You've challenged me to really think through his decoding, phonics, etc. I don't know that I have evidence other than by all appearances, he can read. We aren't struggling with him being able, it seems to be more a struggle of willingness.
When he makes errors in reading aloud, we do correct him by asking "does that make sense?" "What does that (nonsense word not sounded out correctly) mean?" I don't correct him when it doesn't matter (Sally said vs. said Sally).
Your comments about performance anxiety / perfectionism ring true. He actually said to me yesterday "the kids will make fun of me when I mess up".
He does seem to understand the texts he reads, despite the word swaps and skips. I think his comprehension in fine for his age.
From Davidson on Stealth Dyslexia:
Despite the appearance of age-appropriate reading comprehension on routine classroom assignments or even standardized tests, careful examination of oral reading skills almost always reveals persistent difficulties with word-for-word reading. These deficits usually result in subtle word substitutions or word skips; and they can result in significant functional problems, especially on tests. We frequently see children who consistently show good comprehension reading lengthy passages or even long books, yet who significantly under-perform or even fail written tests of reading comprehension because they have difficulty reading short test questions or multiple-choice answers.
This seemingly paradoxical difficulty reading short passages can be better understood by considering the nature of the reading difficulties children with stealth dyslexia usually have. As mentioned earlier, these children typically show difficulties with word-by-word reading, skipping words occasionally and making word substitutions. When reading longer passages, they can often use their excellent higher-order language skills to fill in or correct errors in word reading, drawing on the redundancy and contextual cues that are usually available in longer passages. However, short passages contain fewer contextual cues. They have less redundant content, and they often have more condensed syntax, providing fewer means of correcting individual word errors. Therefore, the likelihood of errors increases as passages decrease in length.
Unfortunately, there are few types of writing that are more brief, non-contextual, low-redundancy, and condensed than test questions or multiple-choice answers. On such passages, a single missed word – especially conditionals like not or except, or comparatives like before or since – can yield catastrophic results; and there will be few cues available to show that an error has been made. As a result, children with stealth dyslexia often make “silly mistakes,” giving answers quite different from those they would have given if they had correctly interpreted the question or answer choices. The same kinds of problems often occur in math work, as well.
Looking at this passage, the first paragraph, where I've bolded, is absolutely what I see. Also, for his iReady test last year, he performed very poorly, to the point his teacher was shocked and had him re-take the exam. She said the results of the test absolutely did not reflect the child she knows and interacts with every day. The last paragraph of this Davidson passage would support that we'd see trouble in testing.
As a parent and reader, I'm heartbroken that he "hates" reading so much, to the point of avoiding it and crying. Something is wrong. For a kid that is capable, I just don't understand.
His eyesight is fine, we had his vision checked less than 12 months ago at an ophthomologist.
Maybe this is simply reading reluctance. I've tried to not force the issue, but school is in-session. He needs to be reading to improve his skills. If he simply never reads, we'll be in a world of hurt shortly.
I've never heard of this Pacific U, but I'm going to check it out. Thanks.
