Care to diagnose my dd and advise me how to educate her? (warning: long!)

[Greta]

Not asking much, am I? ;)

 

I am in the process of trying to get an evaluation through the local ps. DD had a (IMHO) bogus screening for reading/writing problems which she passed with flying colors because it did not address/reveal *her* particular problems at all. This morning, she had a second screening for expressive/receptive problems which again she passed with flying colors, not to my surprise. The evaluator said my dd is so bright, she was surprised I was having any problems, and asked me what was going on. When I explained she said "oh, that sounds like dyslexia. I'm sure so-and-so must be planning an evaluation." But so-and-so is the one who did the first screening and declared based on the fact that my dd is able to read at grade level that she doesn't have dyslexia. So I'm a little confused about where to go from here! I am going to keep requesting a full evaluation (in writing, as Laurie4b advised!) but in the meantime, and in case it doesn't pan out, I thought I'd take Cadam's advice and present this to you all and see what you think.

 

So here is, specifically, what concerns me about my dd.

 

When I first started trying to teach her to read (5 yo) she had trouble with phonemic awareness. I gave her a phonemic awareness quiz I found online, and based on that, it said she wasn't ready to learn to read. So we did phonemic awareness exercises for awhile, but saw little/no improvement. I tried to teach her anyway, but it was just so frustrating for both of us. I got exposed to the "better late than early" mindset, and reassured by many veteran homeschoolers that things would just "click" when she was ready.

 

So I put off instruction for another year. Tried again, still not "clicking", but I was feeling pressure for results by this point, so I did not stop instruction hoping that things would just click. We kept pressing on, trying a couple of different programs. Phonics Pathways really seemed to help. But honestly, she was just shy of 8 before she really learned to read. She could decode simple words before that, but it was hard, and she didn't read even beginning readers with any fluency. Finally, a little before she turned 8, she was reading Biscuit books (know what those are? very simple stories about a dog named Biscuit. Very. Simple.)

 

Now she is almost 9, and in the last year her reading has "clicked" I guess, because her abilities have grown tremendously. She reads Magic Tree House books for pleasure (not exactly literature, but I can't tell you how happy I am that she READS!) and can read more challenging things when required.

 

What I have grown concerned about now is her writing and spelling. Her handwriting isn't great, even though she does stunningly beautiful art work. Her spelling is just plain awful. We've tried several programs/approaches, but even when she gets it right during the lesson, she'll misspell the same word later in other work. She misspells even simple words, and will sometimes write the same word two or three different ways on the same page. Her grammar and sentence structure aren't great either.

 

What makes these things of concern to me is that otherwise she seems so very bright. She catches on to complicated concepts quickly. She learns and remembers well from conversations, being read aloud to, pictures and charts, etc. She is amazingly creative; she does beautiful art work and designs and creates her own toys. She does math so much better than I did at her age. The only things she's ever had trouble with in math is that she can't learn to tell time (funny, because I remember being praised by my first grade teacher for telling time so well. She's two years older and she still can't do it.) and even though she can do math problems on grade level and above, the way she writes her answers looks like a kindergartener (numbers messy and frequently written backwards).

 

I am reading Overcoming Dyslexia and The Mislabeled Child, and based on those, the comments of helpful people here, and the comment of the evaluator today, I think she may be mildly/moderately dyslexic.

 

So, I guess my first question is would you agree with that assessment or do you think there might be other things to consider?

 

Is it truly important for me to see to it that she gets a complete evaluation?

 

Or should I simply try using a program designed for dyslexic kids (I'm thinking REWARDS intermediate for reading and either Apples and Pears for spelling or maybe just Laurie's (free) over-teaching spelling method) and see if that helps?

 

Also, I have to be honest and ask if I could be completely over-reacting and misinterpreting here, and if this could all simply be because she hasn't had enough discipline, consistency, and practice imposed on her? I have had a tendency to ditch a curriculum fairly quickly when I felt like it wasn't working for her. And I have been torn between my need for structure, and my feeling that kids need time to just be kids (the latter of which I inadvertently reinforced . I have not been as consistent with her as I could have and probably should have been. And I wonder to what extent that has damaged her reading/spelling skills. She took to math like a duck to water. But is that because she's naturally gifted at math? Or is it because, unlike with reading, I picked a good math program and stuck with it?

[KAR120C]

I'm way out of my range here, but the one thing that popped into my mind reading your description was something I heard quite a while back.... "Stealth Dyslexia" which is discussed at length by Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide. It might be worth googling any one of those (and I think there's a book) to see if it rings true for you.

 

Hope this helps!!!

 

Oops -- I just googled and realized that you had mentioned their book already... Sorry about that!

[LizzyBee]

She sounds a lot like my 12 yo who I consider mildly dyslexic even though we don't have an official diagnosis.

 

This won't work for everyone, but Calvert Spelling on CD was like a miracle cure for her. I had started to think she would be one of those people who never learns to spell and has to rely on spell check and an electronic dictionary, but Calvert made it click for her.

