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My 8 year old is struggling with reading. I suspect she is dyslexic and we're in the process of trying to get her evaluated. One of the difficulties we are having is that her reading abilities don't match her interest level. I'm guessing she is reading successfully at about a 1st grade level but her interest level (what I read to her) is that of 6th grade level and higher (primarily science and history books and just about any non-fiction book). It is extremely difficult finding books at her reading level that aren't, in her opinion, 'babyish'. So compound her reading struggles with lack of interest it's next to impossible to get her to practice her reading.

Anybody else ever face these issues? Any suggestions for encouraging her to want to read? I'm at a loss here.

Hi mimmy - I have a bright and profoundly dyslexic son - I know exactly what you are dealing with.

When he was younger, it was next to impossible to find high interest books at his reading level (at least 4 years behind is age - never mind his cognition). Finding books for his 20 minutes of oral reading was very very difficult. Many of the early readers are non fiction and deal with science or history topics. He enjoyed many of the DK books. There are some abridged versions of classics that were interesting, and accessible.

You might also check out the Kindle which has text to voice capability on certain books. She may be able to read along with higher level books if she has the voice to guide her. Try to read with her - and give her a word if she stumbles - don't make her sound it out. Oral reading is designed to improve accuracy and rate, and it is better to help her when she struggles so that she quickly associates the oral word with the printed word.

The silver lining to my son's reading issues is that we have enjoyed hundreds of books together. I have always read to him - even in middle school, and we enjoy audio books on a daily basis. He loves literature even though he hates to read. As a result, his vocabulary, comprehension and general knowledge is excellent, even if he does not read books in a traditional way.

On the note of evaluation - not sure if she is in a US public school or not, but it is important that you learn your rights. Here are two websites that might help:
www.wrightslaw.com
http://millermom.proboards.com/index.cgi?

Good luck!

I agreed with everything mich said. Just to add my two cents. You may want to get a copy of Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. She has descriptions of techniques to improve speed and oral fluency that you may find useful.

With more challenging material, it has been very helpful to have me read a page (or depending upon the level -- a paragraph or chapter) and then have DD read the same page over. As her reading has progressed, I have been able to back off of this but still have her read out loud. I can monitor if she self-corrects or if she makes one of those subtle mistakes that send her comprehension spinning out of control. I occasionally give her comprehension nudges -- i.e. telling her to look at a word again, correcting a verb tense or sometimes just telling her a word. Sometimes I give her a break and read a page or paragraph to get her back on track. We also use audio books as pre-reading. When DD knows the story, it takes off some of the pressure.

My son's early reading issues were due to problems with visual processing, tracking, and convergence, with some scotopic sensitivity thrown in for good measure, not dyslexia. There are lots of things that can disrupt reading, many of which can be accommodated or remediated much more easily than dyslexia.

What do her reading errors look/sound like? Does she have a good grasp of phonics, and does she attempt to sound words out? Does she rely on picture cues? Can she sound out words of two or more syllables if they are large and the only word on the page? Does she seem to "get lost" on the page, mixing parts of one word with parts of another word on the same line, or on a line nearby? Does she skip over words? Does she follow the words on the page from left to right with her finger? Does she prefer to read in dim light? Has she ever mentioned that there are colors on a page that isn't printed in colored ink or paper? Is large print easier for her to read than small print? does she read more easily when there is only one line on a page? Does she mistake lowercase b for d or p or q when reading? Looking at what kinds of errors she makes and what strategies she uses to try to help herself can tell you a lot about what is happening to interfere with her reading. Once you have a handle on what is happening, (true dyslexia, visual processing issues, poor phonics instruction, needing glasses for reading, etc.) it will be a lot easier to figure out how to help her.

You might want to search out books that have an "HL" lexile designation, which are designed to appeal to older readers who are reading below grade level - the H stands for "High interest" and the L for "Low lexile" You might also see them described as "Hi-Lo" readers. But pre-read them - some are aimed at kids in grade 7 and beyond, and may deal with more mature themes than you want your 8y.o. engaging with.

