Thanks so much for your thoughts. I was very surprised by his score in the writing samples - I had never thought his writing skills were that strong.
While he is an introvert, he is probably the one who talks and expresses himself most in our family. He always has something to say, but he struggles at times to get the thoughts out. I see that in his writing as well. Typically, he has more trouble writing - it is, I think, difficult for him to get his thoughts in order, and to figure out the beginning, middle and end. More so when he writes, than when he speaks, IMO. Although, I have noted that he speaks very fast, and his words tend to run together - my husband has problems understanding him at times and I seem to be the interpreter. We do have to ask him to repeat himself quite a bit because he speaks so quickly, and sometimes softly. I have always thought that this might be a residual effect of the hearing problems, and have asked for the speech therapist at the school to test him, but according to her, his speech is right on track (which I am not sure is the case.) I'm thinking though that taking him to someone outside the school system would probably be the better way to go, so your suggestion of an SLP is not surprising to me.
I'm also thinking that I should probably take him to a neuropsychologist to see about the dyslexia, because from my reading dysgraphia and dyslexia often go hand-in-hand, and Eides' You-Tube video seems pretty on-point as far as Stealth Dyslexia.
I have always read to the boys before bed, even when they were babies. Older ds was turning the pages in books when he was about 6-7 months old while I read to him, but younger ds never wanted to sit still on my lap for 2 books (like Goodnight Moon, or Guess How Much I Love You, etc). Although, he would often pick out a book when he was a little older and sit and look at the pictures by himself, he still didn't want to sit still and actually have someone read it to him. Also when watching Disney movies when they were a little older, older ds would be glued to the TV while younger ds would wander off part-way through the movie. I have often wondered, in hindsight, whether this was due to hearing problems, or potential ADD...
Thanks again for the thoughts. Seems like I'm on the right track - just need to get him to the right people to see if we can get some good diagnoses.
