Probability of being dyslexic

[nebula228]

Hi all,

Is is possible for dyslexic kids to have very good verbal skills but poor reading and written skills.

My husband was dyslexic when he was a kid. Coming to my son, I do find some characteristics of dyslexia like showing no interest in alphabets/numbers and sequencing them, failure to recognize a word even after multiple repetitions, mistakes l for j, not interested in writing etc....

But on the other hand he has very good verbal skills and communicates appropriately, has good awareness of his surroundings and a keen observer. He is just 3 yrs old so I might me worrying too much, but i do want to be prepared if he is indeed dyslexic. My husband has he suffered a lot because at that time there was no proper label to his learning disability and he was called a dull student.

Is it possible to have dyslexia after 3 years of age?

Please advice.

Thank you!

[Silverring]

Hiya

Yes, it's possible to have great verbal skills and still be a dyslexic learner.

Some things that can be spotted in pre-school children include:

not picking up rhyme - eg in nursery rhymes or games

problems with directional cues - eg forward/back, up/down, before/after

organisational skills - hard to spot in a 3 year old but as kids get older they may be one of the ones who can't hang up their bag and coat or remember where they put their pencil.

sequencing can be a problem - eg days of the week/months/alphabet but also story telling and remembering order of events.

It's good that you're aware - early intervention is key to reading success in my opinion.  (I am an AMBDA certified dyslexia specialist.)

[nebula228]

Hi Silverring,

Thanks ton for your expert opinion. 

Below are the few observations in my son with regards to your comments.

1) not picking up rhyme - eg in nursery rhymes or games 

He does sing his nursery rhymes. He know quite a few of them.

2) problems with directional cues - eg forward/back, up/down, before/after

He does not seem to have any problems in this area. Follows directions wonderfully.

3) organisational skills - hard to spot in a 3 year old but as kids get older they may be one of the ones who can't hang up their bag and coat or remember where they put their pencil.

I am not sure of this. He does not clean up his toys and asks about them later. But i guess all toddlers at this age are like this. 

4)sequencing can be a problem - eg days of the week/months/alphabet but also story telling and remembering order of events.

Now this where i am concerned. He is ok with story telling. But when he comes to letters and numbers he does not seem to remember the sequencing. While playing with the magnetic alphabets he puts them completely out of sequence. Even 3 letter words I have to repeater a lot of times beefier he gets it right. Then he gets it right once and then again utters a gibberish spelling. He is very fond of books and always gets books on advanced topics like volcanoes and earth quakes. He tells me to read to him. He tells me what is going on in the picture. But he does not know to read yet. He gets confused with a few alphabets.

Even when it comes to counting. If all are in one row he counts well but if they are placed in random manner then he counts them double. Basically he does not show interest in learning alphabets and numbers. 

Writing is Again a problem. He does not use one hand. He alternates between right and left. I can't get anything more than scribbles out of him. He does not show interest in coloring.

He does not show interest in learning spellings and sight words or numbers.

Do you think he falls into the Dyslexic category?

Thank you!

[Silverring]

Hiya

Naturally, it would be remiss of me to suggest one way or the other and I am only qualified to assess children from the age of 7 years old, which involves a detailed history and several standardised tests.  But I understand how useful it is to get some support when you have concerns about your child!  

What you're saying all sounds like normal 3 year old stuff.  That doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep watch for potential problems, but numbers and letters are very abstract concepts and it's not uncommon for 3 year olds to swap hands when they're using crayons.  At this age, it's usual that children just want to scribble, if they want to use crayons at all.

Just to demonstrate what a huge task it is to learn to read and write - 

We have 44 sounds in our language but only 26 letters.  We use letters together to make extra sounds and some letters make different sounds depending on what word they're in (like the /e/ in 'me' and 'den'.)  We say words without separating the individual sounds, but to read and write we need to use each sound individually.  Not only that, the sound is represented by a shape.  The shape has a name and a sound, or more than one sound.  The shape looks different depending on font and handwriting.  To be able to read, the child has to remember the shape of the letter, know what it sounds like and know how to put them together to make words.  To be able to write, the child has to remember the shape of the letter and the sound, know how to fit them together and have the motor control to make the shape with a pencil. Counting is almost as complex.

To help him with counting and preparing to read, you could try games and songs - like 'one, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive' or '5 current buns in a baker's shop' or 'I spy' or singing the alphabet song.  

If he goes to a pre-school or playgroup, one of the leaders might have some other suggestions for you.  I hope that's helpful!