She knows her letter sounds but gets confused with vowel sounds and the y sound. She attempts to sound out unfamiliar words but is completely off when trying. Meaning if the word is 'picnic' she may start sounding it out as if it starts with the letter r. Most of the time she's nowhere near close to sounding it out successfully. She frequently skips lines and words. Usually the little words like 'of, the, at, this' etc.... She has a fairly good recollection of sight words, but generally only the longer words. Little ones like where, there, that, what, then, when, he, she, she confuses. She may know one word on one page, and then not recognize that word on the next page. She tries to follow along with her finger but her finger doesn't seem to stay with where she's reading. She's never mentioned colors when reading, but she has told me that the words move around or if I ask her why she skipped a word she'll tell me she didn't see it. She does better when there are fewer words on a page however, she'll still skip words. And she'll also fill in words that are somewhat similar.

While reading she doesn't confuse b and d or p and q. But she will write them backwards along with some other letters. While spelling she'll often have the right letters but in the wrong order. For instance, where might be spelled wheer or best would be bets. She reverses numbers more frequently than letters and will even transpose a number like 42 and write it as 24 instead.

Thank you for the information on HL readers.. I've never heard of that classification before. I will definitely look for them the next time we head to the library.

Actually a friend of mine has sons who are dyslexic and she let me borrow hers. I've only just begun to read it but she had wonderful things to say about it.

You're right, I've learned so much about science and history through our reading together. It's just frustrating b/c I feel that her reading difficulties are holding her back. And she complains about it frequently as well. I'm sure if her reading was up to par she'd be devouring books left in right and probably never leave her room.

My son has dysgraphia, and at 8 years old, he was barely ready. He is now 11 years old and reading on a high school level. I attribute it to a perceptive speech therapist who introduced him to the Wilson Reading Program when he was in first grade. We continued with the program through third grade. It made all the difference for him.

His spelling is still atrocious, but his ability to read things that actually interest him is no longer a problem.

We used Living Books at home - I don't know if they're still available or not. They were software programs with books, so you could have it read to you, touch on words and have them spoken, and listen in different languages. My kid memorized a few and then sat and listened to them in Spanish and Japanese. Drove me nuts hearing the same story for hours, but it was effective.

Good luck!

Most of her reading errors sound like she has problems with tracking and convergence and possibly with scotopic sensitivity. I would make getting her visual processing evaluated a high priority. It seems from her description of what she sees and your description of what she does when she tries to read that she has an input or processing problem with her visual system. It would be hard to say at this point whether her problems sounding out are related to phonological processing or to just not seeing the letters that are actually there and seeing them in the right order.


The writing issues and reversals are likely output problems, not input problems, and probably need to be assessed separately from the input issues. It is entirely possible to have great reading skills and an intact, well-coordinated visual system and still have the kinds of written output problems that you describe. (It's why I love my computer: I hit the "p" key, and a "p" comes out on the page - every time. Pencils and pens are far less reliable for me in this respect.)

I was wondering how things were going, and it the vision testing turned up anything.

I was also curious about how she does with verbal rhyming?

If you say what rhymes with 'Bat' and she says 'Flat' - and then you ask 'what is the first sound in 'Flat'?' can she identify the FL blend? The F? If you ask her to spell things aloud, without the word in the visual field, can she?

My son had visual tracking and depth perception issues when he was before 3rd grade, and lucky for him, it was a matter of being immature, and he outgrew it. But I'll tell you, it was disconcerting to say the least that he knew all the letters and their sounds at 2, but didn't put words together at all until age 5. That was a lonnnnnnnng gap of time in his mind. He said once: "Mom, it was your fault that I didn't learn to read sooner. Every time I asked for help, you brought out a pad of paper and made big letters on the page. You should have just asked me question so I could hear you."

((Did I mention that perfectionism is common in gifted kids? And that it can be 'outer-directed' as well as 'inner-directed?))

Hope that helps,
Grinity