Stealth Dyslexia

[desertflower]

Hello,

Anyone here know of a good book about stealth dyslexia?  More specifically I am looking for how to teach reading to someone who has stealth dyslexia.  This person is already reading chapter books.

Thanks.

Update: no need for book. Passed a dyslexia test. 👍

[AngelaR]

I don’t know so much about Stealth Dyslexia, but a book I’ve been reading about dyslexia briefly addressed teaching reading to all age groups.  It’s at least worth a look:  Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. It gives a good detailed overview for *parents* in the public school for the sort of reading program to look for.   It doesn’t give enough specifics in my opinion about how to teach your own kid, but it’s still a helpful, enlightening book.  One caveat: she really discourages us homeschoolers trying to teach our own kids by straight up saying that ONLY trained and experienced reading teachers should teach dyslexics to read.  I am disregarding that advice. We’ll see how it goes. My little guy is only 5, so a bit early to tell for sure, but I feel a lot more prepared about the challenge of teaching him armed with the info in that book. I am not limiting my research to just that source, of course, but it’s a place to start. Hope this helps! 

[Rosie_0801]

ElizabethB's lessons have worked well for everyone I've tutored.

[desertflower]

Thanks rosie, Ethel and Angela. Lots to think about.

[ElizabethB]

Webster's Speller is helpful for almost all of my students, even those with dyslexia.  I would try my syllables program, then follow with more 2+ syllable Webster words if it seems to work.

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/syllablesspellsu.html

4 hours ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

I meant to reply earlier today, and forgot so popped back on to say: 

Equipped for Reading Success is what I recommend to everyone looking at a reading issue or delay.  Most of the dyslexia books I read beside that one were more outlining what dyslexia was than a step by step process. It was good insight- I think I preferred The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan, but for nuts and bolts and actually getting it done, I have used Barton to teach my dyslexic dd. You might find some helpful videos here:

https://bartonreading.com/videos/

I would also say x- post in Learning Challenges and you might get more responses. @ElizabethB, @Leckaand @PeterPan  and the rest of the LC board are super helpful. 

I would also recommend the Equipped for Reading Success book, great exercises for improving Phonemic Awareness, short exercises, well explained, easy to add in.

If the student was taught to read in a school or with sight words, it may not actually be dyslexia but instead incomplete phonics teaching with the balanced literacy mess they use that causes guessing habits; in that case, use a lot of nonsense words and stop all outside reading of sentences and stories for a month or two, read them to the student or if it's not yours, have parents read homework to them for a month.  My syllables program has nonsense word options and links to additional nonsense words.

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by ElizabethB

[PeterPan]

18 hours ago, desertflower said:

Hello,

Anyone here know of a good book about stealth dyslexia?  More specifically I am looking for how to teach reading to someone who has stealth dyslexia.  This person is already reading chapter books.

Thanks.

Since I was paged, I'll bite. I had a funny situation with my dd, where I wondered if she was dyslexic in that 8-12 window, but like you say she was reading well. It's mainly the Eides who have popularized the term stealth dyslexia, and of course the DSM has expanded how they handle reading disabilities. You have *dyslexia* which is a phonological processing disorder, and then you have the larger SLD Reading which is now what the DSM says. So psychs will still say dyslexia, but I think it's really helpful to narrow down precisely what you're saying is happening to make sure you're targeting what is actually the problem.

So with my dd, that crunchy learn to read is because she *is carrying* a dyslexia gene. (one allele for a pair, where there are at least 12 known genes involved in dyslexia) It wasn't like it wasn't my imagination or an issue. However the actual issues we were seeing long term were due to OTHER THINGS. Things like a developmental vision problem, low working memory, etc. She now is also diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder. Poor working memory, for example, will affect their ability to decode longer words and hold the syllables in their head to form the word and get to meaning. Convergence issues will affect tracking and can result in the brain shutting off one eye or the other, also affecting reading. Poor visual memory (also from the developmental vision problems) can affect spelling. And the *strain* of processing through these diagnosable physical problems will add onto even subclinical problems, making them more difficult.

So although the term gets used, I guess first I'm asking exactly what you mean you're seeing. You're seeing phonological processing problems? You're seeing difficulty with decoding longer words? Difficulty with spelling? Reading comprehension? And then I'm going to ask what screenings you've done with audiology, vision, and attention. And has this dc had a phonological processing test like the CTOPP? It's widely available through tutors and SLPs. Does the dc have a history of speech therapy or language or hearing issues? Does the dc have issues with narrative language, writing, or reading comprehension?

As the dc ages, our window to try things decreases. I would encourage you to gather data for targeted interventions.

[desertflower]

Hey PeterPan,

so, if I was talking about myself.  I would input words sometimes.  for example, if the sentence was ".....put in his pocket shirt", I would say "......put into his pocket shirt".  Or for ".....the desk...." I would say "...his desk...." .  Not that that is incorrect because the desk did belong to a male. 

