Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Vision deficit or reading problems?

Ds6 complains that when he is reading books with smaller print, the words look like they are smashed together. He says it looks like there's no space between the letters and they're all jumbled up. If he reads books with larger print like the ones that are typical for early readers, he has no problem. His reading level is around 3rd grade, but he's having trouble with these books because of what I described above. If I place a notecard under each line as he reads, he does better. The opthamologist says his vision is fine. He had a very thorough eye and vision exam. The opthamologist said if it continues, he'd recommend having ds tested for dyslexia or other reading disabilities. I told him ds6 is reading two grade levels ahead, so while he's no expert on reading disabilities, he thought it unlikely to be related to dyslexia. I've done some reading on dyslexia, and it seems unlikely he'd be such a good reader if he had a reading disability. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Is it typical for kids to need larger print? The dr. didn't mention that, but I'm at a loss. Thank you!

Grandson, 10 this summer, has just begun reading paperbacks with the smallest print. He does not like small print, but the book catches his interest he will read it. Granted, he needed glasses the first of the year, but the glasses corrected his vision better than 20/20.
I think it's a physical development thing for the child to be able to read smaller print. We got around it by searching for various publications of a book he wanted to read, as different publishers, or even printings, would be different size or type of font. We also hit the large print shelves at the library.

Jen, we *just* went through this with my 9yo dd. Actually, we're finishing up the paperwork on it. Except, in our case, the trigger were books at a reading level higher than grade 3; her reading skills are high school level.

The testing we did suggests that this is neurological development and that she will probably outgrow it. (The "probably" bothers me.) We have the added concern that she used to read smaller print much better than she does now - and the shift came with the need for glasses. <sigh>

One eye doctor actually said that we "shouldn't worry about it" and that Dd will grow into it. Essentially, if it doesn't "hold a child back" from NORMAL educational pursuits, no one wants to worry with it. I'm still back at define "normal" and why should my child be held back if she's capable of more and there are ways to help her?

Our Occupational Therapist suggested a Kindle for Dd, because you can increase the font size pretty dramatically. We're on the cusp of getting one - and the price just dropped on them, too. Just an idea.... HTH!

Interesting question, JenSMP. I always thought every kid went through this since I've seen it with both my DC, and DS7 is a pretty advanced reader (mostly reads books around 5th grade level, although he's tested higher).

My belief has been that the brain needs time to train itself how to quickly translate the letters into words/words into sentences, etc... and that it's more difficult with small print to make the distinction of one letter from another, so that makes it harder for the brain to do the quick translation. I guess I look at it in a similar light to learning a foreign language -- you need people to speak to you slowly and to enunciate clearly otherwise it sounds like gobbledy-gook, because you're actually translating in your head. Eventually, though, with practice it becomes second nature and you no longer have to focus so much on each word.

Anyway, that's my own personal theory based on absolutely no research. If it helps, DS7 no longer has issue with this, and DS5 does.

Best of luck!

Hi, I'm new here, but I won't let that stop me. I recently read an article that may help with the vision question.

This article stressed the need for an Optometrist when you suspect that vision is causing a problem with reading (as opposed to an Opthalmologist that has less qualification). The article discussed "Convergence Insufficiency" (or C.I.), which is seeing double because the eyes can't work together at close range. The symptoms include headaches, dizziness and nausea...
The article did say that most doctors, all but the Optomologist supposedly, never heard of this. It is treatable with special glasses that use prisms to help the eyes come together at close range, and vision therapy.

Interestingly, of those who do have C.I., nearly ten percent also had diagnoses of ADD/ADHD. Of course, the article had more statistics like this. I am taking my son so I can rule this out.

The headline was: "Not Autistic or Hyperactive,Just See Double at Times", By Laura Novak, on Sept. 11, 2007 in The New York Times. It will take me forever to peck my way to provide you a link, but this is exactly as the address printed out on my page:

www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/health/11visi.html?ei=5124&en=174e9e1720...

I came across this in my reading on Speech and Language disorders, or ADD/ADHD, or Auditory Processing, or Dyslexia... AND, IMHO, never, ever, wait to see if they grow out of it! We have to worry about what they may grow into, while we're waiting to see if they'll grow out of this (or that, or another thing). I hope this helps; I've never read another mention of this regarding reading problems and thought it may be considered newsworthy when I saw your post. Hope it helps...

ps. sorry, meant to reply to original post by Jen. I'm too new! Will improve.

See www.covd.org if you want to find a provider to get an evaluation. We were happy with the vision therapy that dd8 did when she was 6. We found out about her vision problem during IQ testing, just a month after a pediatric opthamologist had said she was fine.

Jen, with what you describe, it may well be worth ruling it out.