Reply to Outside of School Resources and IEP for newly diagnosed dyslexia

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Someone diagnosed dyslexia in a five year old who hasn't started kindergarten yet? That is incredibly concerning. I would hold off on pursuing tutoring or extra supports and instead see how your child does in kindergarten reading instruction. [/quote]

I know you mean well, but you are wrong. Dyslexia is neurobiological. You can identify a dyslexic brain in an FMRI at 18 months. The core deficit in dyslexia is phonological, basically the ability to hear and separate individual sounds in the unbroken stream of speech. It is such a tiny thing, but it is essential to reading. If you can teach that skill before the child is taught phonics they have the possibility to learn to read “normally”. If they go into phonics instruction with the core deficit unremediated they can’t learn phonics. You need to be able to segment the speech sounds before you can’t map them to letters.[/quote]

No, I'm not. For background, I am a psychologist and diagnose learning disabilities. First, just because something is neurobiological does not mean it can be identified at any age with brain scans. While there are certain neurological differences that we can see on scans, these differences are not diagnostic. This is true for many diagnoses (e.g., autism, depression). Second, phonological processing is core to dyslexia. However, early deficits in phonological processing may indicate children who are at risk for dyslexia, but are not enough to diagnose dyslexia. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability in reading. If someone is not yet at an age where they can be developmentally expected to read (and have also not been in school yet), they cannot be reliably or validly diagnosed with dyslexia. [/quote]

I believe there may be new research you aren’t familiar with. Age appropriate phonological awareness (and there is a skill set that is developmentally appropriate for every age) isn’t just correlated with dyslexia, it is predictive of struggle acquiring reading. And improving phonological awareness at age 5-6 is preventative - it makes reading failure less likely. This child does not need phonics yet. That isn’t age appropriate. She needs explicit phonological awareness training, and moving into linking speech sounds to letter shapes.

I know many professionals prefer a watch and wait approach. It is risky, though, because kids with dyslexia can get turned off school and internalize reading failure very early. By first grade many dyslexic kids already have experienced repeated failure and are starting to have negative behaviors and coping strategies. When they do begin to read they rely on guessing and rote memory. It is unnecessary suffering.

I truly say this with respect for you and what you do for kids every day. Consider whether the research supports early diagnosis and referral to services. I believe it does, as do the dyslexia professional associations I belong to.

[/quote]

I am aware, and fully support screening and early intervention. The great thing is that we don't need diagnoses to provide phonological processing and reading interventions, either in schools or privately. There are many options between diagnosing pre-kindergarteners with dyslexia and "watch and wait." Most (if not all) public schools in this area have reading intervention groups for kids who are identified as being at risk for reading difficulties.

Also, how familiar are you with phonics-based reading curriculums? Kindergarten level instruction includes phonological awareness (segmentation, blending, etc.) without a connection to written letters. [/quote]

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