Reply to I think my five year old is Dyslexic

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Reply to "I think my five year old is Dyslexic - I want to get him tested. "

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[quote=Anonymous]OP, FWIW, I would recommend that you consider comprehensive testing with a speech and language pathologist either instead of or in addition to neuropsychology testing.

I was concerned at a very early age about my DS' language development.  He wasn't "behind" but I could see oddities in the way his language was developing -- consistent use of made up words, words garbled by syllable, and difficulty rhyming.  By age 4-6, it was apparent to me that his reading wasn't developing appropriately.

But, at age 5, he was still too young to have these problems picked up by a neuropsychologist.  DS' IQ testing was pretty high, so he was able to compensate in a number of ways that sort of hid his problems.  Plus, at age 5 or even 6, there really isn't an expectation that kids are "reading," so neuropsych achievement testing in the area of reading won't necessarily reveal "dyslexia" or "reading disorder".

I found the speech and language evaluations we had done around age 4 and age 6 to be invaluable.  This testing showed that DS really didn't have a grasp of the phonetic skills required for reading -- recognizing sounds, associating sounds with a letter or letters, being able "segment" and "blend" sound.  The speech and language testing also provided much better information about vocabulary, knowledge of semantic structures, grammar, ability to spell, etc.

I would encourage you to get your DS tested thoroughly by a good SPL.  (We used Lab school, which I highly recommend.)  Then if the testing shows gaps or lag in development in phonetics, I would consider getting a good tutor to focus on phonics using Phonographix, Wilson or the ASDEC program.

Our Lab school SPL was also able to alert us to (but not diagnose) other potential problems -- namely ADD, executive function problems, and auditory processing problems.  None of which could be diagnosed at such a young age but were later.

Sally Shaywitz is considered a leader in the field of dyslexia.  Look at her book "Overcoming Dyslexia."  Her research center at Yale also has a website.    [/quote]

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