I want to echo so much of what I read here - really, really good advice all around. I think it's an especially important point that the waiting which is appropriate for typical kids is really damaging to kids who actually have ld's. Early identification and intervention is key. Also it really is important to focus on their strengths while they struggle here.

For us it has been especially important to use audio books for DD's high level comprehension. Looking at her reading list for the summer is sort of amusing - very basic K/1 books for what she has read herself (i.e. book in her hands) but in terms of audio books she is about to finish the 5th Harry Potter book and start the 6th. DD has a good friend who has spent the whole summer with her nose in a book reading probably 2nd-3rd grade or higher stuff. At first it caused me some pangs of disappointment - if not for ld's I just KNOW DD would be doing the same thing. Then I realized - she is. But for her the books are audio. If she could just sit in the car all day listening to her books we would never get her away. Will the folks at her school understand that? I don't know. I *think* for them reading level will be limited to what she can actually decode herself. At least when your child's area of strength is something like math it's tangible. You, he and the school can see the problems he's working out. Yes DD has a huge vocabulary (and she's not afraid to use it smile ) but many teachers just see the kid who is struggling to read and write. Oh and the anxiety - they definitely see the anxiety...