anyone have a dyslexic child?

[weerach]

how did you have them diagnosed?and at what age?

my 7yo is really struggling at school, getting letters mixed up and back to front, can barely read ( as in cant even read the word 'the') his homework reading books he memorises as best he can, he can work out answers to questions and maths sums but cant get them written down. his numbers are also back to front. his handwriting is atrocious. i know this doesnt nessecarily mean hes dyslexic but i would love to know one way or the other..
iv been in to the school (class teacher twice and principal) and they offered learning support- 15mins of reading help and 15 mins of maths help A WEEK.
seriously considering removing himfrom the school.
his latest assesment a couple weeks ago put him at reading age of 4year old
x

 

[weerach]

also he gets a little tongue tied when hes talking sometimes, like he has so much information hes trying to get out that its jumbled up, dont know if it has any relevance x

 

[RachA]

I think you need to push them for the test. My sisters youngest has only just been told she's dyslexic. Thankfully she's never really struggled at school except with her english so she's been getting on ok. But she has been diagnosed now so that when she goes to senior school she'll get extra help.

I'm surprised that the school haven't done anything before now. You really need to push for the extra help.

 

[tommyg]

No but I am.

My mum twigged it when I was about 7. She came to the school parents night and looked at a piece of work I'd written with my name spelt about 3 or 4 diffrent ways. Its not even particually long 6 letters spelt the way they sound.
I wasn't offically tested until I was about 34 - I hit the point where I needed to know.
Dyslexia is also associated with a small short term memory but fantastic visiual memory.

Apparently the average person can remember about 7 things in their head ie if you give
10 random numbers to somebody or instructions they are likely only to remember the last 7 for a dyslexic it is less than that. Which is why spelling and letters become a confusing mess to lots of dyslexics and you may find he will learn to read but once he's read you the book not have a clue what it was about is too much memory and processing was taken up with the mechanics of reading.
1, Recognising the letters
2, Sounding them out
3, Saying them
4, Remembering what the word means
5, What was the previous word?
6, What did the sentence mean.

As visiual thinkers "the" is a hard word as you can't visiualise it. Dog you picture an animal.
I would get him a set of coloured letters and numbers - my alphabet remains the fisher price one I had as an infant.

There are loads of check lists all over the internet. I am sure if you are guided in the right direction you could give him lots of the support he needs without taking him out of school.

 

[tommyg]

PS I should add the visiual thing can be used to his advantage - I am a surveyor and the construction industry is FULL of dyslexics.

 

[Eternal]

Again like previous I am, the letter back to front thing tends to be classic dyslexia, so sounds like a strong indication, apparently it's getting harder to push teachers etc to send for tests as it costs more, I know my parents had a hard time all those many years ago and ended up paying for me to be privately assessed.

Keep pushing.

As for of he is, it doesn't mean he can't achieve, I have learnt to cope without any extra helps etc, because I'm stubborn and proud, but I have done very well academically, the fact they technology is common place will only make it easier, but encourage him to write properly, not text speak or anything.

I have specific things I struggle with, pronunciation, which make spelling harder, but I've Learn to memorise how things are said and spelt, rather than actually reading them, if that makes sense? I never learnt my times tables, as I got older i have memorised many and Learnt other ways to cope, but really smuggled when I was young.

Push to get him assessed, good luck x

 

[weerach]

thanks,the school just arent interested...think i,ll go threaten them with the school board tomorrow. i mean remove him from the school to place him somewhere he will get adequate help, i would rather he got it now them later on when it may be harder for him to catch up. agree with technology and actually got him an android tablet with apps to encourage learning but he smashed the screen lol. my oh is dyslexic and relies on me to spell everything and fill in all his forms and i dont want that for my son x

 

[Eternal]

thanks,the school just arent interested...think i,ll go threaten them with the school board tomorrow. i mean remove him from the school to place him somewhere he will get adequate help, i would rather he got it now them later on when it may be harder for him to catch up. agree with technology and actually got him an android tablet with apps to encourage learning but he smashed the screen lol. my oh is dyslexic and relies on me to spell everything and fill in all his forms and i dont want that for my son x

I think because it's harder for us sometimes people get lazy, but keep encouraging and don't do for him, I hate making phone calls because my mum always did it for me and now I hate it.

 

[tommyg]

Dyslexia is heriatory (spelling). I'm 90% certain my Dad is dyslexic too. Along with various famous people.

I've never mastered the art of spelling and by the time your son is of an age when he's filling in forms - everything will be done via the internet and spell checkers will be much quicker and easier to use. Pre computers I used to use an electronic dictonary its 10x easier than a paper one (I still haven't got my head round idot teachers tell me to find words in a paper dictonary, if you haven't a clue how it's spelt how will you find it?) So don't get too wound up about spelling.

It's much more important that he learns to read and understand what he's read. If that makes sense. I remember reading the whole of Mid Summers Nights Dream in high school but I haven't a clue what it's about.

God love him smashing the screan fustration is a real tought one to handle. How is DH supporting him?

 

[pinkycat]

Hi, i came here to ask the same question.
my 7 yr old (8 in May ) is severely dyslexic. She was assessed in Nov & they couldn't give her a reading age she is so bad she struggles to write her name sometimes with reversed letters & also struggles with the simplest words. She also has dyscalcula (sp?) her dad is also severely dyslexic & they also think our middle daughter is too.
After going into school several times she gets 30 mins a day one-one with a support teacher

Feel free to pm me
Chrissie x