Dyslexia in Smart 4Th Grader Who Just Can't Seem to "Get" Reading?

My daughter has dyslexia and was also in the Gifted and Talented program. Dyslexics are often very bright. She is 18 and still cannot read out loud very well...but she made it through pretty well and loves to read now (to herself).

Sounds like he could have a mild form of Dyslexia. I would ask the school to evaluate him. It will be to his benefit to learn tools to help him read. My daughter started her 504 plan in 1st grade but was allowed to exit out in 5th. She was doing ok and learned to adjust. She didn't like being pulled out of class either, but learning techniques she could use was important. It also gave her an explanation for what was going on and an understanding for how her brain worked. She is whiz at pattern recognition and math.

Ask for them to evaluate him. Friend's DD had a problem where all the letters were there, but they shifted around on her. She had to have a year of intervention to work through her problem so she could read effectively. I would not fear him being removed from mainstream classes so much as I would fear him falling behind without some sort of intervention. Why would he need to be in special ed? He may simply need to get additional instruction for whatever it is once a week, as my friend's DD did.

Why would you assume he would go into Special Ed? I had multiple friends in high school that had Dyslexia and they were in all my honor's classes. There are benefits to getting an actual diagnosis. My friends got extra time on standardized testing to help with their learning disability. My nephew does not have Dyslexia, but does have a learning disability and sounds an like your son. Once he had a diagnosis and was given tools to help him deal with it, he thrived in school. He often felt stupid, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. After he was tested and diagnosed, he felt better about himself and started feeling smart for the first time. I strongly suggest you get him tested.

Dyslexics are usually very smart. Leonardo Di Vinci and Albert Einstein were both dyslexic as are Tom Cruise who cannot read at all, Whoppie Goldberg, Henry Winkler, who has a master's Degree from Yale and Jay Leno.

Talk to his teacher about having him tested by the school system. If the teacher or school system bucks you at all about testing him take him to an outside source and have him tested.

I can't say for sure whether he has dyslexia, since I don't have enough experience in this area. I do want to say, though, that if he's diagnosed with dyslexia, they won't put him in a special ed classroom. They'll have to give him extra help (like he was getting previously) through a special ed categorization. Through this categorization, they should also provide accommodations for things like tests, so he'll get to take them untimed -- things like that. It's not a question of what kind of classroom he'll be in, it's a question of where the school will get funds from.

I really recommend exploring this. As it is, it sounds like he's expected to compete with kids who don't have these challenges, and that's unfair. If he has a diagnosis, he'll be accommodated in the classroom he's in -- and he'll be a lot LESS likely to be placed in a special ed classroom, or made to repeat a year.

He sounds like a smart kid, and dyslexia doesn't make a kid any less smart. Honestly, in real, practical terms, it just means he'll be drawn to a successful, lucrative math/science career.

There are, different types of Dyslexia.
My friend's son got diagnosed in 3rd grade.
And he is much happier now.
You really need to have him assessed/diagnosed.
Why guess?
And yes, from 4th grade on, the work complexity and demands and expectations and work load, INCREASES majorly.
My daughter is now in 5th grade.
You need to talk to the Teacher, or your Pediatrician, and have him properly diagnosed. It has been going on for too long.

What! You don't want him labeled and so you don't want the school district to test him. They will only test in relation to his reading skills. They will not label him except for what is needed to get him the care he needs for his reading. And so if he's dyslexic they will formulate a plan that gets him treatment for dyslexia. And.....they definitely will not put him in special ed.

At least talk with the office in the school district that does the testing and find out the process so that you can make an informed decision. Asking will not label him. If you want you can do this without giving your name.

You can also have him privately tested using insurance for help with payments. Ask his pediatrician for a recommendation to have this done.

Later, after you second post. My daughter and now my granddaughter were/are taken out of class for help. It can be difficult for the child because some children tease them. However, both my daughter and her daughter are glad to have the extra help. Look at this as an opportunity for him to learn to be his own person, to do what is best for him, and learn how to handle the few who are mean.

Another way of looking at it is is it more harmful for him to be teased or for him to not be able to succeed because of his dyslexia?

BTW he will not have someone sitting next to him in class. I urge you to talk with the people who do the evaluations and provide therapy so that you know the truth and not just what some people say. Be informed!

