Is dyslexia hard to diagnose?

[Anonymous]

I suspect my gifted child has dyslexia. People who meet her always suggest inattentive ADHD but it's been ruled out. The child is a disorganized mess who can't complete assignments on time, who freaks out at word problems or any writing assignments but actually has nice handwriting. Go figure! No one mentions dyslexia and I'm not Dr. but she seems like she may be dyslexic and that her IQ may be masking it. Something is off about her. No one can name it. I'm told she has slow processing and anxiety but why else would a child with a 145 IQ sounds like she can't read in the 3rd grade but have reading comprehension way above grade level. Listening to her actually read is painful and it baffles me. Meanwhile she's a math whiz. She's a classic visual spatial learner. Her reading ability or lack thereof is making her lose self esteem and she's starting to be fun of.

[Anonymous]

Have you done any testing for dyslexia? You want to test for phonological processing/awareness and rapid naming. The primary test that was used to diagnose my child's dyslexia was the CTOPP and TOWRE.

[Anonymous]

The only way to know is to have her tested. If she has had an IQ test, there should have been some indications in the sub score spread. What else was tested?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only way to know is to have her tested. If she has had an IQ test, there should have been some indications in the sub score spread. What else was tested?

No CTOPP and TOWRE. Is there a way to get those done without a full neureo work up? (i.e. cheaper?) She didn't have a full neuropsych. We cannot afford it. She had psychoeducational testing which included WISC-V, Woodcock Johnson and some questionnaire's

Verbal Comprehension 136

Visual Spatial 138

Fluid Reasoning 151

Working memory 133

Processing Speed 106

Full Scale 145

[Anonymous]

Request an evaluation for dyslexia from her school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Request an evaluation for dyslexia from her school.

Thank you. I didn't know public schools would do that.

[Anonymous]

They don't. Schools don't make diagnoses. They could do a series of reading test to determine whether or not your child has a specific learning disability in the area of reading. This testing may or may not include something like the CTOPP. If your child's potential disability is masked by a high IQ, the school will not see any problem and will not agree to test. They aren't going to test just because you ask them to. You need to show a need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They don't. Schools don't make diagnoses. They could do a series of reading test to determine whether or not your child has a specific learning disability in the area of reading. This testing may or may not include something like the CTOPP. If your child's potential disability is masked by a high IQ, the school will not see any problem and will not agree to test. They aren't going to test just because you ask them to. You need to show a need.

The fact that she reads on grade level despite being profoundly gifted isn't a need? I know the question sounds absurd but I am being serious. She's in AAP with kids who read at 8th+ grade levels and she reads on level (but her comprehension is above grade level). Is that not a need, that she isn't reading to her potential?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect my gifted child has dyslexia. People who meet her always suggest inattentive ADHD but it's been ruled out. The child is a disorganized mess who can't complete assignments on time, who freaks out at word problems or any writing assignments but actually has nice handwriting. Go figure! No one mentions dyslexia and I'm not Dr. but she seems like she may be dyslexic and that her IQ may be masking it. Something is off about her. No one can name it. I'm told she has slow processing and anxiety but why else would a child with a 145 IQ sounds like she can't read in the 3rd grade but have reading comprehension way above grade level. Listening to her actually read is painful and it baffles me. Meanwhile she's a math whiz. She's a classic visual spatial learner. Her reading ability or lack thereof is making her lose self esteem and she's starting to be fun of.

If ADHD was "ruled out" I imagine you had a full neuropsych at some point. IQ, reading, reading comprehension, and handwriting are all different animals. She's probably not dyslexic, however, I would request testing by the school, and you can point to disorganization as the "educational impact," however, she probably won't qualify for an IEP or 504.

