Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Stealth dyslexia

I have been reading about stealth dyslexia, and it seems to describe my son extremely well. He is an excellent speed reader (he read the entire Harry Potter series in 4 weeks), but performs below expected on standardized tests in reading comprehension. He has all the problems with dysgraphia and written spelling that are describes in the articles about stealth dyslexia.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm wondering how we go about getting tested? What is the treatment/accomodation if he does indeed have this diagnosis?

Thanks for asking these questions. We are questioning the same diagnoses for our DD8.5. Her psychologist will see her at the beginning of September to do a handwriting assessment. I have no idea what that encompasses, but would love to know what it should!

If you suspect a LD, a neuropsychological evaluation conducted by a pediatric, developmental neuropsychologist. The professional will assess various aspects of cognition, memory and academic performance to make a diagnosis and recommendations.

Here is an excellent resource about neuropsychological testing. http://www.drmoldover.com/Child%20Assessment%20and%20Diagnosis.pdf

You could also make a referral to your public school. However, sometimes they do not identify kids that are 2-E, and minimize their struggles - especially if the student has been able to compensate.

You ask what the treatment would be - it would depend upon the cause of the comprehension issues. Sometimes poor comprehension is a result of poor decoding and fluency (but this does not sound like your son's case). Sometimes it is related to attention issues. Sometimes the student has language processing or memory issues. Depending upon the root cause, there would most likely be some explicit instruction that would teach the child strategies to overcome their weakness. If attention is an issue, medication or behavioral interventions may help. The treatment would be designed for the child's specific deficit and age. The evaluator should be able to help you with this.

Mich- Thank you so much for the link to Dr. Moldover's paper!! That is invaluable for someone (like me) who is just starting down this path.

My experience with dd12 is here . I won't write much here as you can read the thread. She does not have motor coordination problems, so I don't know if she would fit into the Eide's classification of stealth dyslexia. But her reading & writing difficulties (dyslexia) were masked by her giftedness and vice-versa. I would definitely find someone to assess your child sooner rather than later. If you have questions feel free to ask here or pm me.

Thanks, everybody, for your feedback. DS had a neuropsych eval a few months ago, but she only did the WISC and WIAT. I emailed the psych about the possibility of stealth dyslexia. She said she had to look up "stealth dyslexia", but agreed that it describes DS very well. I'm not sure how I feel about her needing to look it up. I think she should know about it already. Also, when DS tested, I could not remember the term GAI, but wanted her to include it in her report. I described to her what it was, but she had no idea what I was talking about. I had to go home and google it, then send her the technical report for her to include the GAI in his report. Maybe I don't have the best neuropsych for a 2e child? I hate to start over with someone else. Anyway, she is going to talk to the director of the Greengate School, which is a private school in our area for kids with dyslexia, to see what additional testing we should do.

When you find out what tests they will administer, would you mind sharing? DD is being evaluated at the beginning of September and I am information gathering, too. Thanks!

Our son was tested in grade 4 to help us understand why he had trouble with finishing work. The testers used the following:

WRAML2 (Wide Range of Assessment of Memory and Learning),
Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration,
PPVT-III Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, EVT Expressive Vocabuary Test, CTOPP Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

Stealth dyslexia is not widely known because two doctors from the US west coast coined the term, Drs Fernette and Brock Eide. They wrote The Mislabeled Child and a new book called the Dyslexic Advantage. I have the Mislabeled Child and still want to buy the new book. I think that poor scores in Rapid Naming are a diagnostic for dyslexia. My son has excellent reading comprehension but poor rapid naming and poor visual working memory. In Canada, Dyslexia is not a term used in the creation of an IEP, but I found that people mostly understand what I am talking about when I use the term.

This is what happened with our DD10. School will not provide assistance because she has been able to compensate. They would not even admit to a LD even though the testing they performed showed she had one. We had to go to an outside school certified psych. She is going to start tutoring tomorrow which we will be paying for. Depending on how she does this summer with the tutoring we may seek to get a 504 for her in the fall.

UPDATE!

So, the neuropsychologist returned from her conference and was able to take a look at DS9's file and test results. She called me last evening. This is how the conversation went:

Dr.: I talked with XXX at the dyslexia school about stealth dyslexia. That really is just a term coined to describe gifted children with dyslexia. You know, I've already diagnosed DS9 with dyslexia and he is gifted, so yes, I would say he has stealth dyslexia.

Me: YOU'VE ALREADY DIAGNOSED DS9 WITH DYSLEXIA???????????????????

Dr.: Yes, that's what "reading disorder" means on his diagnosis list.

Me: Really? Well, it sure would have been nice to know that "dyslexia" is what you meant my "reading disorder".

Anyway, she is sending all of DS9's testing (the actual work, not just the results) over to the head of the dyslexia school for her to review. She said that the dyslexia school might be a good place for DS9 next year. (Another piece of information it would have been nice to have when she gave us the results of his evaluation).

I spent a little time researching the school and it does sound like it might be a good fit. The teacher to student ratio is 4:1. The following information is from their website:

* A typical day�s schedule is much like a school day in traditional schools except for the heavy emphasis on language skills. Students have a challenging and enriching curriculum which includes science, social studies, physical education and the arts.
* In addition, children have individual language tutoring each day.
* Science, math, and social studies rely less on textbooks and involve more hands-on, experimental and project-oriented work than traditional schools.
* The emphasis will be placed on concepts and ideas rather than on memorization.

* Each child has a plan reached through consultation with teachers, parents and students. The plan charts the child�s educational path and sets goals that will be monitored and reported in regular, quarterly reports to the parents.
* Each child receives specific language evaluations at the beginning and end of each school year to determine the child�s needs and progress.
* Assessment in subjects relies on methods such as oral reporting, audio recording of answers, group projects and collaborative reports, as well as written tests. It is our intention to give students the opportunity to show what they can do.


All of this sounds wonderful to me. And while they are not a gifted school, I feel like the low teacher to student ratio and the individualized approach they take in developing each child's educational plan will allow them to accelerate where needed.

The director of the school is supposed to call me after she goes through DS9's testing to let me know if she thinks he needs more testing or if she thinks it is worth exploring whether he is a good fit for the school.

This journey never stops, does it?