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    Joined: Sep 2012
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    6 yr old Son - First Grade

    Teacher says:
    Trouble with Reading and Writing
    Trouble with focus and staying on task
    Way above average on math and science

    He does not qualify for any support or extra help through the public school.

    Teachers Plan for reading/writing:
    A volunteer retired teacher to work with him (and all the other kids) one on one with reading.

    My gut says this is not enough.

    I am thinking of going to his pediatrician. When the teacher talked about his being on/off task, she hinted and gave the canned statement of �you may want to talk to your pediatrician� during our meeting. He is not Add/Adhd. My DH asked her point blank if he is off task during subjects he enjoys like Math & Science and she said he is engaged the whole time. After the meeting, and I wished I had a video of it becuase he was so indignant about it, DS says "I am on task more than she ever notices."

    I am going to his pediatrician to ask about having him tested for dyslexia or dysgraghia. To my untrained eye, he exhibits those traits on rare occasions. So it could be a waste of time.

    Help:
    What else I should ask his pediatrician??

    Do we need a psychologist?
    I suspect that he has anxiety about performing reading. He will not read to me at all, however, I have caught him reading to the cat just fine.

    He makes up every excuse to not write, like, �I want to keep my writing to myself, I don�t have enough time, I can�t think of anything.� Etc. His handwriting is fine to good. His spelling is fine, at first grade phonetic level.

    At the end of first grade here they give the Raven test for the gifted program that is a few hours a day, a few days a week. I am not entirely sure that is the right program for him. However, I know he needs something to stay motivated in school.

    By the way, I am new here, until I had my son, I never new gifted existed. I searched, looking for reasons why he was the way he was. It all began when he started talking not just a few words but full sentences at about 10 months old. I had to stop talking to most of my friends about him because they don't understand. I need advice.

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    Is it possible that people at the school have said something to the effect that he "can't possibly read that well" or that "kids this age don't read or write this well"?

    I know some people on the board have had problems with the kiddos hiding their reading and writing skills because somebody told them they really couldn't do what they were obviously doing.

    The other side of that comes from the other kids in the class -- if he's being made fun of because he reads too fast (happened to me, happened to DS, may be happening to DD), or because he writes stuff the other kids can't read, he may just decide it's not worth the effort and shut it down.

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    Does he read silently?

    Is it that he objects to reading ALOUD? My daughter is not at all fond of reading aloud and never really has been.


    Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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    Welcome! I have a newly-turned 6 year old ds in K. He is a math/science kid too smile

    I recently had a "who's kid have you confused with mine" moment with ds' teacher when she assessed him at reading level D (he's reading early chapter books with ease - not SUPER high but not beginning reader level). I was told my ds had issues with comprehension, which is crazy.

    I discovered ds has pretty severe performance /text anxiety which is skewing everything at school. Now my ds will gladly read to me, so I can get an idea of where he should be.

    We are working the AR program so 1) he can read at appropriate level and 2) he can practice test taking with no graded consequences.

    Does the teacher sense his anxiety? Would a school counsrlor be available to meet with him and assessed his in-school anxiety?

    Last edited by Evemomma; 10/22/12 08:03 PM.
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    I would be interested in finding out what is actually happening in class since the teacher gives one account and your DS gives another. Any chance that a counselor or other support person could observe a typical morning/reading lesson and report observations? IS your DS working well or not? What are his difficulties? That way you have some accurate info from someone who is really watching him, not someone trying to teach x number of squirming 6 year olds.

    How much labor does it take your DS to produce his nice-looking writing? His extreme reluctance to write is certainly a red flag for dysgraphia. Dysgraphic kids can sometimes write beautiful letters but this takes an inordinate amount of time.

    My DS is dysgraphic and had every excuse in the book not to write at that age. He is a negotiator so I interpreted his writing reluctance as strong will. He didn't get diagnosed until 4th grade because writing avoidance and phonetic spelling are "normal" for quite a while. The spelling you describe is normal for a 1st grader but if he is dysgraphic it will never improve beyond that.

    Hopefully your DS has no writing disability but strong willed, intelligent kids can hide it and compensate for quite a while. I really wish DS has been diagnosed in 1st grade!

    If you can really rule out ADHD his "lack of focus" could be just task avoidance. He may or may not have anything going on LD-wise but task avoidance in general is a red flag for something. It could be a visual or fine motor challenge as previously suggested also.

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    One thing to consider (and I have absolutely NO way to gauge if this is the case with your son, but it's something worth thinking about) is his learning style. Kinesthetic learners are often the math and science types, but unfortunately our schools are geared toward visual and auditory learners. If a child is not a visual learner, he may simply not try when it comes to reading, because it is almost entirely visual. My DS has a similar problem - he is tested as slightly above grade level in reading, but not much. At home, however, he reads my college textbooks - not completely understanding them, but enough to ask good questions. Because it relates to something that interests him, and he can apply what he reads to real life situations. I was actually told once that he had problems with visual processing - but farther testing showed no disability, just that it was not his strong point.
    Is it possible this is similar to your son's situation?

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    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

    Wow, these are all really great things to consider. This gives me a starting place to arm myself with information.

    I have some homework to do: reading level, reading silently, classroom anxiety, eyes tested again, learning style, dyslexia, dysgraphia.

    I hadn't even thought of the learning style. I will have to find out more about that. It made me think about how I am a very visual learner, I love to "steal" ideas. I think I will make him a picture flip book for his writing time to "steal" ideas from.

    I will meet with the school counselor for in-school anxiety. He is very shy.

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    One question - have you seen a behavioral optometrist? If not, you might want to consider getting a full eye exam for your son, especially if he might have dyslexia and reading issues.

    I say this because reading can be linked to visual deficits and visual processing issues. The eye exam at school is for visual acuity (far- and near-sighted) and doesn't exam perceptual skills or other visual skills like visual memory that we use daily. There may be something with converge or tracking that is remedied with vision therapy. Vision therapy can also help with classroom anxiety. It's really training the eyes, brain, and body to work together.

    Personally, I have not had success with pediatricians referring me to experts and various therapies/interventions. I've done better talking to other parents.


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