Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Stealth dyslexia?

Hi! I was reading the info previosly posted about dyslexia because ds6 is having trouble with reading more complex books that are on his reading level. He says "the words are all smashed together on the page, like they are running into each other with no spaces." I took him to the opthamologist and his vision is fine. The articles posted really hit home with us. Could ds have dyslexia?

When ds is reading books with larger print there is no problem. However, he is very reluctant to read independently, and if he's reading he always wants me there with him. Even though his reading is advanced, he usually doesn't want to read; he'd prefer that I read to him. He just gets really frustrated when reading and says it's really hard, even though he isn't making mistakes. Well, actually his mistakes are: skipping words, mixing up "a" and "the", and guessing at longer words even though he has the phonological awareness to sound them out (will sound them out correctly when encouraged). He can "guess" what is coming next from context, and will sometimes make up a sentence with the exact meaning of what is written although it's worded differently. He knows instincually what's coming next, so his reading comprehension is on a 7th grade level even though he's not always reading the exact words. Does that make sense? He can read the exact words if I help him track and cover part of the page with a blank notecard.

When writing, he's recently started writing letters and numbers backward, specifically, lower case "e", the typical "p, b, g, q, d", and "5", "2", "3", "6", "9", "7". He usually puts the tails on "j" and "g" backward. Sometimes when sounding out a word, he'll say the sounds in order, but then he'll write the corresponding letters in reverse order. Usually the beginning and ending letter are correct, but the middle sounds are sometimes reversed. He HATES to write! We use a white board a lot, and this helps. He prefers this to pencil and paper.

He's reading at around a 3rd grade level at least. He might be beyond that, but it's hard to tell because the books at higher levels are so overwhelming to him. When he sees a lot of words on one page, he freaks out, even if they are words he can read easily.

He's only 6, so I wonder if these things can just be developmental. Maybe his cognitive development is beyond his physical abilities needed to read and write? If there's a problem, I want to address it now and learn how to work on it with him.

He started talking very early and using complex vocabulary and complete sentences at a very early age. He's never had any articulation difficulties. He started reading spontaneously at around 4, and his reading skills have steadily improved until recently-we seem to be at a standstill because of his reluctance to read books on his level. His verbal IQ scores average in the 98th percentile with his verbal reasoning skills in the 99.9th percentile. Therefore I'm afraid he might be using those skills to compensate for reading/writing deficits. Could this be "stealth dyslexia"? Is it typical for gifted children with dyslexia to be verbally gifted?

Thanks for any help you can provide. I really appreciate it! Homeschooling has really given me the opportunity to learn more about ds's learning style and why he was struggling so in school. In a way, I'd like to stick my head back under that rock of denial. Am I searching for "problems," or am I truly unlocking the mystery of my unique child?

Jen

A couple of thing strike me about your post. One is that yes, six year old kids write letters and numbers backwards and mix up similar ones. Second is that I believe it is a "developmental optometrist" with the title you're looking for to diagnose visual tracking and other vision issues related to reading. You might try one of those colored filters to see if that just 'fixes it' before spending the money. Third is that whether due to dyslexia or or not, it is a bad habit to guess at the word. Kids should decode when learning to read and establishing their reading habits. Eide & Eide have more to say about different strategies depending on the child's relative strengths. Fourth is that many with dyslexia hate to write because it utilizes all their weaknesses. Six year olds are often weak in the same areas due to their age, making it difficult to know what to do.

It's so hard to know what to do when your kids has so many strengths to compensate for something that might be hindering them academically. Your son is lucky that you're on top of it!

It is very frustrating, MAE! Thanks for your input. I will look in to your suggestions. Ds is able to sound out words, but I have to make him do it. His first inclination is usually to guess words at rapid fire speed until I tell him to stop and sound it out. Then he's able, but he doesn't do it on his own all the time. I've only been homeschooling for a few weeks, so maybe I should give it more time and see how he does. He hasn't been challenged in an academic setting in so long; I'm not sure he knows how to handle it when he is. Maybe he's just not wanting to work at something new to him? Who knows. At least I'm learning what to look for and will certainly keep my eyes open. I'd love to hear input from anyone else with experience with dyslexia. Does the developmental optometrist diagnose dyslexia? Thanks so much!

This sounds exactly like my now DS7. I took him to a developmental optometrist and it has helped a lot. My Ds7 did not have dyslexia so much as a difficulty focusing visually on things. He would look at something and then look away. He also did the same thing as your son, with rapid fire reading and guessing at words. The vision therapy has been helping him persevere and we are seeing some positive improvements.

MAE is right about the cost of the developmental optometrist. I do scrounge the money whenever I take him. But, I figure it's worth it. The filters are a good aid, but I would not want to use something to compensate for a visual issue that could be corrected.

I agree about finding him a developmental opthalmologist. We've just been this route and, with similar symptoms, the diagnosis was to "wait and see." Apparently, in Dd's case (she's 9yo), Vision Therapy wasn't recommended as for her it's not a focusing problem (I don't mean "correctable," but visual focusing), but a neurological one.



And, yep, that's what they said about Dd, too! Except, in our case, the spread is different. Handwriting at about a 3rd grade level (she would be 4th), reading comprehension generally high school, word decoding nearly adult level, and physical reading ability about 3rd grade.

I think, however, that there are many, many factors involved in eye development. We've been told to bring Dd back in the future for re-assessment, but otherwise, to just continue what we're doing - and focus on keyboarding to compensate for her handwriting issues....

I don't have any advice other than it could be dyslexia and definitely seek out the optometrist again. It could be a focusing problem or astygmatism or something else!


This was my DS, though he didn't write fine and then start to write backwards; he started writing backwards. It IS common for children to write these letters (and numbers) backwards. And it is common for them to read a word correctly and write it jumbled. But those also can be a sign of eye issues or dyslexia as well.

I will say that DS now, with practicing so much at school and at home (he likes to write, but he HAS to write on the right surface - i.e., dotted line paper - or it's trouble!), he rarely writes his letters and numbers backwards AND he recognizes that they are, if he does. So encourage him to keep trying!

Good luck!

To find the right kind of optometrist, see www.covd.org

Our ped opthamologist did not pick up dd's vision issue. A couple months later we saw a developmental optometrist who did the right kind of evaluation (different from a regular eye checkup), she did the therapy, and is now fixed.

Thank you! I found a developmental optometrist in town, and I think we're going to make an appointment with her. Ds identifies the letters correctly in isolation, even when I write p,b,q,9,p,P,g all in a row. He can distinguish between them. If he's reading a word with those letters, he doesn't get them confused. It's just when he's writing them that he sometimes reverses them. He writes a mirror image of the letter or number. Again, he doesn't do it all the time. We did go through a period where he didn't do it at all, and now all of a sudden he's doing it a lot. Anyway, we'll see what the DO says. Hopefully it's nothing, but I'd rather know for sure. Thanks for all of the advice and recommendations. I'll let ya know how it goes!

I made an appointment for later this month. $350!! Not covered by insurance. Ugh!

wow that's a lot! We paid around $125 for the evaluation - about the same at two different optometrist offices (for different kids) (and the therapy for dd was in the neighborhood of $2500 for 24 weekly visits with the vision therapist and progress checks with the optometrist)

Good luck!