Scored Well on Testing, but Something's Not Right

[Ramie]

My daughter is going into 7th grade.  I have always wondered if something was up with her - dyslexia or something else - based on the level that she has appeared to struggle with reading over the years.  I've had her take several free online reading assessments, and she has always scored average or above average.  She took the CAT-5 test in grades 1, 3, and 5, and scored above average in all measures except for spelling (which was terrible).  Today she took the DORA test (online reading assessment), and again scored well above average, for all measures except for spelling (which was 2 grades behind).  But here's the thing - she hates reading.  She appears to struggle to read when she does it, and often needs my help sounding out hard words, does poorly in vocabulary, etc.  She liked the Little House books when she read them a few years ago, but has yet to read another book that she really enjoyed, since then, and I have to practically force her to "read for pleasure."  She describes reading as a tedious process, that is all work, and not worth the trouble.  She will do anything to get out of doing schoolwork that requires a lot of independent reading, and has practically no retention in subjects like science and history (which granted, she doesn't enjoy), unless she takes intricate notes.  And yet, she enjoys being read to by other people, and I notice that when I read to her, she watches my face and not the words in the book (which is the opposite of what I used to do when I was read to). 

 

So I'm confused.  Here is a kid who is testing fabulously on various standardized tests on all of the reading measures, but who behaves like someone who has major reading difficulties.  We had her do vision therapy about 8 months ago, and according to the developmental optometrist, she improved as much as one would expect (meaning she is now testing at appropriate levels for her age, or higher).  She does have a small level of far-sightedness, but she has reading glasses.  Her spelling is atrocious, and at least THAT shows up on the testing.  But when I watch her try to read anything that isn't really easy, she looks like she is struggling and working just as hard to do that as she does when she is spelling.  Of course there is also the fact that since she has been homeschooled all along, she has gotten the kind of one on one attention that most kids don't get - which I imagine would raise the scores of a child with learning disabilities, wouldn't it?

 

So something doesn't match up.  After looking at her DORA scores tonight, dh says, "is she just educationally lazy?"  And I think that it can't just be that - because I was educationally lazy, but I loved to read an interesting book.  And I simply can't believe that anyone would struggle like she used to to sound out words because of laziness, when following mom's directions on sounding out, would have been MUCH easier.  Not to say there isn't some laziness involved - I have seen her choose the easier path when it was the wrong thing to do - but I just can't shake that something is off.  We were supposed to have her evaluated by a guy who is an expert in reading disorders, but that appointment has been postponed, and now that the school year is coming up soon, I have to make curriculum decisions before we get that.

 

Has anyone else experienced this?  Had a child who tests really well, but has a problem?  Ever have a child actually diagnosed with a learning problem, after doing really well on standardized tests?  Is it possible that a learning disability of some sort could be marked solely by poor spelling, and not by the other tested measures?

 

Sorry, I know this is probably a question I need to ask the guy who tests her, but since we won't be seeing him for a while, I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with this type of a kid.

[PeterPan]

Obviously evals are the best way to sort this out, but what you might do is get her more audiobooks and even set her up with immersion reading.  Hakim comes as audiobooks, so she could do that SL core using all audiobooks.  If you get her a kindle or an android tablet, she can do immersion reading where it will show the ebook and highlight the text while she listens to the audio.  No matter whether her label is ADHD or SLD reading or whatever, sounds like that might be a good match for her right now.  Just the very act of following along has bumped some kids' reading significantly.  

 

You can get into a kindle fire HDX for a pretty good price ($100-180) on ebay.  It's a really fabulous device for the money.  Or one of the other tablets, or I think now android.  I don't think the kindle app on the ipad supports immersion reading yet.  I specifically got my ds a kindle fire hdx for the immersion reading.  The battery life on the thing is amazing and the whole thing just works.  You'll also be able to check out books from your library (ebooks, audiobooks, etc.) using Overdrive.  And if she does have a print disability, the psych can sign the paperwork to get you access to Learning Ally, etc.  

 

How is she with typing and getting her writing out?  The tablets will also do dictation, which is fabulous for budding and struggling writers.

[Incognito]

Have you read about stealth dyslexia?  The Eides have coined the term and it sounds like your daughter might fit.  Things that help with dyslexia help.

[merry gardens]

Has anyone else experienced this?  Had a child who tests really well, but has a problem?  Ever have a child actually diagnosed with a learning problem, after doing really well on standardized tests?  Is it possible that a learning disability of some sort could be marked solely by poor spelling, and not by the other tested measures?

 

 

My oldest child didn't like reading when he was younger. I remember finding a book at our local library with suggestions on how to encourage a child to read who dislikes reading. It helped to discover what types of literature my son enjoyed--and it reminded me that my own love for reading started with magazines and not books.  

 

Knowing what I know now about dyslexia and spelling, my oldest son may have had stealth dyslexia, or maybe not. Spelling his poorest subject and test score, yet it was above average. He didn't like writing either. He's never been evaluated. My youngest son had dyslexia that wasn't hard to miss, and that's how I clued into the fact that most of my children's tests score being lower in spelling could relate to dyslexia. However, all my children now enjoy reading--even the first one who didn't like reading initially and his younger brother who's diagnosed dyslexia and other younger brother with a diagnosis of CAPD (which relates to dyslexia and processing sounds in words).

 

Maybe there's a diagnosable problem with your child, or maybe, she just hasn't learned what types of reading she enjoys. Sometimes in school aged children, there is so much assigned reading that the child doesn't enjoy that they never explore further to find out what kinds of reading they do enjoy. We pulled one child out of a private high school last year, and he'd had so much time on homework and other activities that he'd stopped reading for pleasure.

 

Ask yourself about how much reading you are requiring of her of things that weren't of her choosing? Is she already reading things she doesn't enjoy for hours each day? You might try historical fiction if she liked the Little House series. You might even try magazines and comic books.

[Tess in the Burbs]

My dd never liked reading when younger.  Then the headaches started. I thought she was complaining to get out of reading.  But I took her in, and sure enough they discovered an eye issue.  She did vision therapy for 8 months and it got way better.   She has to do some of the exercises at home to keep it going well, but yes, she tested well, but something wasn't right.  It's hard to learn when it's hard to see things.  And it wasn't super bad...she could see it, but a lot of double stuff, so she would skim looking for the nitty gritty to answer questions. 

[PeterPan]

Fwiw, I take both my kids to a developmental optometrist for their annual check-ups.  The older needed vision therapy, which improved quite a few things, and the younger doesn't seem to need it yet, in spite of his dyslexia.  It's just one of those good things to keep on top of, like Tess is saying.  My dd had convergence issues, and it made her reading uncomfortable, even though her ability to decode was fine.