Screening tests show strange results

the difference between having to write words himself (expressive language skill) and being able to recognize incorrect spellings (receptive language skill). In other words, if the school gave him a multiple choice test, he could have scored much higher than when he has to spell words while he is writing — simultaneously concentrating on fine motor skills, his thoughts, grammatical formations, etc. He might also score higher on spelling individual words in a list. Dyslexics typically have problems with multi-layered language tasks, so can lose a lot of spelling ability when they also have to think about what they are writing.

I am wondering how you assess that he reads silently very well? It may be that when he reads silently he uses many contextual clues (pictures, running his eyes back over words or lines he missed the first time once he has recognized some words further on, etc.) and good receptive language skills (memory, reasoning). His actual decoding skills, which requires sounding out phonemes, words and sentences in sequence, could be much poorer than you realize. This would show up in reading out loud. Many bright children with good receptive language skills are able to “fake” reading skills up to about a 3rd grade level. However, his ability to spell phonetically indicates he has decoding skills. What specific tests did they perform to determine his reading ability?

My end guess is that he has visual processing problems that interfere with his reading. When he reads silently, he can run his eyes back over what he missed the first time. When he reads out loud, he’s not able to do this (confined to reading in sequence) and so his comprehension suffers.

What I would do is get a developmental vision evaluation (outside the school). You can find more information about vision at http://www.children-special-needs.org and http://www.vision3d.com, and you can find developmental optometrists in your area at http://www.covd.org.

Visual “processing” skills (which include visual sequencing and short-term memory) are developed on a foundation of visual “efficiency” skills (things like binocularity and convergence, tracking, focusing speed, field-of-vision). Vision therapy can develop visual efficiency skills, and cognitive training (Audiblox or PACE) can develop visual processing skills — which will always lag in a child who has visual efficiency problems.

The poor motor skills could be delayed visual/motor integration, caused by developmental vision delays. Has he had an OT evaluation? This would provide some assessment of visual/motor integration.

All this is guessing on my part, of course, but worth pursuing if it fits your observations.

Mary

Mary,

OK, to answer the question about how I know he reads well silently it is because he is reading Harry Potter & The Sorcerers Stone. (He is 7, but loves the book, I usually have to pry it out of his hands LOL) He will be reading silently and then break into peals of laughter…he has recently asked me in the middle of his giggles what Tripe was.

Also, every night after he reads he is required to write 3 sentences about what he just read. His sentences are descriptive.

He has had a Visual Screening by a Vision Therapist. It uncovered some startling results. He was 6 at the time of the testing. He scored at a *13yr old level in Visual Memory*, 11yrs in Visual Form Constancy, 8 yr in Visual Discrimination, 8yrs in Visual Spatial Relations, *4 yrs in Sequential Memory*, 8yrs in Visual Figure Ground, 6yrs in Visual Closure, *4.5yrs in Motor Integration*.

After 8 mths of therapy, they were able to bring him up to 6.5 yrs in Motor Integration, and 7yrs in Sequential Memory. The doctors said that the range of his scores were very unusual, that it appeared he was gifted, but had challenges.

He has dysgraphia, which I cannot seem to get the teachers to accomodate for. He is depressed about school and what he feels is his failure. He is now labeled as a behaviour problem because he sneaks books and reads during class, and calls out answers and is impulsive.

I feel so tired of fighting for this child to have every opportunity he deserves.

I don’t think you could consider that he has dyslexia if he is reading and comprehending Harry Potter at age 7. That’s really good!

Have you considered having an outside evaluation done (Neuro-psych/educational) ? That would get much more detailed results than a school eval anyway. It may be that his high abilities in certain areas are masking the problem areas. He may or may not end up qualifying for special ed. services through the school, but at least you could get a good diagnosis.

Janis

Mary’s right, bright kids can figure out a lot about what they read even if they really aren’t reading accurately. There are, occasionally, kiddos who just have a lot more trouble reading aloud than reading to themselves — but they are by *far* the exception. (On the other hand, in general people do better reading silently — there’s just less to think about to distract you, especially if you’re having to read to someone and you are nervous about it.)

Whether it’s visual or the more common auditory problem is pretty much impossible to tell wiht just screenings. (But screening tests fairly often show weird results — that’s why they’re just screening tests. THey’re shorter — so there’s a lot more random luck involved. If he happened to know a couple more spelling words, whang! his score goes ‘way up, more than on a more involved test.)

It is not unreasonable for you to make a written request that he be tested. If it’s in writing it’s a whole lot harder for them to refuse (and generally more difficult than doing the testing… so they generally do it). Hopefully they’ve got competent folks doing the testing. It can be really tough to get help for bright kids — but it can really help just to know where the strengths and weaknesses are. (And if somebody tries to tell you that everything “averages out” — it doesn’t really. It can be extremely frustrating to think so much faster than you can write! If your left foot were on fire and your right foot were frozen, would you be comfortable because the average temperature was?)

Another thing you can do just for a quick experimetn is to give him a list of just words to read, and see how he does, without context clues. (There’s a word list on http://www.resourceroom.net/OGLists/multisyllables/catherine.htm though it might be too advanced — try http://www.resourceroom.net/OGLists/multisyllables/novvmulti.html too.) The kinds of errors he makes can say a lot about how he’s trying to read.

There are some good articles on this site on giftedness and learning disabilities (go to LD In Depth) — there’s also an e-mail group of parents — there’s a set of links at http://www.resourceroom.net/Surfin/index.asp#giftedld that will get you there.

is try cognitive skills training — Audiblox or PACE. Both of those programs would likely help his sequencing and attention skills, as well as other skills that help academic performance.

Has he had an OT evaluation for the dysgraphia? That would be another way of assessing his visual/motor integration also.

You didn’t mention exactly what tests the school did. Based on everything you’ve mentioned, I would have to guess that the school’s testing was not very good. Have you considered making a request for an IIE?

Was the vision therapist a developmental optometrist? The tests you mention are more associated with educational testing than with actual testing of visual efficiency skills (although there is some overlap).

Mary

Sue,

I gave him the list of words from http://www.resourceroom.net/OGLists/multisyllables/novvmulti.html

He got 67/80 correct, and the words he got wrong were the ones with a ‘d’ or a hard ‘c’ in them. He read the words with no hesitation, and though he read them correctly he sometimes asked what they meant.

What does that indicate to you? To me it indicates that he is reading well. His spelling is our biggest problem. Tonight in his homework papers he had “troo=true, Fryday=Friday, blu=blew, bubels=bubbles”

This is so frustating. He can read a word, and recognize a word that is misspelled if he is shown it. But his spelling while writing stories or answers is almost completely phonic.

Any ideas??

we have had great success using Sequential Spelling (http://www.avko.org). It teaches sensitivity to letter patterns within words. The website has a sample week’s worth of lessons to try out. So far everyone I know who has tried it has been very happy with it (including us!).

Mary