Hi polarbear,
Thanks for the reply.
1) He was diagnosed with disorder of written expression (dysgraphia) and ADHD (previously diagnosed at great expense after K.) The tester is not a psych but an M.Ed. that works with learning-different kids at our school. She recommended extended time on written work, reduced length assignments, minimizing distractions, class outlines for notes and computer or Alphasmart use. The computer has worked wonders but he only got the extended time and reduced assignments last year. He is doing well this year and making the honor roll but I have been informed he has the "easy" teacher and will suffer for his success in 6th.
2) Remediation for handwriting and spelling was not even recommended. If it was, honestly, I doubt I would have done it. DS and I spent 4-5 hours per WEEK studying for the weekly spelling quiz in 1st to aim for a "B". Even if he squeaked a decent grade he never actually retained the words he learned anyway. Handwriting is another disaster. He simply can't learn cursive. Happily, his work is almost never assigned in cursive. When it is, he has to pull out the cursive formation chart with the arrows and write one letter at a time. It's a nightmare beyond description but it has only happened about 3 times this year.
3) The tester did not mention the GORT in our meeting so I assume she did not think it was clinically significant. My DS is simply a non-reader which is sad to me. He won't read anything that is not assigned or full of cartoons. He loves Legos but what he loves most is video games and apps. I limit them very strictly but he would play 24/7 if he could.
What really caught my attention about "stealth dyslexia" description, outside the dysgraphic handwriting and spelling issues, is the word-for-word reading issue. I spent the summer between K and 1 tutoring DS in reading because he simply didn't learn it in K. I would come home after work and we would struggle through easy readers together and he continually guessed the word he was reading from the first two sounds instead of sounding it out. If I had a nickel for every time I said "Don't guess it! Sound it out!" He still does word substitutions when reading aloud even in 5th though his comprehension overall is very good.
In short, his reading is pretty good for longer works when he can afford to misread some words and still piece the meaning through his excellent abstract thinking skills. On short passages he can completely miss the boat though. However, if this diagnosis is sort of controversial perhaps I should just continue on with dysgraphia treatment and hope for the best?
