When to worry about Dyslexia?

[DawnL]

I hope I'm just being a worry wart and jumping the gun. My youngest is 6 and still working hard at trying to read. No matter how many times he sees a word, it seems he still has to sound it out. I am starting to wonder if I should worry. He was born at 30 weeks and has asthma and very mild cerebral palsy. You can't tell on the CP, but he took a year of PT to learn to walk. He is very bright. We call him Mr. Question :) I notice mild things in him once in awhile. Just enough to make me wonder, but not enough to cause me to bring him to the Dr about it. Such as, he has some OCD tendencies and in January he suddenly developed a tic. Only the one, though, and while it was apparent a lot for a few weeks, it has since faded to only occasionally, and only one or two times a day. It's diminished enough that if I hadn't known about the tic when it first manifested, I wouldn't realize he was having a tic now. So, any thoughts?

[Julie of KY]

When to worry - lots of people have different opinions.

Do you need direction in how to teach?

Testing will help sort out how your child learns and help you to better teach.

A diagnosis will open some doors such as Learning Ally (human read audio books) and accomodations for standardized testing.

 

I have two kids with tourettes and dyslexia and I'm sure my six year old is also dyslexic.

 

My oldest, I lucked into starting to teach him with a program recommended for dyslexics. I didn't have him tested until middle school as we need a paper trail heading into high school as he will need accomodations. His major problem is dysgraphia which often goes along with dyslexia.

 

My daughter was tested at age 8 while in the middle of the Barton program for dyslexia.

 

Testing helped me understand my kids better, but I was already teaching them appropraiately.

 

I'm thinking I'll test my six year old this year since we just (unexpectedlly) met our big deductable and now insurance will pay for it.

[Pen]

I hope I'm just being a worry wart and jumping the gun. My youngest is 6 and still working hard at trying to read. No matter how many times he sees a word, it seems he still has to sound it out. I am starting to wonder if I should worry. He was born at 30 weeks and has asthma and very mild cerebral palsy. You can't tell on the CP, but he took a year of PT to learn to walk. He is very bright. We call him Mr. Question :) I notice mild things in him once in awhile. Just enough to make me wonder, but not enough to cause me to bring him to the Dr about it. Such as, he has some OCD tendencies and in January he suddenly developed a tic. Only the one, though, and while it was apparent a lot for a few weeks, it has since faded to only occasionally, and only one or two times a day. It's diminished enough that if I hadn't known about the tic when it first manifested, I wouldn't realize he was having a tic now. So, any thoughts?

 

 

My first totally off the cuff and completely nonexpert thought was that at 6, if he can sound out words, he is probably not dyslexic. My son had about the exact opposite of what you describe--he could memorize and remember a few words, but could not sound them out, not the first time, not the 30th. This is not to say that it could not manifest totally differently in someone else, and as I say I am no expert in it.

 

To me though it seems more likely that the reading has not yet gotten into the stage of fluency and automaticity, which might just take more practice and time, perhaps with a program that is very sequential as would also fit for dyslexia, or that there could be some sort of memory issue, or perhaps a vision issue.

 

That said, in answer to your actual question, I went with advice to "wait and see", and regret that. I think as soon as you are worried is time to start figuring things out. Especially with a younger child you have a comparison that is saying to you that something is amiss somehow. It tends to be easier to work on things if they are caught and addressed earlier rather than later.

[FairProspects]

 

 

My first totally off the cuff and completely nonexpert thought was that at 6, if he can sound out words, he is probably not dyslexic. My son had about the exact opposite of what you describe--he could memorize and remember a few words, but could not sound them out, not the first time, not the 30th. This is not to say that it could not manifest totally differently in someone else, and as I say I am no expert in it.

 

To me though it seems more likely that the reading has not yet gotten into the stage of fluency and automaticity, which might just take more practice and time, perhaps with a program that is very sequential as would also fit for dyslexia, or that there could be some sort of memory issue, or perhaps a vision issue.

 

That said, in answer to your actual question, I went with advice to "wait and see", and regret that. I think as soon as you are worried is time to start figuring things out. Especially with a younger child you have a comparison that is saying to you that something is amiss somehow. It tends to be easier to work on things if they are caught and addressed earlier rather than later.

 

 

I definitely agree about early intervention, but just wanted to add that both my boys could sound out words at 6 and I'm sure both are dyslexic. One is definitively dxd so, and the other is waiting for his eval. The difference is that neither could remember that same word on the next page and they went back to trying to sound it out again.

 

OP - there are enough red flags in the original post to start seeking referrals and an evaluation. The waitlists are long for all so I would get started as soon as possible since you may not have a dx for a year or so depending on who you need to see.

[PeterPan]

The question is not whether he's dyslexic but whether you're getting the evals. Clearly he's got some issues going on and getting that info would help you target your teaching. Whether it's dyslexia or some developmental vision issues due to low tone/muscle issues or an attention/tourette's issue, that's what you'll try to figure out. But yes, do pursue the evals. You've got more than enough reason.

 

If you want to get his eyes checked (just to see if it's a visual memory or developmental vision thing), you can get a developmental optometrist through COVD. It's another possible, common explanation of the symptoms. I'd still do the full psych eval, no matter what.

[RamonaQ]

I say that since you are feeling concerned you should investigate. Six is not too young to evaluate for dyslexia.

[Heathermomster]

Be careful with dyslexia testing at aged 6. We took our DS to the local dyslexia school when he was 6, and they missed his diagnosis. It turned out that DS is gifted. A year and a half later, the np told us that the tester at the school was unqualified to give the WISC-iV. If he had been given the WISC-IV, the np believes the diagnosis would have been given much sooner.

[GoVanGogh]

Has he been to a pediatric opthamologist to be checked for strabismus?

Strabismus is fairly common with CP, even mild cases, as it is related to muscle tone issues. And it can cause some funky reading issues, due to double vision.(Our DS had eye surgery at 6.5 years of age.)

 

As an aside, I had not read your post prior to day, as I am not familiar with dyslexia. I have no idea why I suddenly felt led to open/read it. Anyhow, I would love to PM regarding mild CP, if you don't mind.

[dmmm]

I would test for PANDAS if it was a tic out of the blue.

[houseofkids&pets]

I agree with Oh Elizabeth. I had suspected learning disabilities when teaching my ds, so I started using materials to address his areas of need prior to a formal evaluation. That said, getting an actual diagnosis through testing helped me learn more about his strengths/needs, learning style, recommended interventions, etc. I would definitely follow through with evals and go from there.

[EKS]

My first totally off the cuff and completely nonexpert thought was that at 6, if he can sound out words, he is probably not dyslexic.

 

 

My dyslexic son could sound out words at 6. And he kept sounding them out (every single one!) until he was almost 9.

[LolaT]

My dyslexic son could sound out words at 6. And he kept sounding them out (every single one!) until he was almost 9.

 

My almost six year old does this too and I see it continuing the same way. If he doesn't sound it out, he simply "guesses" wrong. I'm wondering the same thing. If it would help me to have him evaluated. Can't this be done at the school district?