Needed to ask a question. My older son told me yesterday that when he reads it gives him a headache, he had his eyes checked a month ago, dxed nearsighted 5 yrs ago. What he told me was that the letters all run together and don’t look like words to him, using a window didn’t help and I asked if he had tried without wearing his glasses, he said that was worse. I asked his dad who is adhd also with a history of reading problems in school,(as well as a brother who wrote in complete reversals,school problems too), he said the same thing happens to him. So…my son has a history of reading problems, has been evaluated twice in one school and more recently in another, he has add/inattentive, mild capd, I asked in 2nd grade and 4th for full evals. but no one came up with dyslexia, although what I had read about dyslexia at the time seemed to fit.(I recall the author stating ’ if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck)
Now, my question, could this problem be a symptom of dyslexia? or is it still his add? This was the first time he articulated what was actually going on when he tries to read(he is 12). I still feel like I am missing something, course it could be my add looking for something to obsess over ;o) All opinions appreciated.Thanks y’all.
Re: dyslexic symptom?
AMYF…my son is dyslexic, not ADD (though all his teachers have trouble understanding that distinction) and what your son describes sounds like typical visual-spatial learner dyslexia. Have you read “The Gift of Dyslexia” by Ron Davis with Eldon Braun? If your son has had plenty of remediation but still has these symptoms of ‘visual distortion’, and the eye exam turns out to be negative (Mary’s advice is of course right-on as a step in the process) he might just be dyslexic. Could be a bit of both.
From what I have heard, if it is JUST ADD, the academic problem is largely resolved when you improve the focus problem. But if the focus is OK and you STILL have reading problems with this description of visual distortion, you might just have a ‘hunter duck’ to coin a phrase…(thanks to Thom Hartmann’s description of ADD as a ‘Hunter’ personality, which I think is very apt…and your previous advisor who said…if it walks like one and quacks…)
You can use the jargon and say that these two things are often ‘comorbid’, but if you follow Hartmann’s philosophy about hunters and Davis’s philosophy that dyslexics are essentially ‘picture thinkers’ who have trouble with 2-d symbols, it makes sense that the two difficulties are often seen in the same person…lets not forget that only 150 years ago, he would have had NO adjustment problems since many people did not read well and ‘hunter-type’ life skills were often more important than academic skills. He’s ready to help tame the wild western frontier, just born a few generations later than he should have been!
Best wishes,
Elizabeth
that affects his reading. What I would strongly recommend is that you take him to a good developmental optometrist for evaluation. This kind of evaluation includes about 20 tests of visual function not performed in a regular eye exam. What your son is describing sounds like a problem with binocularity — the ability of the eyes to work together at near point. There are very effective exercises available that train the eyes so the running-together is eliminated.
You can find out more about different types of developmental vision problems at the following websites:
http://www.visiontherapy.org
http://www.vision3d.com
http://www.children-special-needs.org
You can find developmental optometrists in your geographic area at http://www.covd.org. It’s a good idea to email or call all of the DO’s that you find, before you make the appointment. Some are willing to design and supervise primarily home-based vision therapy, which keeps costs down. Some will do only expensive in-office therapy, or expensive computerized therapy at home. Also, some are just downright more interested in your child than others.
Mary