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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our DD is dyslexic and was reading/testing at or above grade level.  We just knew there was something wrong.  As others have mentioned, telltale signs are inserting appropriate but not correct words (puppy vs dog), repeating or missing lines, headaches, complaining about reading, poor writing, etc.  We inquired about testing through APS and were deterred because she was on grade level.  Although we probably could have pushed it, we ultimately felt the time it would have taken the school to accomplish the testing would have been at least 1 school year, which would have put DD further behind.  In the end, we opted for private testing.  Now, we're working through the 504 process, although that's been like pulling teeth too.[/quote]

OP here - the difficulties you describe are consistent with the things we see in our DD (substituting different word, repeating and missing lines etc.).  I've been reading up on this for a little while and the thing I can't put my finger on is what distinguishes a struggling reader from a child with dyslexia.  Presumably a "struggling reader" also complains about reading, guesses at words etc.  Or are most struggling readers probably at least a little dyslexic??? I go back and forth on whether we're overreacting to a normal developmental process or underreacting to a condition that needs specialized intervention.  Can I ask  what the 504 process entails????[/quote]

I think you are at risk for underreacting.

By third grade, kids are expected to transition to reading to learn and finished with the process of learning to read. Obviously their reading skill will continue to grow but that is mostly a function of accumulating vocabulary and background knowledge. The basics of reading should be mastered by now. Anyone who is a struggling reader by third grade more likely than not has a reading disability.  I wouldn't waste time waiting for the school. Find you own reading remediation tutor or even do you own reading program with her. It has to be a different approach. Not just more of the same. 
[/quote]

There is a book called Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz where she says that dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty with reading even after two years of explicit reading instruction. Any child who has had a couple of years of reading teaching, including explicit instruction in phonics, and who does not have another challenge that explains the difficulty (like developmental delay, anxiety, ADHD, trauma, etc. etc.) should be presumed to have dyslexia. If your child is otherwise bright, has been going to school for a couple of years, doesn't have other learning issues, and still struggles to read, dyslexia is a reasonable assumption. Another way to express it that I've seen is an unexpected difference between a child's intelligence and their reading ability, even after a couple of years of schooling. The fact that your kid isn't responding to the usual way of teaching reading suggests her brain may need a different method. And that is dyslexia.[/quote]

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