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Advice about Reading

5 replies

DozeyTwonk · 27/06/2014 13:35

Hi, my dd is 11 and GandT in maths and english. However, she doesnt like reading and is actually having trouble reading fluently. She reads aloud to me and she misses words, misses the tone, and generally does not read as well as she should. She is frustrated and doesnt know why she struggles. School dont seem bothered, but she is now choosing not to read and rolls her eyeballs at me when i ask her to go and read at bedtime. Have wondered about dyslexia, but because she is GandT I dont think the school have even considered it. Any views, suggestions most welcome!

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claraschu · 27/06/2014 13:58

It sounds like it could well be dyslexia. When children are very clever, they cope well enough with dyslexia so that schools don't pick up on it. The problem is that, while your dd is doing well enough to fit into the guidelines for her age, she should probably be way ahead, but dyslexia is holding back her reading.

I would take her to a really good educational psychologist, who will give her very detailed assessments and figure out exactly what is going on. I would pay privately, and the process should take several hours and be very un-stressful.

My neighbour's dyslexic son had exactly this problem, and school weren't worried, but when his parents had him tested he came out in the top 0.5% for almost everything, and in the bottom 5% of normal kids his age for one or two aspects of learning. The disparity between his abilities was deeply frustrating to him, even though he was coping reasonably well at school. He is doing incredibly well now, but had quite a bit of help in very specific areas when he was younger.

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DozeyTwonk · 27/06/2014 14:07

thanks for that. Its awful, but DP has it and eldest daughter too - so I should have known really. Do you think I should wait til she goes to secondary school and then discuss with them. She goes up in September.

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claraschu · 27/06/2014 17:04

Of course I am not that knowledgeable, but I have watched 5 children whom I know well grow up and cope with dyslexia. They are all extremely bright, and very high achievers (Oxford, Cambridge, running own businesses, etc). It is interesting to see how strong and original they all are.

I guess I would go to a really good ed psych if I were you, but I don't actually have that much faith in the school system when it comes to doing the very best for individual children.

Good luck-

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gardenfeature · 28/06/2014 06:41

My DS is very much like this. You will probably find that unless your DD is below a certain level then they won't do anything. A student who is underachieving but achieving with the average level won't get any exta help. There are things you could try like using tinted glasses. Try these people: www.dyslexic.org.uk/. My DS doesn't read for pleasure which is a shame but he will listen to audio books. Problems can also arise when it comes to reading and understanding exam questions. I am hoping that DS will qualify for a laptop and extra time so that he can re-read the question several times to make sure he's understood it all.

Good luck!

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nonicknameseemsavailable · 03/07/2014 22:24

I am certain my eldest is dyslexic but she passed the screening test so noone is taking any notice of me. she is still only young though so I will just have to monitor it for now.

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