Talkstotrees suggests that the school district isn't equipped to handle this diagnosis; that it requires more specialized training. I suggest you talk with your son's pediatrician and get a referral to such a specialist. Or talk with the Intermediate Education Office (that's what it's called in Oregon) and ask for names of professionals who provide this service

Your son's teacher and others want your son to succeed. Work with them. You have no need to be fearful. They care. They will help your son deal with feeling different. BTW doesn't he already feel different? Get help for him.

If he's truly dyslexic, it's not his fault and you have to get him the help he needs. If he's struggling THIS much in 4th grade with reading, it's not going to get any easier. In middle school, he's going to have to read textbooks as well as any novels for English class, etc. The reading will NEVER go away and NEVER get any easier.

What you don't want it for your son to give up on himself because he thinks he's not smart. If he can't read well, the bad grades he will start to get won't reflect his abilities. He's obviously a smart kid. There's no shame in having a learning disability.

But it WOULD be a shame if he didn't get the help he needed because you didn't want him "labeled".

There is no shame in a learning disability and I would get him tested, but before that think about having his eyes looked at. My son is way behind in his reading, and we noticed some of the same behaviors (guessing rather then sounding out, ect) so I recently took him in to have his eyes looked at and it turns out he needs reading glasses! They said it is something that he will grow out of needing if he wears them consistently so his eyes can strengthen. Apparently more and more kids are needing reading glasses today due possibly in part to how much time they spend looking at close up moving screens with their Ipads, kindles, and gameboys.

Our school district has parent volunteers who come in and help elementary students struggling with reading skills. Does your school have something like that, or is it something that could be suggested and implemented? Sometimes it helps having someone else help you instead of mom or dad. My own daughter prefers the extra help of someone other than her parents.

The elementary school also has a special teacher volunteer who is there specifically to help students who are struggling with reading. My own daughter went to her for reading help in the 1st grade. Because of severe speech issues she was behind in her reading and comprehension. Once she started receiving one-on-one help, she just zoomed through the year and right out of the reading help program.

My daughter is now 13 and one of the highest reading level students in her class. She is reading young adult and adult books. She still has some issues with spelling, but I blame that on the school district and the way they teach the kids how to spell these days. It's all by pronounciation and not by memorization, like it was when we grew up. My only hope is that she eventually learns how to spell correctly before she's in high school and college. Part of it is just being lazy on her part and not wanting to look the word/spelling up in the dictionary.

It sounds like your son's brain is thinking way ahead of the word. That is, he reads something and his brain is already thinking ahead at what is to come rather than taking the time to figure out what it is that he's just read. I had a bit of trouble with this when I was in elementary school. I comprehended so high that I couldn't grasp the meaning of what I'd just read (and I'm sure I'm not making sense but don't quite know how to say it). I eventually figured it out. Had to slow my thought processes down so that they were even with my reading/eyes seeing the words on the page. It wasn't anything that anyone really helped me with, just something I learned to do on my own. I was always way ahead of the reading curve for my age group.

It is good to be concerned about this because it is something you'll want to have taken care of ASAP. Have you tried programs like Sylvans or Huntington's? And I wouldn't be so set against having him tested. If he actually does have dyslexia or some other reading/comprehension skill problem, you'll want to know about it sooner rather than later so that you can get him the proper help he'll need in order to learn how to handle/deal with the learning issue. You're right to be concerned about this, because studies have indicated that knowing how to read and comprehend is the skill that everyone needs to know in order to make it in the world, even more so than math skills. We use reading for everything, even just to function in everyday society.

Have you asked your son any specific questions? Ask him things like: do the letters move around? does it matter if they are forward or backward? A lot of time for dyslexics it doesn't matter. My brother described it as looking at the push/pull sign on a clear glass door like 7-11. He said that he doesn't recognize that one side is "backwards" because his eyes read both ways. This can make reading very difficult.

Does he write in a language that is all his own? does he write backwards? these are all indicators of dyslexia.

But, there are many other reading issues that can occur besides just dyslexia! so, you should have him evaluated by a professional to see what he really needs; obviously he is going to be left behind if he can't figure it out, and it seems that both of you are not ok for that to happen.

