Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Dyslexia

Can I ask those of you with more than one child: are your other children dyslexic, too? If so, were you able to more readily identify it in your younger children? I ask because many dyslexic children are late-talkers - my DD was about three when she started to really talk and our little DS is followed by a SLP for his late-talking as well. Wondering if we should be looking for anything specific with him and it there is anything that can or should be done in the preschool period if we suspect anything. (I did contact his SLP this week, but have not heard back from her yet).

Unlike IEPs, you still can get a 504 even if your child is at grade level -- my DD has one and is at or above grade level in a gt class. Your district probably has a parent 504 guide.

@ Kathleen, neither of my other kids are dyslexic. sorry I can't help.

KathleensMum I don't have a formal diagnosis of dyslexia for DD9yrs, but am pursuing one. She definitely has CAPD and ADHD-i. DD5yrs has some eye tracking issues and may also have some mild ADHD-i in the mix but she's a VERY different child and yes she did start talking younger. There you go, sample of two :-).

My youngest is profoundly dyslexic and spoke late and my oldest was reading chapter books in Kindergarten and spoke very early (although she has attention issues that sometimes compromises her comprehension now that she is in HS and reading lengthy text). My dad appears to be dyslexic and now understands why he had so much trouble finishing assignments in school and learning a language in college , I have a b-i-l and s-i-l that struggled with reading/school and there is a good dose of inattention on both sides of the family. Neither me or my husband have LD's.

Scientists are beginning to identify genes that carry certain learning disabilities - but just like hair color and other characteristics, you can have kids that are very different.

I just don't understand how my son got such a gigantic dose of dyslexia - the genes from each side of the family must have come together in a very big way.

My sister's son has dysgraphia but aside from that there is not a single soul in either of our families who have had similar problems in school. I have been reading 'Overcoming Dyslexia' and the author suggested that it might be better to think of it as a 'trait' in that the DNA will be passed on but it's activation, or degree of activation, depends on other factors like perinatal incidents and environment. My DH wants to blame it on her prematurity and birth trauma. I can't even go there because I still have PTSD from her birth and I just can't add another level of guilt to it. I spoke briefly with one of our neonatalogists in the hall at work last week (he is our follow-up guru and also the one who cared for DD) and told him of DD's diagnosis. He offered to pull his stats about dyslexia from our local population of prems for me, but he agrees that there is almost always a family history involved.

There is relatively little research that follows premature babies past age 3. I once had a neonatologist tell me that he's never seen any proof that prematurity and ADHD are correlated, and then I met a developmental pediatrician who scoffed, that's because the research isn't done, not because the relationship isn't there.

Regarding PTSD: cognitive-behavior therapy now (thanks to the Iraq war) has quite good strategies for treating this. You might want to seek relief.

DeeDee

There is a growing body of research in which prems are followed long-term. And there most certainly is a link between ADHD and prematurity! I can't remember any studies correlating with positive family histories of ADHD or learning disabilities, though. I'll pull the articles I have later this week when I have office days and I can access our hospital's e-journals.

Re: PTSD, it is so much better than it was. And it did take a lot of work to get here. Ultimately, it does not matter WHAT caused it (as if we will ever know for certain, LOL), just that she does indeed have it. I have had to remind DH to keep his eyes forward so he won't trip over what is right in front of him. I would much rather put my brain power to work figuring out how to help her!