Help me understand this diagnosis

[ShelleyW]

My 8 yo ds was recently tested for LDs and was dianosed with Reading Disorder and Written Expression Disorder. What does that mean? I asked if there was specific diagnosis and the therapist said no, that is what they call his issues with reading. I have a dd that was diagnosed w/Dyslexia so that was helpful. This diagnosis just seems so vague. NILD was recommended for him but I am not sure where to go at home. Especially with reading/writing. Anyone been in a similar situation? I have been using Recipe for Reading w/both kids b/c it is O-G based and it has been working. I am just wondering if there is something else I should be offering ds in addition to reading instruction.

 

Any advice is appreciated!:001_smile:

[PeterPan]

Well Reading Disorder is going to be changed to Dyslexia in the new DSM next year. Read Yllek's posts and you'll get lots of ideas for things to pursue. The other people's posts are awesome too. She just comes to mind as having a dc similar in age. OG is awesome, and that's great that it's working. You might also find it helpful to work on working memory, executive function, or get a few other evals if indicated (vision, OT, SLP, whatever).

 

I know the reading disorder label is screwy. Feel free to go ahead and tell people dyslexia, since that's what it's going to be called next year and what people are familiar with. Also search the boards here for dyslexia threads and read books like Dyslexic Advantage by the Eides.

 

Welcome to the boards! :)

[Tokyomarie]

Reading Disorder and Disorder of Written Expression are the terms used in the DSM-IV, the book of psychological diagnoses. Dyslexia is not currently a diagnosis in the DSM-IV, though it probably will replace Reading Disorder in the DSM-V.

 

Reading Disorder can be used to refer to the specific difficulties with decoding at the single word level, reading speed/fluency, and spelling that dyslexics have, but it can also refer to people who have difficulty with reading comprehension for one reason or another- sometimes another language disorder or ADHD. Dyslexia is well understood to include difficulties with spelling and the writing process, but in the DSM-IV, the writing difficulties are separated out into a different category.

 

Did you receive a full report that includes the test data and gives a description of the specific difficulties your child has with reading and writing?

 

Low scores in areas such as single word reading, nonsense word reading, rapid naming, phonological & phonemic awareness, reading speed/fluency, and dictated spelling with relatively higher reading comprehension scores and scores related to listening comprehension and/or other oral language would be consistant with a dyslexic profile. Good single word decoding with poor reading comprehension indicates reading difficulty for other reasons.

 

Disorder of Written Expression relates specfically to composition skills. But there are many sub-skills that have to come together to create a composition- whether sentence level or higher: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, vocabulary, thinking of what to say and in what order, how much to say, etc. That doesn't even include the physical act of handwriting. It takes a strong working memory with fluid and automatic "clerical" skills for a student to be able to concentrate on the act of "what to say" instead of just "how to write it down."

 

If a student has significant difficulty with the physical act of handwriting itself, diagnostically that would fall under the category of "Developmental Coordination Disorder." It is sometimes commonly called dysgraphia, but depending on who you talk to, dysgraphia is sometimes conceived as including both the physical difficulty and the difficulty with the mental aspect of composition.

[ShelleyW]

Thanks for all the great info! I was a little surprised the the dx wasn't Dyslexia but I guess it actually was. :) I had my older dd tested earlier this year with a different dr. and her testing report was much more detailed. Ds's seemed a little confusing. I might just take his test results to the dr. that dx dd and have her decipher it for me.

 

I do have him set up for a hearing test as I want to rule out any issues with that b/c I think he has some auditory issues going on as well that weren't picked up this time around. There just seems to be so much to cover that I don't know where to start. :confused:

 

Working memory has been a concern for a while. Any recommendations for books I should look at to work on this? Of course, all of this after Linguisystems sale is over. :glare:

[Pen]

My 8 yo ds was recently tested for LDs and was dianosed with Reading Disorder and Written Expression Disorder. What does that mean? I asked if there was specific diagnosis and the therapist said no, that is what they call his issues with reading. I have a dd that was diagnosed w/Dyslexia so that was helpful. This diagnosis just seems so vague. NILD was recommended for him but I am not sure where to go at home. Especially with reading/writing. Anyone been in a similar situation? I have been using Recipe for Reading w/both kids b/c it is O-G based and it has been working. I am just wondering if there is something else I should be offering ds in addition to reading instruction.

 

Any advice is appreciated!:001_smile:

 

That's what they call my son's situation too. I refer to it as something "dyslexia-ish." What worked for him with the reading was High Noon Reading Intervention program, which is also O-G based. You can see in my sig what we've been using for writing. Mine just got next to the top score for his grade in reading on state mandated testing--quite something for him! And he is allowed to ask for help with the reading part of his math testing (which started today), but so far says he doesn't need it (I hope he is right about that). Not offered to brag, but that light is possible at end of the road.

 

One key thing seems to be to spend a lot, a very lot, of time on the reading and writing. That is part of why we are using so many programs, so it won't get totally boring. We could not start writing, however, until reading was coming along fairly well.

[Pen]

Thanks for all the great info! I was a little surprised the the dx wasn't Dyslexia but I guess it actually was. :) I had my older dd tested earlier this year with a different dr. and her testing report was much more detailed. Ds's seemed a little confusing. I might just take his test results to the dr. that dx dd and have her decipher it for me.

 

I do have him set up for a hearing test as I want to rule out any issues with that b/c I think he has some auditory issues going on as well that weren't picked up this time around. There just seems to be so much to cover that I don't know where to start. :confused:

 

Working memory has been a concern for a while. Any recommendations for books I should look at to work on this? Of course, all of this after Linguisystems sale is over. :glare:

 

Looks like I was working on my reply while you got lots of other ones!

 

In re Working Memory, you might want to look at IEW, the writing program--the way it works with keyword outlines and speaking back the information from the outline, plus perhaps poetry memorization could perhaps help.