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Wow interesting CCN! My guys isn't ever reading 2-3 grade levels above (he does read almost one grade level above according to the WIAT). But we have the same experience where he is often "either hot or cold" as well. He'll sometimes start off great and then burn out, just like your guy. Other times he'll start off struggling through a "warm up" period then becomes more fluent ...but then burns out and doesn't want to read anymore. We have the same thing! I have to say this experience has been leveling out lately in that he's seems more and more consistent. He's not totally consistent right now but definitely improvement -it seems like we're getting there.

Keep in mind this is just my estimation based on the scholastic reading level ratings of the books he'll read - it's not based on formal testing.

He's 8, going into grade 3, and he'll read books that are in the 5/6 range. This is mostly because pictures are so distracting for him, lol. If there is any kind of illustration he's all over it, talking about it, asking questions... but if I get him a chapter book with no pics, he'll just read (until his eyes burn out). Now that I'm typing this I'm wondering how much more he could read of a grade 3 book before he burns out - if he'd just read the darn thing ;-) Maybe I could cover up the pictures... lol

Oh my goodness - our kids should meet LOL ... mine is annoying about the pictures, too... same thing distracted by the pictures, likes to figure out which character illustration is which and adding extra things based on the picture...

LOL

Have you tried no-picture chapter books? (How old is your son?) I keep my finger under each word as mine reads, or we'll put a piece of paper over the text below what he's reading to cover it so his eyes aren't overwhelmed. This seems to help.

I've thought about "large print" books too (you know, large print novels - not kid books - to ease his eyes but still expose him to the advanced vocab & grammer) but I haven't seen any with appropriate subject matter (the ones I've seen at the library are too adult). I haven't really delved into this though... I could check on-line but haven't yet.

My DS is 6 but will be 7 in a few weeks. He is going into 1st grade (September birthday missed cutoff)

He devours chapter books, that is when someone else reads them to him ... He is immediately put off by so many words, so small on a page. It's why I regret waiting so long on VT - his confidence has suffered ... he's just beginning to realize he's getting better - that now that he is capable of more.

I keep my finger under each word as mine reads, as well...

I am thinking of getting him his books on CD (like you said for the vocab, grammer, etc) ... He'd have me read to him all the time if I could. He loves the Daniel X series by James Patterson and I just bought him one of the Danger Boy series.

This is interesting (I'm learning so much from you all... thank you )

DS8 took the WISC-IV once (at 7) and his block design score was 12, "average" even with his strabismus. Hmm.

That's awesome though - your DS has a content-devouring brain

My DS8(ADHD), meanwhile, often loses track of what's happening if someone reads to him (his mind wanders, although this can depend on the book). He's either engaged and constantly interrupting and asking questions, or he's quiet and then will suddenly say "wait a minute - what is this about again?" The only way he can keep track of what the text is about is if he reads it himself, out loud.

He's incredibly imaginative - sometimes he'll tell us he doesn't want to talk because "I'm imagining! Please be quiet!" ...but it interferes with his focus unless the story being read is more interesting than what's going on inside his brain. (This sheds a huge light on his attention difficulties at school )

Fascinating to follow these; especially on top of having read "The Dyslexic Advantage" and finding many, many similar traits in myself and DS6 intersecting with the "Lazy Eye" issues.

FWIW (in case this offers any strategies for others) I have always sub-vocalized as I've read, it's in my head but when it's noisy/distracting I can feel my vocal chords also working. I've tried to read without, but my eyes dart everywhere. But the pace gives me time to deeply understand and "world build" as I read. I've tried using the Kindle's text to speech, but I can't follow unless I also doodle, but I can listen to books on tape while driving.

I've set up a basic eye exam with the local developmental optometrist and wanted any feedback. So, my insurance vision coverage will cover a basic exam with only a $10 co-pay and this guy is on the list of in network providers for that. He is not in network for medical (it's complicated). His office tells me that he can tell if dd11 has convergence insufficiency, etc. from just the regular basic eye exam that the insurance will cover. If so, then he'd need to do another eval for $390 that insurance will not cover (it becomes a medical issue at that point). The second eval will determine whether vision therapy will help/what she needs.

They tell me that vision therapy would run about $2100/three months. I did ask whether he'd be able to objectively distinguish btwn a neurological functioning issue like dyslexia vs a mechanical issue like convergence insufficiency with the initial exam and they said yes.

Their website says that they provide therapy for both (i.e. - it sounds like they provide vision therapy for dyslexia, AD/HD, LDs as well as convergence issues). I'm disinclined to seek the second more expensive round of vision testing or vision therapy if the issue seems to be more LD/dyslexia related. Dh is convinced that they're going to tell me that she has convergence issues regardless of what they find.

Thoughts on any of this?

eta: one other thought. There is a general "eye center" clinic in town that has one OD on staff and that also lists vision therapy as among their services, but it seems to be a much, much smaller part of their practice than the place where we have the apt. I'm second guessing and wondering if we should just go there and have the routine exam done mentioning the questions we have re convergence insufficiency and see what they find. I'm wondering if a place that doesn't specialize in this type of work might be less capable of finding a problem but also less likely to find a false positive.

Sorry that I'm a bit late to this discussion. Busy weekend.

I skimmed the thread so forgive me if I am repeating anything. We did go the vision therapy route. It did help with my DD's headaches, tracking and issues with words "running off the page." See this website for simulations of these problems:
http://www.childrensvision.com/reading.htm
I believe that these are the kinds of things that VT can help address. I tried to have DD look at that site and tell me whether she ever experienced anything like this. Unfortunately, she couldn't articulate what kinds of issues she had been having until after she had gone through VT and seen some improvement.

I understand your reluctance to rely on the VT folks to give you an accurate assessment re whether your DD could benefit from their services. We got lucky and found an optometrist who did not provide vision therapy who gave us our initial evaluation. She told us that DD had convergence issues that were just outside of the normal range. She told us that DD might benefit from VT but that it was not a slam dunk. We decided at that point to get a full assessment from the VT folks. Any chance that you could have an independent optometrist assess her convergence?

BTW, we never expected a "cure" for her dyslexia. I thought these claims were hogwash and still do. Still, the vision therapists persist in making these types of claims. I really wish that they would rethink this approach.

Also, re the block design correlation. My DD went into the extended norms before vision therapy. We haven't had her retested since. Still, it's hard to argue that it significantly affected her ability to perform on that portion of the WISC.