One trick to try is to have him read from a computer or tablet screen; does that come easier to him? It has something to do with the backlighting, but I don't really understand why. Also, you can try different colored plastic wrap over his papers he is reading and see if that helps at all, Usually the most effective colors I have seen are red, yellow, green, and blue. It is a try and see thing.

Good for you for taking care of him, and yes, he needs help, it doesn't sound like he will catchup on his own! Talk to your pediatrician and get a referal for an outside evaluation, then you can ask the school to honor it.

Ask the school district if they can evaluate him for this, or for reading issues in general. If they don't, ask them who does. Perhaps your pedi might know of a resource as well. Good luck!

Just get him tested, so you can target the help he needs and help him access the resources he needs.

As for the stigma, if he does have dyslexia, help him "own" it. He sounds like a bright, social guy. Teach him to be upfront and honest about it, like there is nothing to hide (because there isn't!). He sounds like a leader, and the others will follow his lead. If he treats it as shameful, others will pick up on it and react accordingly.

You're on the right track. Even if he's not dyslexic, a professional would be able to suggest tools or exercises, to help him out.

The school district can test for a learning disability but cannot properly diagnose Dyslexia, you have to take them to someone who specializes in testing for Dyslexia. There are different types, but once you have a proper diagnosis, then you have a tool to work with in order to put specific accommodations in place using an IEP. My son is Dyslexic, and his IEP allows him to have extra time on written tests, to have the directions on all tests including standardized tests to be read out loud to him, the option of asking for an oral test in lieu of a written one, and the use of a word processor to type in his notes and write papers and fill out other assignments that require writing.
It's helpful for him to have this diagnosis on his IEP when he is in high school, as it will help him acquire the necessary extra help in college, too. His IEP has never hindered him, he has never been in a "special ed" classroom. It has given us the ability to follow his progress and have his abilities tested at 3 year intervals and rework the IEP as necessary as he got older.

Start with the school district and get him tested. With that, go to your doctor and have him send your son to a specialist to be diagnosed properly. Most insurances require a doctor's order to go to this kind of specialist. Good luck.

ETA
Dyslexia is NOT defined by reading things backwards. Both my father and my son have it, and they don't see the words backwards, it's a processing issue in the brain. There is also a math-related type of Dyslexia that has little to do with reading. People with Dyslexia process language and logic differently than neuro-typical people, it does them a disservice to describe them as simply "seeing things backwards".

He wouldn't be put in special ed for a learning disability like dyslexia, because it doesn't require special education all around. They would most likely come up with some sort of IEP to help him with reading.

I just saw that you answered your own question below, and I want to address a few things.

I haven't read the other answers so I don't know if anyone's truly being "judgmental" but you are doing your child a disservice by refusing to have him tested if by this age, he can't read. What are your other choices? Before ANYONE can help him, they need to know what the problem is!

If he DOES have dyslexia, all the tutoring in reading, extra reading, etc...that's only going to frustrate him more, so of COURSE it wouldn't be helping. He would need someone with specialized training to help him to learn to overcome his "disability" and read. It doesn't mean someone is going to sit with him in school, that he'll be labelled, or that anyone of the other children will even KNOW there's something different about him!

What the other kids WILL notice, though, is when everyone has to read aloud in class and he's the one messing up the words. I have one child in my Sunday School class who is in fifth grade and sounds like your son...and yes, the kids DO make fun of him. Please have him evaluated so he can learn to deal with it...and then no one will be laughing, because only he and you and whoever is helping him will know!

(And I do understand why you are emotional, trust me. TRUST ME. I hope you don't think I am being judgmental...I am trying to give you the best advice I can possibly give you.)

***ADDED*** Also want to second the suggestion that you get his eyes checked. My pediatrician always told me my daughter's eyes were fine, but I suspected they weren't after my very bright little girl did not start reading when I expected her to. So I went to an actual opthamologist, or whatever, and it turns out her eyes were so terrible that not only did she need glasses, but I can't see SQUAT through them, and I wear glasses myself! She has a very strong prescription, and now she reads great. Immediate change. Often times, the pediatric and even the school evaluations on eye sight are not accurate at all, because a child will strain their eyes to see the charts instead of being tested by a doctor who can look at their eyes with his machine and see what's wrong without them trying.

If your child needs to be evaluated you don't need to have him evaluated by the school... yet. You can have an independent evaluation done. But it has to be done if you want to help him. If he has dyslexia or some other learning disability then it's not his fault that he's' having trouble reading. Correcting the letters and how he's learning isn't working.

