2e kiddos find many creative ways to compensate for reading disabilities, so there is probably not going to be a single profile, but that being said, a few patterns tend to emerge, most of which may be characteristic of even non-GT dyslexics, to varying degrees. I'm really describing compensated dyslexics in general, with a few GT flourishes:
1. Age- and even ability-appropriate single-word decoding, but limited fluency. That is, able to sound out words one at a time, but passage/naturalistic reading is slow and effortful. Behaviorally, this is often accompanied by
2. Disinclination to read for pleasure, despite apparent ability to read under duress. Or tends to select leisure reading far below apparent instructional reading level. This is often where you will hear teachers/parents say, "he can do it when I make him do it, he just chooses not to." Perception, perhaps, but not reality. In a compensated dyslexic who lacks reading fluency, reading at an age-appropriate level is possible, but extremely draining, requiring the recruitment of excessive cognition and executive function.
3. Corollary: dislikes or is self-conscious about reading aloud.
4. May have much higher reading comprehension than decoding skills. I've assessed an HG+ dyslexic with a 4+ SD difference between reading comprehension and word-level decoding skills. But (see #2), it's often at tremendous cost, as these readers are using very inefficient strategies for decoding.
Alternatively, may be able to decode fine, but not comprehend at the same time, due to all cognition having been exhausted on the decoding process, with nothing left to comprehend. This can be distinguished somewhat from a broader language comprehension weakness by comparing listening comprehension for orally-read passages and reading comprehension for self-read passages.
5. Even when reading is passable, may have residual deficits in spelling, with dysphonetic spelling patterns (not phonetic equivalents, missing syllables or obvious phonemes, unusual/low incidence phoneme substitutions, mis-sequenced/reversed sounds).