It doesn't happen often.  The word could be gravitational and I would say gradual.  If asked to reread, I can decode.  If asked to read at a slower speed (probably normal), decoding is not an issue.  But if reading something quickly, like the word medley when searching on you tube, I can say melody. 

No decode issues per say if asked to decode.  Just reading fast.

No comprehension issue, no writing output issue.  Spelling is ok.  but thanks to autocorrect, gets me by! 🙂 

I have tried a few easy vision exercises.  Those seem to be ok.  i can cross my eyes, follow a pencil, but when I look upper left, then bottom left, then to the right my eyes feel strained for about 2 seconds.  But I think that's normal?  My eyes are not used to that. 

What do you think?  Thanks!

[BlsdMama]

On 7/23/2020 at 12:26 PM, desertflower said:

Hello,

Anyone here know of a good book about stealth dyslexia?  More specifically I am looking for how to teach reading to someone who has stealth dyslexia.  This person is already reading chapter books.

Thanks.

Without having read any of the comments, I'd say, off the cuff, when someone says "stealth dyslexia" they mean a child who has mild dyslexia and likely a strong enough working memory to compensate for missing skills.  I'd use the same curriculum I'd use for any dyslexic.  In my case, that would be Barton.  

Dyslexia is an inherited brain type. If a parent has dyslexia, approximately half the children will as well.  We've birthed 12 kids, and I have 7 dyslexics.  The range is incredible! My two that are severe need incredible support and direct teaching and both also have low working memory.  I have two that are mild to moderate (and likely two more that fall here, but they are young) but have incredibly high working memories - I won't say their specific instruction was a waste of time, but they don't utilize the skills they've been taught and insist on sight reading which works for them mostly except when it doesn't.  Then I have one who is solidly moderate with average working memory but other strong skills that compensate outside of academics.  

Essentially I assume you are looking to teach the "rules" of spelling? I'd use Barton but perhaps AAR would be enough?

[kbutton]

My dyslexic would probably be considered stealth dyslexic. He presented by first or second grade like a remediated dyslexic. He had crunchy reading, his spelling has been atrocious (getting a lot better recently), and he learned to read with solid but regular phonics that I was very familiar with before teaching it. He was very logical about his learning and took ownership of it, so he definitely had personal characteristics that helped him compensate a great deal. He had an APD diagnosis also, but he has had therapy that has remediated his issues to normal range. One example of how he took ownership of his learning is related to APD. He couldn't distinguish one vowel sound from another well at all when he was learning to read. He thought thin, then, and than were the same word with multiple definitions. When he encountered them in print, he thought I was pulling one over on him, but once he realized I wasn't, he "relearned" a lot of what he'd been hearing and retaught himself a lot of sounds. Obviously, not all kids have a lot of self-awareness yet at the age most kids learn to read, or they have severe enough dyslexia that they couldn't do this without a specific program helping them work through these inconsistencies. 

I've not done genetic testing, but I would not be at all surprised to find out that he has one gene for dyslexia instead of two or something like what Peter Pan says is the case with one of her kids. It pops up in the extended family, but neither my DH or I are dyslexic (my DH shows a few traits). 

He started reading early because he was quite motivated and generally ready to do a lot of K work in late preschool. It's just that reading was less smooth. 

Both of my kids used phonics for reading, but they are more visual/morphological spellers. My dyslexic kid also tends to come up with little tricks for remembering how to spell, or he'll pronounce things funny as he's spelling specifically to remind himself of silent letters or other less intuitive spellings. 

[EKS]

The only book that I know of that talks about stealth dyslexia is The Mislabeled Child by Brock and Fernette Eide (who coined the term).  The part that talks about it is less than a page long.

I'd suspect that a stealth dyslexic would benefit from a run through of basic phonics followed by the flexible strategy to decode multisyllabic words presented in the REWARDS books.  I'd also have the student do fluency readings (read aloud every day for 20-30 minutes from text that can be read fluently, gradually increasing the difficulty level over a year or two).

At the same time, I'd do a spelling program like All About Spelling possibly coupled (or alternated) with Sequential Spelling.

ETA: I am certain that I am/was a stealth dyslexic, and I would have benefited greatly from the above when I was in elementary school.

Edited July 25, 2020 by EKS

[desertflower]

Thanks for everyone's response.

Took a dyslexia test and scored low for dyslexia. 👍  Just need to slow down in reading aloud. 😆

[PeterPan]

24 minutes ago, desertflower said:

Thanks for everyone's response.

Took a dyslexia test and scored low for dyslexia. 👍  Just need to slow down in reading aloud. 😆

that and maybe get your eyes screened by a developmental optometrist. you may have some convergence and tracking issues