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trouble with opposite words - sign of dyslexia or something else?


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We have a strong family history of dyslexia: my dh has it, his mom has it, and older dd has it. I see some signs of it in my 5 yo - he has difficulty with rhyming, phonemic awareness, and immature speech. In addition, he is constantly saying the opposite word for something. "Unzip" when he means "zip", "lunch" for "dinner" or vice versa (not that lunch and dinner are opposites lol, but he makes this mistake multiple times a day) etc. He is 5 1/2 soon. None of my other dc had this issue, not even the one with dyslexia. Any ideas?

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I know that dyslexics have word retrieval problems, meaning either no word comes out or else it is the wrong word, frequently a sound-alike. My dyslexic son up unti very recently called all meat, no matter what it was, "chicken". I think these glitches are all part of the language processing aspect of dyslexia.

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We have a strong family history of dyslexia: my dh has it, his mom has it, and older dd has it. I see some signs of it in my 5 yo - he has difficulty with rhyming, phonemic awareness, and immature speech. In addition, he is constantly saying the opposite word for something. "Unzip" when he means "zip", "lunch" for "dinner" or vice versa (not that lunch and dinner are opposites lol, but he makes this mistake multiple times a day) etc. He is 5 1/2 soon. None of my other dc had this issue, not even the one with dyslexia. Any ideas?

 

Mixing up words, plus difficulty with rhyming, phonemic awareness, and speech.... It sounds like dyslexia to me. Here is an excellent website to learn more: http://www.dys-add.com/

 

My dyslexic 7 yo says things like, "I told you tomorrow" when she means, "I asked you yesterday."

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Those are word retrieval problems. If you think of words as "filed" in a filing system, he is pulling up words in nearby files, but missing the correct file. We file opposite words very closely together in our brains, so it's not unusual that a child with word retrieval problems pulls up an opposite.

 

All that you describe is consistent with dyslexia.

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Thanks, I figured it was a sign of dyslexia. The things I have read have focused more on mixing up syllables within words - which he does not do - than on saying the wrong word.

 

Yes, he frequently says, "I need to tell you something" when he means, "I need to ask you something."

 

I was so hoping none of my other dc had it. Sigh.

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Mixing up words, plus difficulty with rhyming, phonemic awareness, and speech.... It sounds like dyslexia to me. Here is an excellent website to learn more: http://www.dys-add.com/

 

My dyslexic 7 yo says things like, "I told you tomorrow" when she means, "I asked you yesterday."

 

Thanks for that link - I have it saved in favorites! I was soooo convinced my 5 yo did NOT have dyslexia, but when he was having so much difficulty with the phonemic awareness activities in Saxon, I got suspicious. I went directly to this site and read the preschool and K symptoms and saw that he had quite a few of them. Denial was over LOL!

 

Still haven't told my dh my suspicions though...he carries a lot of guilt for giving dyslexia to our older dd.

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Well, there is the garbling phonemes part. (I think it's pretty certain that George Bush is dyslexic). But dyslexics also are more likely to have word retrieval issues. It's possible that that is an additional little "something."

 

We had a foster daughter with word retrieval issues and it got her into trouble with CPS because she kept "changing her story" when she was really making mishaps in word retrieval, then getting it right.

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The things I have read have focused more on mixing up syllables within words - which he does not do - than on saying the wrong word.

 

 

My dyslexic 7 yo does that too. Mixing up syllables is a motor planning issue. For ex, she said hostipal for years and it's only in the past 3-4 months that she finally began saying hospital.

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