I suggest that you get a tutor to help with the comprehension aspects. You can also get a book on teaching organizational skills--these are a skill that don't come naturally to many kids. I like the Homework Made Simple book by Ann Dolin, but there are lots. ASDEC might be a good source for the tutor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect my gifted child has dyslexia. People who meet her always suggest inattentive ADHD but it's been ruled out. The child is a disorganized mess who can't complete assignments on time, who freaks out at word problems or any writing assignments but actually has nice handwriting. Go figure! No one mentions dyslexia and I'm not Dr. but she seems like she may be dyslexic and that her IQ may be masking it. Something is off about her. No one can name it. I'm told she has slow processing and anxiety but why else would a child with a 145 IQ sounds like she can't read in the 3rd grade but have reading comprehension way above grade level. Listening to her actually read is painful and it baffles me. Meanwhile she's a math whiz. She's a classic visual spatial learner. Her reading ability or lack thereof is making her lose self esteem and she's starting to be fun of.

If ADHD was "ruled out" I imagine you had a full neuropsych at some point. IQ, reading, reading comprehension, and handwriting are all different animals. She's probably not dyslexic, however, I would request testing by the school, and you can point to disorganization as the "educational impact," however, she probably won't qualify for an IEP or 504.

I suggest that you get a tutor to help with the comprehension aspects. You can also get a book on teaching organizational skills--these are a skill that don't come naturally to many kids. I like the Homework Made Simple book by Ann Dolin, but there are lots. ASDEC might be a good source for the tutor.

Thank you. We never had a full neuropsych. We had a psychoeducational testing done. 2 different therapists said no ADHD. I'm still not convinced due to her disorganization.

[Anonymous]

My son is dyslexic and he sounds like your daughter.

He can read silently and comprehend at very high level but can't read out loud.

Here is the thing. You can pay the $2500 for a full neuropsychology evaluation or you can ask the school. The school may refuse or do a terrible job in the evaluation. We did the full evaluation.

I really think this is one huge reason for th eperformance gap in poorer children, they just can't afford the evaluations and tutoring. Sad, but true.

[Anonymous]

We were tired of the school saying everything was "fine" he's reading on grade level, he's a boy.... finally switched to a private school and they took another look. Sure enough - dyslexia but high IQ and was very good at masking it. No ADHD although we thought there might be - he was very unorganized with reading/writing assignments but fine in math. So far we are tutoring for the dyslexia and working to see if that helps with the other issues or if we need help with on the organization side of things. In our minds it was worth the full neurophys test - costly yes, but it really help to fine tune what was going on and where we need to focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They don't. Schools don't make diagnoses. They could do a series of reading test to determine whether or not your child has a specific learning disability in the area of reading. This testing may or may not include something like the CTOPP. If your child's potential disability is masked by a high IQ, the school will not see any problem and will not agree to test. They aren't going to test just because you ask them to. You need to show a need.

The fact that she reads on grade level despite being profoundly gifted isn't a need? I know the question sounds absurd but I am being serious. She's in AAP with kids who read at 8th+ grade levels and she reads on level (but her comprehension is above grade level). Is that not a need, that she isn't reading to her potential?

I'm sorry to say, but the answer is 'no'. The school isn't responsible for identifying every child who is not reaching potential, they are required to provide an education, not necessarily one that is perfect. 2E students often miss out for this reason. Your child may well have a reading related problem, but it's one he/she is compensating for. If you go to a screening meeting saying that you want testing because your child is only reading on grade level, the answer will be no. All children have areas of strength and weakness (I'm not saying your child doesn't have dyslexia), but your child would have to be below average in reading for the school to do testing. Sorry, but true. Even if you do your own private testing, the results will not matter unless you can show that your child has a disability. Different counties have criteria for eligibility.

[Anonymous]

Call Childrens for a neuropsych exam which may be covered by insurance. I don't think any practice will just do the tests you request. You really need a full look. Although if the psycho Ed was recent, they won't repeat those tests.

[Anonymous]

I would ask the school to do a full speech language evaluation. That's what we did. My child was not below average in reading, but was very behind in spelling, writing, and language pragmatics.

This didn't result in a diagnosis of dyslexia because a doc is needed to diagnose. But now my child gets speech/language at school due to low phonemic awareness. To me that means child has dyslexia or 'stealth dyslexia'. But what is important is that child is getting needed help.