type of dyslexia that only affects encoding (spelling)?

[hsmomshutterbug]

Hello- I originally posted here a couple of months ago, just as we started DS testing to get to the causes of the learning challenges I am seeing as we work together in our homeschool.  

In a nutshell, I am told the testing indicates a type of dyslexia that tester said they "really don't have a name for" and that it only affects the spelling, not reading, which does make sense w/ what I see in DS's academic performance.  He knows all of his phonics, can decode and read whatever he wants, not a problem, it's when it comes to encoding, where the disconnect happens.   Additionally, he can form complex sentence structures for his age, yet has significant impairment getting them on paper, both in spelling and in letter formation, size, spacing, all of it.  When I asked if this meant dysgraphia, she said no b/c high performance in other areas of the testing ruled that out.  Ok, so then the question still remains how to help that.  She just didn't seem like she knew what to do with the high highs and low low's that were on all of his tests.  

 

He has been in both OT and ST and I feel like OT has helped somewhat, but speech has really felt kind of like a waste of time.  I really have no frame of reference to evaluate what "good" OT and ST are supposed to look like.  Any comments on what I should be expecting?  I could use some advice on where to go from here.  I'm an action plan kind of girl and I'm not sure where to start.  

[PeterPan]

What kind of practitioner did your testing?  Did they run a CTOPP?  And how was his working memory, executive function, and motor planning?  (A neuropsych would be more likely to test the latter.)  You might try some metronome work using Heathermomster's instructions and digit spans.  It would allow you to bring together the speech, motor planning, and working memory.  You need to figure out *why* he's glitching on the writing.  Some of that could be a vision issue, for which you'd consult a developmental optometrist.  Sounds like that's your next step actually, since you haven't eliminated vision issues.  Once the vision issues are out of the way, then what remains is motor planning plus working memory plus expressive language.  For my dd, the metronome work pulled those together.  For my ds, who has more serious issues (apraxia), he can't even stay with the metronome.  So just depends on your starting point.

 

Definitely get his vision checked.  It's not going to be one solution but several pieces coming together.

[hsmomshutterbug]

Can you link me heathermomster instructions you referenced? Is that a test or a therapy or both? If you mean that test where you repeat series of numbers you either see or hear, no, not beyond three digits and at first he would repeat three digits that might not even be all the same you said or showed him in the first place.

I do not think they did the other test you mentioned but I will inquire. Thank you. I am working on setting up a sensori-motor eye exam and auditory processing testing.

I will look at the game and books too.

[PeterPan]

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/496612-calling-heathermomster-or-another-metronome-guru/

 

That's what we did, and after she could do the basic motions we started adding in digit spans using

 

http://www.amazon.com/Auditory-Sequential-Memory-Instructional-Workbook/dp/0972776230/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

 

Yeah, if your working memory is that limited, he'll have trouble holding all the sounds in his head to get them down on paper.  

[Tiramisu]

Stealth dyslexia is the term I've seen used here for what you describe.

[Erin]

 

 

In a nutshell, I am told the testing indicates a type of dyslexia that tester said they "really don't have a name for" and that it only affects the spelling, not reading, which does make sense w/ what I see in DS's academic performance.  He knows all of his phonics, can decode and read whatever he wants, not a problem, it's when it comes to encoding, where the disconnect happens.

You're describing my father.  He's a voracious reader and has never had any trouble with either the basics of decoding or the more complexities of comprehension.  But spelling?  Writing constructs?  Holy mackerel...   :rolleyes: 

And yet he obviously has a mastery of the language as he was a well-respected attorney for decades.  He's always joked that that's why he went into a profession that came with a secretary.  lol

 

I have no doubt that my son's more profound dyslexia can be linked back to Grandpa.  

[Mukmuk]

My son is stealth dyslexic, with the exception that his spelling of complicated words is actually terrific. According to his NPs who coined the term, poor spelling is the hallmark of stealth dyslexia. Ds doesn't fit perfectly into this definition, but they were confident of their dx. When ds was first diagnosed, I was more than surprised because he reads well (and these days, voraciously too).

 

It's been over 2 years since the diagnosis, and I'm no longer surprised. For one, ds still can't remember the entire alphabet. It shows up when he has to look words up in the dictionary. It doesn't affect his spelling, reading or writing, so I leave it alone. For another, every time he stops writing for more than two weeks, he forgets how to construct a sentence. This boy actually writes interesting stories with correct grammar, but only if we keep up writing practice continuously. If we stop for a holiday, his writing goes back to a default state. He needs a week or so of prompting before he's back to where he was. We're in the throes of a ramp up now, and I must say I'm glad that we homeschool- imagine the school's consternation after every holiday!

 

You can read up by googling "Stealth Dyslexia" and the Eides, who are the neuropsychs who coined the term, to see if your son fits the bill. They've also written a booked called The Mislabeled Child where they outlined Stealth Dyslexia.

[Quiver0f10]

You're describing my father.  He's a voracious reader and has never had any trouble with either the basics of decoding or the more complexities of comprehension.  But spelling?  Writing constructs?  Holy mackerel...   :rolleyes: 

And yet he obviously has a mastery of the language as he was a well-respected attorney for decades.  He's always joked that that's why he went into a profession that came with a secretary.  lol

 

I have no doubt that my son's more profound dyslexia can be linked back to Grandpa.  

 

I have a few children, plus my husband, who are like this. They read very well, but can't spell. at. all. I have two that can't read OR spell.

[SandyKC]

 

Hello- I originally posted here a couple of months ago, just as we started DS testing to get to the causes of the learning challenges I am seeing as we work together in our homeschool.  

In a nutshell, I am told the testing indicates a type of dyslexia that tester said they "really don't have a name for" and that it only affects the spelling, not reading, which does make sense w/ what I see in DS's academic performance.  He knows all of his phonics, can decode and read whatever he wants, not a problem, it's when it comes to encoding, where the disconnect happens.   Additionally, he can form complex sentence structures for his age, yet has significant impairment getting them on paper, both in spelling and in letter formation, size, spacing, all of it.  When I asked if this meant dysgraphia, she said no b/c high performance in other areas of the testing ruled that out.  Ok, so then the question still remains how to help that.  She just didn't seem like she knew what to do with the high highs and low low's that were on all of his tests.  

 

He has been in both OT and ST and I feel like OT has helped somewhat, but speech has really felt kind of like a waste of time.  I really have no frame of reference to evaluate what "good" OT and ST are supposed to look like.  Any comments on what I should be expecting?  I could use some advice on where to go from here.  I'm an action plan kind of girl and I'm not sure where to start.  

 

Did the evaluator test for all areas of executive functioning-planning, sequencing, organizing? Did she evaluate for both memory and recall issues, verbal processing issues, etc.?  There are a lot of neurological-cognitive processes that can play into poor spelling and how you help your child will depend upon the root cause.  A lot of times the executive functions can impact getting written words on paper because it takes a lot of mental planning and sequencing to organize what you want to say in your mind, figure out precisely which letters to write when, and then place everything in an organized fashion on the paper.  If Stealth dyslexia has been ruled out, with no evidence whatsoever of a phonemic awareness deficit, and/or no working memory issues--I would suspect executive function issues.  Without a comprehensive neuropsych profile, it's hard to say though.  Working on cognitive enhancement to strengthen the executive functions could be a good place to start.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Here's a link to a good article on stealth dyslexia.  http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10435.aspx