How do you know if it is dyslexia or just a late bloomer?

[mo2]

My daughter is 7 and has been struggling with reading for a long time. Before I shell out the money for testing, are there any signs I should look for at home?

[EKS]

Read the book Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. It has lists of symptoms. Very helpful book.

[LizzyBee]

This website is a wealth of information: http://www.dys-add.com

[Perry]

I agree with the Shaywitz book. Here is an excerpt that might be helpful: Should My Child Be Evaluated for Dyslexia?

 

At 7, I would approach reading instruction the same way whether she is dyslexic or just delayed, so personally I would wait on the testing and go ahead with a program like ABeCeDarian. It's great for struggling readers, regardless of the cause. If she isn't making any progress after a year, I might go ahead with testing.

 

We went the testing route, and while it helped me understand what was going on with my son, it didn't change the way we handled it at all.

[coffeegal]

My daughter is 7 and has been struggling with reading for a long time. Before I shell out the money for testing, are there any signs I should look for at home?

 

You might check your dd's sight. If she reads easily with large print, but struggles with small print, she might be farsighted. In my case, my 11 son is farsighted, but I thought for years he might be dyslexic. What tuned me in last summer, was his ability to read very large print (24 font +) at a 7th grade level but he was unable to read small print at a 2nd grade level. When I was testing him on the computer, gradually increasing the font, the larger the font - the more easily he read. By the end he was gleefully reading fluently over my shoulder. We picked up cheap reading glasses at the local drug store and he's been reading since.

[Ottakee]

Personally, I would just start addressing the issue (what ever it is) with a program like http://www.piperbooks.co.uk/index.htm or http://www.roadstoeverywhere.com/3RsPlusRead.html. This is actually the same program but the UK site has more samples, etc. There is also a yahoo group of reading specialists, tutors, homeschooling parents, etc. from around that world using this program where you can get lots of great free advice.

 

You could buy the entire program (and likely you wouldn't need it all) for about $250 which is way less than 1 evaluation would cost you.

 

I have a degree in special education and I wish I had had this program when I was working with LD students. It has worked well for my girls who have struggled.

 

Make SURE that you look at the links (downloads) at the above sites for the notched card. This is VERY helpful in getting the kids to track left to right as they read (a big issue for kids with LDs). It costs about 5 cents to make.

[songbirdie]

The symptom lists in various books and on websites that come from countless "experts" with PhD's contain very different symptoms. There are some assessments that show our ds IS dyslexic, and some that show he is NOT. So I don't recommend taking just one test, as there may be some connection to dyslexia that one test may not pick-up on. Our ds is probably dyslexic, and we used Reading Reflex. It is a book that can be purchased from Sonlight and elsewhere, and has everything you need to teach reading. It's designed for dyslexic children, struggling children, and even average children. So even if you don't get a concrete ruling on whether your child is dyslexic, it would probably help. . .it surely helped us!

[Maria/ME]

And just to muddy the waters a little more :).......

 

My daughter was a late bloomer when it came to reading, but I was getting frustrated because she seemed to have problems with words one day but not the next. And her comprehension was great, but her reading ever so halting. She avoided reading. Thanks to much input here and on other boards, I ended up taking her to a developmental optometrist who found that she has issues with converging and tracking. As these issues have been resolved she is reading much, much, much better. So just an other avenue to think about pursuing.

 

HTH,

[mktyler]

The meaning of dyslexia is fluid. In languages that are more regular (one letter or letter group for a sound), dyslexia represents accurate but slow, laborious reading. In English, where the correspondence between letters and sounds is more complex, the definition can include issues of accuracy as well. The problems with accuracy can be traced to instruction. Most phonics programs teach only a fraction of the code.

 

The benefits of testing are that you will be able to pinpoint your daughter's strengths and weaknesses. If she is weak in memory, then you know instruction will take longer as it will take more repetitions for mastery. If your daughter does not generalize well, that is, take a specific example or skill and apply it to other situations, you know you will have to teach much smaller units and practice the skill or knowledge in more examples.

 

However, you can find these things out just by working with her. Abecedarian or the I See Sam books are both quality programs. You may need to tweak your instruction dependent upon your daughter's weaknesses. For example, my older daughter did not work well with the grouping of information in Abecedarian in which the letter sound correspondences were taught by sound ('o', 'oa', 'oe', 'o-e', 'ough' for the sound /oe/). By separating the correspondences and teaching them one by one, she did much better.

 

Even a program like Phonics Pathways could do the trick. It has relatively good, thorough information. You can practice the information from the book or use games and flashcards to teach the correspondences. Its main drawback is that it gives the impression that things go really fast, when, in fact, you might spend weeks on one page of words. If you decide to go with one of these programs, the program forums can be helpful in adjusting the program to work with your daughter.

 

Many phonics programs teach a lot of sight words. Sight word reading can in fact hamper reading because it requires a different, much less efficient pathway for word reading than left-to right-tracking. Ottakee's suggestions are really great! Does your daughter read words sound by sound, left to right or does she guess and skip words? If she guesses and skips, the notched card can be invaluable for learning the right reading habits. It may take some painful practice, but will result in much better reading.

 

Melissa

Minnesota

Reading Program Junkie

dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)

[Dobela]

I alos recommend a vision check by a developmental optometrist. Go to covd.org for more information. My son went for a vision eval last week and his ability to track was nightmarish. I knew he had difficulty, but was shocked to discover his tracking was as bad as it was. He was pulling letters, words, and numbers from all over the page and had serious difficulty determining depth. He is also a bit farsighted. We had been told that last year by an opthamologist but his recommendation was to do nothing because it was so slight. The new therapist recommended glasses just for reading and computer and I am very excited. I hope they take the edge off of some of his vision.

 

Vision is such a huge component. We had been using Barton system with little progress and now I believe it is because we had not addressed the vision issues properly.

[Mom 2 3]

We have struggle since the begining. Now that I have a diagnoses, I can be more understanding to his needs

[angieathome]

I recommend testing. There can be many causes for late reading including being a late bloomer. However, many reading difficulties can be treated more effectively the earlier treatment is started. I can imagine that you are concerned about putting pressure on your child with testing that might make her feel defective. (That was my concern.) Most professionals are sensitive to the child and you could talk to them in advance about their approach. I also strongly suggest the visit to a behavioral or developmental optometrist. They specialize in the total functioning of vision, not just whether or not the eyes are healthy medically. In my state I had to go the state univeristy of optometry to find someone with the right skills. They were very helpful in doing a battery of educational vision tests for a very low price and then helping with a course of treatment that was successful. In my opinion, you stand to gain a lot with the additional information testing can provide, and the downside risk is very low.