Reading: child to child difference or something more? (6th grader)

[EmilyGF]

Hi all,

I'm moderately nervous about my 6th grade son's reading level. I'm mostly nervous because he doesn't read for fun that much AND he reads pretty poorly aloud.

Unlike older siblings, he's never taken to reading as a past-time, though if I find the perfect book he'll read it for fun. (He's currently into Blackthorn Key, Lexile level 630, so they are large books but pretty easy.) 

When reading aloud, he'll scramble words and skip words. I'm going to start noting specifics in the future. 

He spells well on spelling tests but that doesn't really transfer to his writing. This seems fairly typical to me, though.

Suggestions on what to look into? Or is this within normal?

Thanks, Emily

 

[desertflower]

I would get his vision checked out. I believe people call it COVD?  I could be wrong though.

just for reference, my kids are in vision therapy. It kind of just fell into place with kids. They didn’t do a COVD testing. 
 

It also sounds like he has dyslexia. At sixth , he should be reading better.  your instinct is correct in my opinion. 
 

Hth

[8filltheheart]

He could be dyslexic.   Did he learn to read easily? Have you been concerned about his reading long before this?  For perspective, I knew in K which of my kids were showing dyslexic tendencies.  By 1st it was abundantly clear.  My 2 worst dyslexics struggled with reading on grade level UNTIL they older, but they improved in reading but were always very slower readers.  My dd who is dyslexic didn't struggle to learn to read as much as her brothers, but she always exhibited other signs.  Her spelling has always been atrocious.  Her reading speed slow, etc.

Edited October 17, 2023 by 8filltheheart

[JazzyMom]

3 hours ago, EmilyGF said:

Hi all,

I'm moderately nervous about my 6th grade son's reading level. I'm mostly nervous because he doesn't read for fun that much AND he reads pretty poorly aloud.

Unlike older siblings, he's never taken to reading as a past-time, though if I find the perfect book he'll read it for fun. (He's currently into Blackthorn Key, Lexile level 630, so they are large books but pretty easy.) 

When reading aloud, he'll scramble words and skip words. I'm going to start noting specifics in the future. 

He spells well on spelling tests but that doesn't really transfer to his writing. This seems fairly typical to me, though.

Suggestions on what to look into? Or is this within normal?

Thanks, Emily

 

My son who did this had a visual processing disorder.  We took him for an eye exam with a developmental eye doctor, and he did a few months (maybe 6?) of weekly vision therapy.  He also did about 5-10 minutes of eye exercises per night as homework.  I was a bit skeptical, as it takes a while to see results, but the difference is night and day.  It was 100% worth the time and money, as it has made everything so much easier for him.

I would start with a developmental eye exam.

Edited October 17, 2023 by JazzyMom

[Porridge]

Also consider ADHD

[EKS]

On 10/17/2023 at 1:01 PM, EmilyGF said:

I'm mostly nervous because he doesn't read for fun that much AND he reads pretty poorly aloud.

I'd get him a developmental vision exam.  If that doesn't turn anything up, I'd consider dyslexia.

Either way, I'd start working on his fluency.  You can do this by choosing books that are easy for him to read aloud (and it's ok if you have to back up several grade levels to get there).  Then have him work up to reading aloud for 20-30 minutes per day.  Gradually increase the reading level of the books until he is able to read aloud well at grade level (or at whatever grade level would be appropriate given what you know to be true about his cognitive level).  This could take a year or more.

[EKS]

On 10/17/2023 at 1:01 PM, EmilyGF said:

Unlike older siblings, he's never taken to reading as a past-time, though if I find the perfect book he'll read it for fun.

One thing I forgot to mention above is that people don't do things for fun unless they are fun, and when something is difficult, most people, especially children, won't think it's fun.  So the idea behind doing the fluency work that I suggested is to make reading easier for him so that he can actually enjoy what the book is about.

The book you mentioned, with a Lexile level in the 600s, is probably both easy enough for him to read (it's at about a fourth grade level) and interesting to him.

