anyone hsing a dyslexic child?

[laehmichal]

My ds is only 4, and I know it is far too early, but I wanted to ask. My dh and his father are both dyslexic - to different degrees - so I am a bit vigilant with my ds. He is learning to read and write, and doing quite well, esp. given his early age for schoolwork. Lately, I am noticing that he is (on occasion, not every time) writing his name or other familiar words backwards. I don't mean just spelled backwards, but mirror-image of the way it should be. I don't want to borrow trouble, but I would like to know what I should look for. He is hsing at about a 1st grade level already and is not interested in 'going to school' at all, so if I can keep him home and work with any learning difference, I will. Any experience? Any advice?

[scheelimama]

First, I've heard that's completely normal. And my dd (6.5 years), who most likely is dyslexic, but not confirmed yet, also did the mirror image of her name and some other words for awhile.

But at 4, writing words like that is completely normal among all kids. Doesn't sound like he's really having too much trouble, so I'd let that go for now.

[Callimom]

Reversing letters is only one potential marker for dyslexia, and often not the most salient one. Your son is young and would just be developing some of these skills now so lack of them may not indicate dyslexia.
~ Can he play with words? Can he rhyme? Can he take words apart and put them back together so that if you say what does "kkk" and "at" say he can say cat? Can he tell you the last sound in cat?
~ Can he distinguish discrete sounds in words, hear the difference between mmm and nnnn or bbb and ddd or between the words pin and pen for example?
~ Can he hold the letter sounds in his head long enough to sound out c.a.t and not say rat or dog or kitty? If he reads c.a.t. in one line, can he recognize it in the next or on the next page without having to sound it out?

hth
Karen

[laehmichal]

He has trouble with rhymes, but can identify letters in words by their sounds. He doesn't sight read too much, but if a word is repeated in his book that sitting, he starts to recognize it. I guess I am not too worried about whether he is or not, as we expect some degree of dyslexia simply due to genetics. I am more interested in learning differences, and altering his work later on to help him learn more efficiently. Like I said, the plan is to HS, and he is all for it himself, so I am looking for experience. Was there much change in the type of schoolwork given, or method for learning for a kid who has dyslexia? My dh gets headaches when he reads too long, and I don't want my kid to dislike learning because he associates it with pain, ya know? Just looking for what has worked well for others. Any suggestions?

[AAK]

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/dyslexiasupport2/

http://www.dys-add.com/

Two great resources. . . check them out.

[Dakota's Mom]

I've often wondered if my son is dyslexic. He writes from right to left unless he is reminded to write from left to right. He frequently forms letters and numbers backwards. And he can not recognize a word even if he sees it three times on the same page. He can sound it out at the top of the page, maybe remember it for the second time, but totally forgets by the third time. Another thing that he does that my oldest son did is to use any word that starts with the same letter. If he can't read the word August, he will substitute any other word that he knows that starts with A. We keep working at it. For my oldest son, he had to memorize the words. He never could sound them out. So he just memorize all the words he read. He is 40 now and still has trouble reading. My little one is 7.

Kathi

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Dakota's Mom

I've often wondered if my son is dyslexic. He writes from right to left unless he is reminded to write from left to right. He frequently forms letters and numbers backwards. And he can not recognize a word even if he sees it three times on the same page. He can sound it out at the top of the page, maybe remember it for the second time, but totally forgets by the third time. Another thing that he does that my oldest son did is to use any word that starts with the same letter. If he can't read the word August, he will substitute any other word that he knows that starts with A. We keep working at it. For my oldest son, he had to memorize the words. He never could sound them out. So he just memorize all the words he read. He is 40 now and still has trouble reading. My little one is 7.

Kathi

You should really read "Reading Reflex". The first three chapters are very informative about much of what you mentioned. I first went to it because it was one of the few methods mentioned in "Why our children can't read" as a good, research supported method for struggling readers. I am using it with my dd and it is really helping. The problem with memorizing words (as the only method) is that a person tops out at a grade 3 or 4 reading level.

Amy

[kittie313]

My 6 1/2yo dd is dyslexic (among other things) and for us it has been a struggle with her learning and testing. She failed her 1st grade diagnostic testing (we hs with a k12 virtual academy and they do diagnostic testing each year to check for holes in their learning in the basic areas) because she wrote letters and words backwards (she's always been a mirror-image writer, and it never got better as she got older, she started writing at 3 1/2yo and her next sister down is not dyslexic at all plus 12 1/2mo younger, she never wrote mirror image even when she first started printing) She got a math problem wrong because she wrote 91 as the answer, the answer was 16, and she wrote 5+6+5 completely upside-down. For us it is definitely an interesting road, we are not officially diagnosed yet but our supervising teacher is confident enough of the diagnosis based on seeing her diagnostic test score that she's putting in paperwork for an IEP as soon as we get a referral from the ped for testing. I love our teacher................. Anyway, just be persistent with it, that's what I've done. One thing I've done that may or may not be the best approach is that every time she writes something backward or upside-down, she has to erase it and rewrite it properly. She hates it, but it has improved her writing to where she's only mirror-inage writing about 70% of the time instead of all the time.