Dyslexia and difficulty reading

[loggy01]

My son is 7 years old and although he can read it does not flow as I think it should and he seems to miss lines and can't seem to find his way back again. A friend mention he may have mild dyslexia and could try the coloured rulers/sheets. I know different children have different colours??? Can someone tell me how these work and if they have any experience of these. Thank you.

[Octavius]

Maybe he just isn't good at reading?

Most of us are comfortable reading black words on a white background, but we find white letters on black, very difficult. There is a theory that people with dyslexia have better reading capabilities if the white page is overlaid with clear plastic sheets in pastel colours.

You can buy special galsses with colour tints, or as said use a perspex sheet which can probably be bought from WHSmith. The Eye Level REading Ruler can be bought from Crossbow Education here, but I would give the plastic sheets a go first.

http://www.crossboweducation.com/Eye_Level_Rea ding_Ruler.htm

[loggy01]

You are probably right - maybe he is a late reader. I think we expect too much of our children and after all he is only 7 and has just come out of infants!! It is just that one of the mums that went to help with group reading in school noticed this - and coincidentally her daughter used to jump around the page whilst reading and she was mildly dyslexic. Thanks for your answer.

[Octavius]

I often think that people are too quick to label inabilities with a disability (dyslexia, ADHD, autism etc). At the end of the day, some children - and adults of course - are just well, without being rude to you or anyone, a bit ... thick. Or at least not as 'intellectually tuned' as those of similar age/experience.

As I said, if you are really concerned - he is only 7 after all - give the coloured sheets a go and if it seems to improve his reading (although this may be just because the coloured sheets adds some greater interest in the reading material!) then it may well be mild dyslexia. Good luck.

[Hellion]

loggy I would leave it a bit longer, boys are notoriously slower at picking things up at this age (there is a school of thought that boys should be a year behind girls at school). They usually catch up. Does your son use his finger to follow the words? At my son's school the teacher follows the words with her finger and the child holds her finger, when they read themselves they are encouraged to follow the text with a finger as it stops them losing their way as you describe.
If your really worried speak to the school.
But I have to say I do find many of the Mum's are very 'competetive' there's an horrendous one at my son's school (he's year 4) she infromed me her twins (same class as my son) had read the His Dark Materioals trilogy. As I had read it too I asked them about it, characters etc and they hadn't got a clue, they can read the words but dodn't understand what they were reading.
It's far more important your son enjoys reading rather than is really 'good ' at it.

[loggy01]

Thanks for your answer. I agree that boys develop at a slower rate than girls. I popped in to see my son's class teacher who is very much old school style of teaching and she said that she would keep a close eye on him but did not think there was a problem. She suggested putting a simple piece of card underneath the rest of the text to concentrate his reading. She said that if you tested all the children in the class, 85% of them would show some dyslexic traits. I think sometimes it is easier to put a name to something and pigeon hole it!!

[Eve]

Try these...

http://www.tes.co.uk/section/staffroom/thread. aspx?story_id=2285896&path=/sen/&threadPage=1

http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/

http://www.dyslexiacentre.co.uk/

[emmacherise2]

I think its definitely worth asking the school to test him for dyslexia.... My younger brother is dyslexic and we didnt find out properly till he was 14 because even though it was obvious in primary school the school chose to ignore it because the test cost's quite a bit! (dont worry, they pay not you!!! :D).... I thought he was dyslexic since he was about six.. and he has suffered sooo much because it wasnt properly acknowledged until later on in his life.

I think its worht phoning his school or going in for a chat, becauuse if you believe he may be dyslexic then you have a right to ask the school to get him tested. If, after the test they find out he is .. then they will give you all the info you need about the help he will be able to get.. theres also these brilliant new little computer things.. like little mini laptops that dyslexic kids get for free which helps alot.. but its important to remember that dyslexia differs from person to person so using a certain colour for one,.. may make no difference for another. the coloured paper and writing doesnt make a difference to my little brother at all.. but hes definitely dyslexic.

I think the best thing you can do is just pster the school for the test.. If they claim they cant theyre lying so keep at it because its important. It still angers me now that my younger brother wasnt tested earlier because the school didnt want to pay so if you take one thing from this answer.. let it be pestering his school to do the test for him!!! please dont forget it or put it to the back of your mind...

i think the most important thing to do is cancel dyslexia out because if he is dyslexi, there is ALOT of help out there that he's entitled to!

hope that helps.. good luck!!!