Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Sight Words and Dyslexia?

We tried lots of the things suggested above. We also tried having her form the letters with clay. The most successful trick for us was having her spell the word backward. For some reason, this helped her get a visual image in her head that she could use to then spell it correctly going forward. All of these tricks only got the words in her head for spelling tests. None of it transfered to her writing.

I have to wonder. We are supposed to be having an Assistive Technology eval and I assume she will begin keyboarding soon. With word predicting software and spell checkers how useful is it really to have her spend a lot of time on spelling?

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I wouldn't have her spend too much extra time on it. We went to great lengths in first and second grade to get the words in her head. It resulted in a lot effort and stress without much payoff. By third grade, we only had her do the spelling packet sent home by the teacher. It included varied exercises -- making other words out of the letters, writing the words multiple times in the shape of a star, etc. She didn't do any better or worse than when we spent hours on it. Last year, they used a curriculum that was based on learning letter patterns. That worked somewhat better for her.

Keyboarding takes a lot of pressure off of our DD. We still are working on her typing skills. She finds the word predicting software annoying but spell check has been a godsend. When she sees the red squiggle, she usually can pick the correct word out on the list of suggestions. If she hasn't gotten close enough for spell check to help, she will ask for help. Right now, she is experimenting with using dictation to get a first draft on the computer and then editing. Unfortunately, the dictation software has a hard time recognizing her voice so she may go back to typing more.

We have found a long-delayed response. DD learns the words for the test, aces the test, then promptly mis-spells them the following week. However, I'm seeing them creep into her writing correctly over a number of months later.

*You still need to get close enough for the prediction/spell check software to work.
*Lack of automaticity of writing makes it very cumbersome to compose a thought.
*Thank you cards and condolence cards are best done by hand. That won't likely change over the coming few decades.
*Poor spelling makes a bad impression. It comes across as sloppy and lazy.

The approach in our house has been to put in place accommodations to lower the barrier to learning other skills. We're still working very hard on the spelling.

Whether or not the spelling correctly creeps into writing later is going to depend on the root cause of the spelling challenge. Our dysgraphic ds is able to learn spelling words for spelling tests and he is able to retain the correct spelling knowledge so that if you asked him to tell you how to spell a word correctly later on he can, but his spelling breaks down tremendously during the act of writing.

We have found that when you're dealing with 2e you're often faced with the decision of having too many things to do to remediate and not enough time, as well as trade-offs on how much remediation do you do at the expense of being able to have your child work in areas of their strength. At the end of the day, our primary goal has always been to raise a child who is able to function in the world and who has retained their sanity and happiness along the way. For our ds, all the ability to spell correctly when quizzed one word at a time will never result in his being able to spell correctly while writing, and that's ok - he's got spell-check, he's got voice-to-text that spells correctly as it goes. We've read a lot of stories about successful adult dyslexics, and many of them state that they rely on other people to check/edit their writing for them before sending letters/memos at work etc.

I doubt my ds will ever ever feel comfortable sending a handwritten thank-you note, and he'll always feel a little bit self-conscious about having other people see his handwriting. But that is who he is, and he's ok with that. To be honest, I rarely receive handwritten thank-you notes anymore, they most always come through email and I'm ok with that!

polarbear

ps - Pemberley - for your dd, I'd probably continue to memorize words for spelling tests, do it at a rate of words/week that is reasonable for her, and if she's being asked to memorize too many call an IEP meeting to add an accommodation limiting the # of words. For her other writing assignments, request that she not be graded on spelling and that she have access to word prediction and spell-check software.

Technology is great, but it's not the ultimate solution, and cannot be relied upon in all situations.

Last week I had to write out a note to the DMV by hand, per their requirement, due to legal nonsense. During the same week, the cash register at the drive-thru died, and I had to mentally calculate my own change.

This is my husband. When he can't get close enough for spell check, he calls me. He never writes anything by hand except "to do" lists for himself. When I forced him to hand write thank you notes to a few critical people, i.e. his boss, after our wedding, I had to proof them. He spelled the same word three different ways that were phonetically correct in the space of a paragraph. His dyslexia reflects the lack of automaticity described in Shaywitz's Overcoming Dyslexia. I think that this is the root of his disability and my daughter's too. Having lived with him, I've had to re-evaluate my own attitudes about people who can't spell. His inability to spell is not due to laziness or lack of intelligence, it is something that his brain just can't do. He spends a lot of time and effort compensating for his short-comings in this area because he knows people will perceive his mistakes as "lazy and sloppy." Despite his spelling challenges, my husband still managed to get a master's degree in mechanical engineering and is a successful professional in his chosen field.

Agree.

I got word that the district has hired a para so DD will have someone scribing for her at school, hopefully starting soon. I'm not sure when the AT eval will happen. I certainly plan to have her work on the sight words and spelling - I just wish there was someone telling me the best/worst ways to approach it for her particular profile. We have an IEP meeting later this week with both the psych and neuropsych attending so hopefully I'll get some clearer direction.

NLD, dysgraphia, really low working memory, processing speed and visual perception, an ADHD-Inattentive diagnosis I don't necessarily agree with - I feel like her plate is full to overflowing. I think the sight words will be HUGE in helping with the reading difficulties so I really want to find a way for her to learn them without freaking her out. I see a lot of stumbling blocks with the spelling words too but also more ways to make learning them fun.

And Dude - the making change thing. The neuropsych explained that "she has no mental blackboard" so every time she has to do basic calculations she has to start from scratch.

Ugh...

Using handwriting to write a quick note and mentally calculating change are two entirely unrelated tasks (although people who have challenges with one *might* have challenges with the other). My ds *can* write legibly enough to write a note to the DMV if he absolutely has to, but he is most likely never going to want to send a thank-you note using his own handwriting... and although his handwriting is technically legible, people who have no first-hand understanding of dyslexia and dysgraphia will at first glance judge that his handwriting looks very sloppy. So he uses technology anywhere and everywhere he can. Ironically many very non-dyslexic non-dysgraphic non-physically challenge people are also using those same technologies now too simply because they make life easier

Although ds can't rely on his handwriting, he can add change easily and quickly in his head. However, if he couldn't, I expect he'd carry a calculator with him or have a calculator app on his phone or have *something* he used as an accommodation because that's what folks who have a neurological difference that prevents them from accomplishing a task that's easy and routine for the rest of us do - they find ways to work around the task, they find ways to accommodate.

polarbear