Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Possible tracking problems

I've posted before about my DS5 making minor mistakes when he reads aloud. I've noticed that it seems to be getting a little worse. The main issue is that he apparently loses his place a lot and backtracks, causes him to repeat words (eg, "The frog was walking along down the hill when he...(pause)...when he came upon a beautiful fairy"). If I ask him to run his finger under the words, it's improved, but he dislikes this and considers it annoying/babyish. It also improves if I tell him to slow down, but after a bit he will forget, start reading faster, and the issue will pop up again. Please note, he reads aloud very fast. Just a hair slower than adult speed, probably.

His expression, decoding, and comprehension are miles beyond grade level. He reads silently without apparent fatigue for up to an hour or so at a time. However, were he to actually be tested with a school assessment, I assume he would lose points for this, unless he was being really careful. More to the point, does this indicate a problem or is it just an asynchronous issue? I don't remember my DD ever doing this, but my memory stinks.

I find it hard to figure out. DS8 has done the same thing and has vision issues and was an early whole word reader despite his vision. I know assessments penalize accuracy much more signficantly as grades go up (third being a big jump off if that sort of teacher led assessment is being used.)

Instead of a finger, just using a bookmark or playing card to track the line helped DS. I found some website showing an adult using a card to help learn speed reading and that persuaded him it was cool to do.

Having a similar vision issueto DS, some time when I was a kid I started subvocalizing when I read which tends to keep me spot-on word for word reading. However, in typing I often skip words.

But it seems like speed, reinterpretation, vision tracking, whole word/pattern readin, could each together or individually contribute. I would think in your case, I'd give it time to see where he goes with it.

He is much stronger in phonics than DD was at his age (able to sound out long, complicated scientific names) and seemed to learn to read much more phonetically than she did, if it matters. (He liked to watch Super Why as a young toddler.) He does skip words sometimes, too. He will sub in an appropriate word if the sense is affected. OTOH, if *I* make an insignificant error when reading aloud, he always catches me!

Heh, yeah, I'd like the find the cheat sheet on how not to raise a hypocrite.

With early phonetic skills, sounds like your DS is coming at things from a different place than mine. But may still be a tracking issue, could be a bit of totally age appropriate executive function (starts thinking about the story or is distracted by his own thoughts or his eyes/brain are reading ahead of his mouth.)

Ask him if the words on the page are moving around or if words are overlapping or look superimposed on each other. When I tutored reading, that's what one third grade kid said and when I put a colored overlay (blue or yellow, didn't seem to matter with him) on top of his reading passage, he sped up a lot. I was timing him with and without the overlay on multiple days. Not a scientific experiment but I thought it was somewhat convincing evidence. DS's OT also mentioned this when DS had double vision after a brain injury. DS didn't get anything out of it but this other kid said that it helped.
I also think it's normal for kids to have tracking problems when they are young. Many of the kids I worked with (even second-third graders) had tracking problems when I first started working with them and they improved as they became better readers.

My ds was skipping and losing his place a lot at that age. Everyone (at school) told me it was developmentally normal.( He was a good reader and read all the time.)

In actuality, he was diagnosed with convergence insufficiency by a developmental optometrist.

Listen to your gut. If you think something's off, get it checked out.

My guess would be that his eyes read faster than his mouth does. His eyes are reading ahead, and what is coming out of his mouth is lagging behind, and eventually he forgets what the next word is and has to go back with his eyes to find his place. That's why it's annoying to track with a finger, because it slows down the reading in the brain and makes it seem like a babyish pace.

I do the same thing, and so do my kids.

My mother told of when she was in school and the class would be reading something at the usual mind-numbing pace that students read at, and she would be pages ahead when the teacher, trying to catch her "not paying attention", would call on her -- and she'd have to backtrack in her mind to the last thing someone said, find that spot, and pick up where they left off. This is kind of like that, but with your own mouth reading instead.

I used to read ahead while holding the class place with my finger. I think I would fail most reading tests unless I was very careful. When I read the wrong word I often change a word later in the sentence to make the sentence work.

Eta. Get checked if you can - for all I know know I have a visual reason.

This makes me think about something I realized about good readers a while back. In order to be expressive and fluent at reading aloud, we have to scan forward. It's how you know what to emphasize and what kind of tone to use. It's also why poor readers sound so robotic and boring. DS is a very expressive reader, suggesting that he absolutely does this. So maybe you're right. He also tells me that he doesn't lose his place when reading in his head, but of course, he could just be saying that.

My concern is that if there is an issue, it won't be caught at school for a long time, if ever.

Second seeing a behavioral/ developmental optometrist. Vision therapy is something that they might offer too.

I do that, too! And then DD catches me, if I'm reading to her.