I posted on the testing thread. As a follow up, I'm posting here too. My son is going through testing for giftedness. His IQ is in PG range. His achievements showed
a significant difference. He is in K going to 1st. IQ says he should be 4-5 grades above. Achievement says he is 1-2.

Stealth dyslexia somewhat fits my son as does dysgraphia.

My questions are...how do they treat these disorders? Is typical treatment different for gifted? Profoundly gifted? He is in a very good public school. How do you treat disorder and the PG needs? Finally, with help should he be expected to soar 4-5 grades ahead or will his achievement always be brought down by this?

Clearly I'm confused and trying to learn and a diagnosis is suspected not confirmed.

Thanks!

How long do you have to wait to find out?

For handwriting issues, the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum might be helpful. My son has been doing it with his occupational therapist for over a year now and it has really helped.

Tester was confident it is a LD...i still wonder if underachievement could just be lack of exposure...as to which one she is testing phonics mid-July and then we test visual. We meet with tester (Ed psych) end of July...a week prior to school starting.

I am in a similar spot. DS5 was tested at 4 on the WPPSI with a FSIQ like your son's. His school achievement is fine but a real mismatch with his verbal intelligence.

He is going to be seen by the authors of The Dyslexic Advantage, Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide in the fall.

KJP what do you notice with your son that has you suspecting stealth dyslexia? Did he so a phonics assessment? Curious to your experience thus far?

This is a bit overwhelming

N, my son is a year younger than yours. He was allowed to attend a mixed age K for the 2012/2013 school year and will be going back to the same class for the 2013/2014 school year. This is the year he is supposed to be starting K.

For a beginning kindergartener his reading, writing and math skills are fine. He can write his name, writes short words, reads Bob books, knows about half of the K sight words, and does single digit addition by counting in his head.

The things that stand out as dyslexia clues include the following:
1. Reversals and inversions - his teacher who has taught 40 years and has dyslexic children has not seen a student like him. He seriously must look at things from all angles without even realizing it. It is u to n, 6 to 9, f to t, p, d, q and b are interchangeable. If he has context like a story or illustrations he can work through possibilities in his head quickly enough that he will only make a few mistakes. For example if he see a man with a child on the page, he will say "dad". If he sees the word dad on a blank page alone, there is a good chance he will say bad or dap. He will also do full word reversals like on for no and was for saw.

2. We also have dyslexia in our family so we were on the look out for it.

3. The things he does well very much fits a dyslexic profile. If you read The Dyslexic Advantage, pm me and I will explain.

4. His aversion to reading, writing and math seem LDish to me. Maybe this is mom instinct but his reaction isn't "Ah Mom, this is no fun. I would rather play".

I meant to add that he has not had a phonics assessment.

We are just thinking it is dyslexia. We are not sure. Just trying to get through the year long wait to see the experts.

If you'd listed even scores across the board on the WISC and it was only a dip in achievement test scores, I'd wonder the same thing - but the dip in processing speed on the WISC was quite large. I would also trust the observations of the psych who test your ds unless you have a reason not to.

I'm not sure if you're worried about the possibility of own LD? Try not to over-worry about it if it's troubling you. If there is an LD, you'll be so glad that you recognized it now rather than a few years down tithe road.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Thank you polarbear. Your perspective is helpful. I do trust the tester. Until the assessment is complete wondering all the possibilities will be natural, of course

I am not overly worried. I am grateful it is caught. What I am is anxious to learn more. Having a child that is PG is confusing enough...deciding on and education plan...and I felt I had it (somewhat) down...the different forms of acceleration, the Iowa standard to determine if child is a good candidate, etc. The idea of PG and LD has me a bit more confused

I am trying to read up on children who are PG with LD (that is in the dyslexia family) and their educational experience, for more context.

And to try and understand my son's true ability when the LD is factored in.