[EmilyGF]

On 10/17/2023 at 4:59 PM, 8filltheheart said:

He could be dyslexic.   Did he learn to read easily? Have you been concerned about his reading long before this?  For perspective, I knew in K which of my kids were showing dyslexic tendencies.  By 1st it was abundantly clear.  My 2 worst dyslexics struggled with reading on grade level UNTIL they older, but they improved in reading but were always very slower readers.  My dd who is dyslexic didn't struggle to learn to read as much as her brothers, but she always exhibited other signs.  Her spelling has always been atrocious.  Her reading speed slow, etc.

I don't think that's the case because he did learn how to read alright, and he spells fine on spelling tests. He also went to a gifted kindergarten with an amazing teacher and I think she would have flagged him if he was outside the norm. (I recognize not all teachers would do that, but this teacher was exceptional.)

21 hours ago, Porridge said:

Also consider ADHD

Could you be more specific as to why this would indicate ADHD?

39 minutes ago, EKS said:

I'd get him a developmental vision exam.  If that doesn't turn anything up, I'd consider dyslexia.

Either way, I'd start working on his fluency.  You can do this by choosing books that are easy for him to read aloud (and it's ok if you have to back up several grade levels to get there).  Then have him work up to reading aloud for 20-30 minutes per day.  Gradually increase the reading level of the books until he is able to read aloud well at grade level (or at whatever grade level would be appropriate given what you know to be true about his cognitive level).  This could take a year or more.

I'll look into that.

I hear you about the easy-for-him books. That's a great reminder. 

Thanks!

Emily

[EKS]

Just now, EmilyGF said:

He also went to a gifted kindergarten with an amazing teacher and I think she would have flagged him if he was outside the norm.

Have you read about stealth dyslexia?  If he's gifted, that's all the more reason to suspect something is awry.

[8filltheheart]

11 minutes ago, EmilyGF said:

I don't think that's the case because he did learn how to read alright, and he spells fine on spelling tests. He also went to a gifted kindergarten with an amazing teacher and I think she would have flagged him if he was outside the norm. (I recognize not all teachers would do that, but this teacher was exceptional.)

Could you be more specific as to why this would indicate ADHD?

I'll look into that.

I hear you about the easy-for-him books. That's a great reminder. 

Thanks!

Emily

 

3 minutes ago, EKS said:

Have you read about stealth dyslexia?  If he's gifted, that's all the more reason to suspect something is awry.

Exactly.  Gifted kids can hide their struggles.  

FWIW, I would investigate vision therapy.  There are plenty of arguments against it.  (just try searching for vision therapy controversies and you'll find plenty of arguments against its usefulness.)

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, EKS said:

Have you read about stealth dyslexia?  If he's gifted, that's all the more reason to suspect something is awry.

coming here to say this!! Gifted kids can mask dyslexia

[EKS]

1 hour ago, 8filltheheart said:

FWIW, I would investigate vision therapy.

I agree with this.  VT is controversial.  I have personally had two kids benefit from it immensely, one especially and very obviously so, but because of the controversy, people should go into it with their eyes wide open.  No pun intended!

One of the issues with VT is that some practitioners were (and maybe still are) claiming that it would help with all sorts of problems that don't seem to relate much to vision--ADHD and dyslexia (dyslexia is not a visual problem though people with dyslexia can have visual problems) were two of the ones I remember that fell into this category.  

When my older son, who was eventually diagnosed with dyslexia, was evaluated by our developmental optometrist, she said, "Well, I have an answer but not the answer."  And she was right.  The younger one had more complex visual issues caused by a previously undiagnosed astigmatism in one eye, and in his case, when glasses didn't completely fix the problem, VT was the answer, and very dramatically so.

[Porridge]

4 hours ago, EmilyGF said:

Could you be more specific as to why this would indicate ADHD?

4 hours ago, EKS said:

From your post:

doesn't read well out loud

spells well on tests, but it doesn't translate to real life

scrambles words, skips words (or, in our case, skips entire lines)

None of those definitely indicate ADHD, but these were some of the things I noticed before our DC was diagnosed.