Not sure, DS6 is very VS, but is an awesome speller and has always just known how to spell everything. He just recalls and remembers pretty much whatever he looks at, or usually figures it out phonetically. It has always been quite strange to me. So, not sure what the correlation is.
Same here. DS8 is like this. DS6 on the other hand, has to work on his spelling. What drives me nuts is that he can actually spell lots of words correctly when he pays attention, but when he just writes he misspells words quite often. He doesn't seem to notice that the words look off, something I have hard time understanding. One would think that with all reading he has done he must be able to spot the difference but that's not the case. BTW DS6 is much less VS than DS8.
. Until Dr Johnson compiled an English language dictionary (1750s), it really wasn't an issue apart from the ability to be understood in writing - like spelling "thru" or "through". In the UK we have to jump "thru" the "through" hoop to get the mark.