You ARE going to need guidance from specialists, including the school. And you need to understand that there's a difference between a label and a diagnosis. If finding out for certain that he has a learning disability and making sure the school is aware and helps him because they're qualified and apply it to all of his learning across the board, then isn't it worth letting them in on the entire process????

Or would you really rather stick with the pride thing and "avoid a label?" That just sounds like you're encouraging being ashamed of having a learning disability. Learning disabilities are nothing to be ashamed about and there's no fault involved.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities is a good place to start. You can get a Dyslexia Tool Kit for free here:

http://www.ncld.org/

http://www.ncld.org/learning-disability-resources/ebooks-...

"Labels" are a parental hangup and really not a big deal. You'll need to get over your discomfort so that you can do what is best for your child.

Dyslexia or other issues that make reading a challenge doesn't mean he'd be in a special ed class! You need to learn about things like this so that you can reassure the both of you.

Get a formal evaluation, either through the school or privately, before he loses any more time and it gets even harder to catch up.

OK, you can all put away your judgmental tone here. I am asking for help. Have you ever sat across the table from your child and watched their eyes well up with tears because you've told them that you think they need to be tested for a learning disability? And they say to you, "Mom, does that mean I'll have to have one of those helper people sit with me in class?" Grade schoolers are cruel, and I know it's not right, but they think of the kids with the "helpers" as being different. They think of the kids who are pulled out of class as being different. Obviously I think he needs help, or I wouldn't be here asking this question. Obviously, we have tried many different things to help him. Obviously, I am so frustrated with the help that he is and isn't receiving that I am asking a bunch of people that I don't know for their opinions. If there is anyone here who has dealt with a similar situation professionally, I would love to hear from them. I truly appreciate the supportive comments, reassuring me that getting help for him will improve his situation, when all of the help that we have gotten for him so far has not done much. Those insinuating that we have neglected the situation have no idea the hours and dollars and pt conference time that we have spent trying to figure out what is wrong and how to help, so I would appreciate the scornful comments be kept to yourselves.

It does not sound like dyxlexia. Dyslexia is when they read things backwards. It doesn't sound like that's his problem. It sounds like to me that his problem is that he's just going too fast. It actually happens with a lot of very smart people - their brains are just working so fast that they sometimes miss little things. I would just keep working with him and encourage him to SLOW DOWN. He may be trying to rush because he thinks the other kids read faster than he does. He needs to be told and understand that speed is not the most important thing when it comes to reading; the most important aspect is comprehension. So, it's okay if he has to read slower or read the sentence twice in order for it to mean anything to him. As long as he's able to grasp what the writer is saying.

My brother has dyslexia and this does not sound like it ... He'd be spelling words backward and seeing letters backward, etc. for example, my brothers name is Tom and when he was little we called him Mot b/c that is what he would write/ say. Obviously when my parents found out he had dyslexia (1970's) that stopped!!
Re: the label, my aunt who taught 2nd grade for 35 years says k-3 you learn to read and 4~12 you read to learn. So, if you don't get him the proper help now he will fall behind and be even older when a 'label' may be put on him. Best of luck.... Not sure if Kumon does reading. It out neighbors (several) have had great luck with them for math.
12

If your son is uncomfortable with receiving services or evaluation through the school, have him tested privately. For my son, the issue is with writing and sensory processing. He has always struggled with these issues so every couple years we go for occupational therapy sessions. He loves going! The therapists are always wonderful, they give him fun exercises, and no kids at school have to know anything about it if he doesn't want them to know.

My son hates having anything different provided for him at school although this year (4th grade) he is finally open to talking about some adaptations that can be made to his assignments.

I also recommend that part of his evaluation include a careful, thorough eye exam. Good luck. Help him through this.

Could be dyslexia dysgraphia which is is more complicated and harder to diagnosis than just dyslexia. But it's all about reading and writing. My nephew has it and it took to about 2nd grade or 3rd for them to figure it out. His St. Paul school wasn't catching it and so my sister had him privately tested. I don't know how it all works but from that age on he uses a computer to help him keep it all straight. I can't tell you what a huge relief to everyone - especially my nephew - to know his brain works differently than others. Good luck!