Thanks for all of the suggestions. I think we may start with our ped to see if we can get insurance to cover at least some of the testing.
Those are pretty big words for an 8 year old. How does she do with the smaller words? For example, my dysgraphic can spell very short words, but two syllable words are where his disability shows. He also was able to ace his spelling tests but it didn't show up in his writing.
She's able to spell most short words (four letters or fewer), although she occasionally gets the letters mixed up.
Has she had any of the early screeners used at school, i.e. DIBELS? Both of these comments sound like she is having issues hearing the sounds and/or with phonemic awareness. I won't pretend to know all of the possible causes. I agree with everyone else that I think that you need to pursue further assessment.
No, the school only uses those screeners for kids who are behind in reading.
