be honest it was all a bit rubbish until she was about 9.....very upsetting all round and it took a lot of support to keep her confidence up. The the first big step forward for her was a kindle - she could make the type big and stop the letters juddering about. She could read books that matched her intellectual ability (plus there are dyslexia friendly fonts)
Laptop - learn to type type. She still can't spell very well if she is writing but she can if she types (she has learnt where her fingers go on the keyboard as much as anything else which is really useful for high frequency words).
Eventually she also got an iPad Pro with stylus and keyboard (photographs work sheets and annotates them or gets them emailed to her)
Homework emailed to her and me, and emailed back
...using tech generally
This sounds a bit odd but we sort of gave up with writing- so instead of learning how to write her spellings she learnt to type them for her weekly spelling tests (way better than her memorising 10 spellings, getting them all correct and then 20 minutes later get them all wrong - that used to really confuse me!)
Built her own 'dictionary' of key words that she went over weekly
Did mind maps
Teachers agreed to mark content and not cover her book in red pen to correct spelling (her confidences was shattered)
When diagnosed get them resigned to the fact that they are dyslexic (and will have to work harder than others) NOT stupid

She aced her GCSEs by the way (lowest grade was an A) and she has an academic scholarship to an independent. Not bragging .....just want you to know it's not the end of the world 😀

That's really useful, to see the strategies that worked for you, thank you.
I think embracing the tech would definitely help us in the short term, because for now, her confidence has really take a kicking.

Hi marking place.

Hi lizard.
My dd was very keen to learn to read and keep up with her peers aged 5 and 6, and succeeded, but refused the phonics approach and insisted on reading in her head, I think using whole word recognition, from the very beginning.

She is and always was a very social person, always setting much store by social relationships.

Teacher comments were always... she needs to get more down on paper, speed up her writing etc. No teacher ever expressed concerns about her in terms of dyslexia, and I think people just haven’t understood how much of a struggle school is for her.

I wanted to share because I think there are kids out there going undiagnosed, because they manage, but don’t fulfill their potential, and hit a brick wall at some point later on in secondary. The signs are not always there when they are 6 or 7.

Good luck with your journey.

This is really interesting. Could be describing my DD.

Hi mumsnest, hope things are ok at school for your dd. How old is she?

Hiya, sorry for taking so long to reply @Thistly. DD is almost 7. Similarly to lots of the above, DD is very bright, articulate and mature. She certainly wouldn’t stand out ina class as having difficulties because she is compensating I think. She is very sociable and started talking very young - and like pp’s dc, hasn’t really stopped since.

She loves being read to and is a very enthusiastic learner generally but has hit a wall with her reading. Although she’s on level 8, do within the expected range for year 2, she’s been on that level since the start of the summer term in year 1. We’ve discovered recently that the words move or float if they are too dense so she’s seeing a behavioural optometrist and is trialing an overlay to help with that.

Her spelling and handwriting are so variable. Some days she writes well, other days you can barely read it. This is especially bad if she’s trying to write something that she’s learned and has to put it into her own words. She knows the facts but can’t get it onto the paper. She also reversed lots of letters and numbers still, including writing say 81 instead of 18.

She is also really clumsy, has lots of minor injuries from poor spatial awareness I think, bashing into things etc.

She’s always loved school but this year has been a real struggle. I think perhaps as the difficulty is increasing she’s having to work so hard to keep up and it’s making her so tired.

School have been good so far. They’re encouraging her with the overlay and have given her the appropriately coloured paper to write on. I have my first meeting with the senco tomorrow so any tips with respect to that would be great.

Hi mumsnest, sounds like she has got a lot of indications going on there. It’s great school are being supportive, and this bodes well for the meeting tomorrow.

I haven’t really got anything to suggest, as my dd’s school are not supportive and are taking ages to arrange a meeting, so I have never even met the Senco. I think it’s great to get things in place while dc are still at primary school. I feel sad that my dd’s primary school didn’t pick up on her struggles at all. Now she is at secondary the subject teachers are very much protected from having contact with parents except once a year at parents evening. So I feel like since the diagnosis we are getting nowhere fast.

Thanks for the reply @Thistly. I’m sorry your dd’s school isn’t being supportive or helpful. That must be so frustrating for you and your daughter.