 

She is still very slow at writing, but she has really enjoyed Classical Writing. We used Aesop last year, and we will use Aesop and Homer for Older Beginners this year.

 

The website http://www.visualspatial.org has been helpful. I also really like the book Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World. The Mislabeled Child is one of my favorites, too.

[Laurie4b]

She sounds like a bright kid with dyslexia. No, you didn't cause it with your inconsistency. How hard is it to spell "what" the same way each time you write in on a page? Wut? Whant? Whut? Waht? :) Not for a bright kid, even exposed to inconsistent spelling instruction. But for a dyslexic kid, it's hard.

 

I think I've already described dyslexic dysgraphia somewhere on this board, but maybe not for your dd. If your dd's handwriting is good when she is doing COPY work, but NOT good when she is doing dictation or self-generated work, that is dyslexic dysgraphia. I"m guessing that's the case because of her artwork and because she sounds dyslexic.

 

Since it's very likely your dd is dyslexic, it is important that from here on out, you're consistent in your teaching. REWARDS will help with that because it's all scripted for you.

 

The evaluation is important as part of a paper trail. It's quite likely that your dd would benefit from accomodations when she takes the SAT, for instance, or even accomodations in college. (A very common accomodation is extra time.) You need a paper trail going back for a number of years to get those. So keep pushing for that eval. Google "exceptional children rights & (your state)" and see if you can come up with a handbook of parents' rights. You've gotta know the rules to play the game.

[Greta]

Thank you Erica, Lizzy, and Laurie! I had not even considered Calvert spelling (can you buy that without getting the whole curriculum?) but I will definitely look into it.

 

And Laurie, I really appreciate your reassurance that my inconsistency was not the root cause of this. But I also appreciate you not letting me off the hook about being consistent from now on!!!

 

And yes, you're absolutely right about her handwriting being fine when she's doing copywork, but not when she's doing self-generated work. You had indeed explained dyslexic dysgraphia to me before, and I appreciate all the help you've given me since my first post on this board.

 

And I WILL keep pushing for that evaluation. I just needed to be reminded how important it is. :)

[8filltheheart]

Have you looked at Sound Foundations' Apples and Pears spelling? My extremely bright math, late reading, spelling disabled child is really improving in his spelling transference with it.

 

http://www.prometheantrust.org/

[EKS]

I'm diagnosing dyslexia.

 

Things that helped dyslexic son: vision therapy, Audiblox, Reading Reflex, REWARDS, Sequential Spelling, learning to type, Hake Grammar, Daily Grams, Handwriting Without Tears. Growing With Grammar probably would have worked but I've only used it with my 6yo. Lots of practice reading. Consistant practice with writing and spelling.

 

Be sure that you build up her strengths, like math, even when you focus on weaknesses. It was very helpful from a self esteem standpoint for my son when he was struggling so much with reading and writing to know that he was *ahead* in math.

[Paz]

I would also say dyslexia. My dd is being tested next month. Two years ago she was also tested but there are certain tests needed to determine dyslexia. If she is bright and there is not a great discrepancy between her IQa and achievement then often the schools or educational psychologists will not diagnose it. Here's a link you may find helpful. It talks about testing and Orton Gillingham approach which was really helpful for my dd.http://www.dys-add.com/

[Greta]

Thank you all so much for the suggestions and "diagnoses". Frankly, I'm in awe that you all took the time to read my long rambling post! I thank you most sincerely.

[LizzyBee]

Here's a link you may find helpful. It talks about testing and Orton Gillingham approach which was really helpful for my dd.http://www.dys-add.com/

 

I just wanted to second this website. It's wonderful! There is lots of detailed information about dyslexia, including free videos. The owner of the site, Susan Barton, has a nephew who is severely dyslexic and was let down by the schools he attended. Because of seeing him struggle, Susan is passionate about helping other children who have dyslexia. She left a career in IT to do this. She is certified in 7 (I think) OG programs, and she developed one herself that includes all of the training on DVD so that parents can use it at home.

[bairnmama]

Not asking much, am I? ;)

 

What I have grown concerned about now is her writing and spelling. Her handwriting isn't great, even though she does stunningly beautiful art work. Her spelling is just plain awful. We've tried several programs/approaches, but even when she gets it right during the lesson, she'll misspell the same word later in other work. She misspells even simple words, and will sometimes write the same word two or three different ways on the same page. Her grammar and sentence structure aren't great either.

 

 

 

I'm kinda hesitant to post on this since we're still trying to get a dx on dd ourselves, but this really jumped out at me. We just went to an OT eval on Mon and the therapist tested dd's handwriting while copying from the same page, copying from a paper she held up, and writing on her own. DD's writing got progressively worse and took longer and longer with dd constantly stopping to rub her eyes or start making conversation. The therapist said it was most likely motor planning issues with some visual-perception problems thrown in. She has to concentrate so hard on how to form each letter, where to put it on the page, how to make her hand do the motions, etc that she has nothing left for spelling or syntax. It really made sense to me. Does this sound anything like your dd? Just thought I'd put it out there.