Dyslexia - spotting it in children. Dilemma.

[Kis Vihar]

I teach English to Hungarian children and adults. One of my private students is a very bright 10 year old. She has a lovely family and they are very supportive and encouraging.

I have noticed that when she reads, she gets her 'b' and 'd' mixed up, and can say words with letters totally in the wrong order.

I can understand from her point of view that English is not her first language, and sounding out words isn't as simple in English as Hungarian, where every letter is pronounced - no 'through/bough/trough' etc in Hungarian!

For example, the word 'black' she can read instantly.

But put the word 'blackbird' in front of her, and it confuses her completely, as there are 2 x b and 1 x d in the word.

She tried 'dlackdirb', 'blackdirb' and 'blackdird' which I gently corrected until she came out with 'blackbird'.

Put a picture of a blackbird in front of her, and she says 'blackbird' with no hesitation.

When she writes, she occasionally gets some letters in the wrong order, which isn't the end of the world, and she nearly always corrects herself, but it's very noticeable when she reads.

I have a dilemma...do I mention it to her parents, or do I find some sort of 'checklist/test' online and see how she gets on, or do I just accept that it's a 'learning a foreign language' thing and see how she goes? I feel a bit bad for her, but I know what the attitude of her parents might be if 'their paid English teacher thinks there's something wrong with their daughter!'

Anyone here have experience with dyslexic children? Help! Please! Thanks. Kx

 

[Wally]

if it makes a difference to your teaching and her learning then you are perfectly justified in mentioning it.

I have mentioned to parent's whose kids I have taught to ride that maybe their child is on the aspergers scale, have they ever followed that line of enquiry? They were.

 

[Bodshi]

My eldest son is dyslexic but he doesn't have the problems you describe. I think there are many different types of dyslexia though. My son, who is now 24 and doing a PhD, was very good at maths at primary school but his reading and writing were appalling, despite the fact that he loved books and being read to from an early age. At junior school they were insistent he was just a lazy child and it wasn't until I met someone who was dyslexic that I realised what the problem might be and had him tested. The test seemed to involve a fairly detailed IQ test covering lots of different subjects, and the fact that his reading and writing 'age' was so far below what would be expected according to his other results, meant that he was diagnosed dyslexic.

So I think it's really great that you have spotted a problem and want to help this little girl. Whether or not it's dyslexia I would have thought her parents would be happy for you to discuss it with them, in my head anyone who takes an interest in my children is very welcome to talk to me.

PS I don't think of dyslexia being anything 'wrong' for my son - I just think his brain is made in a different way. He's very good at some things, when he was a toddler he could make tractors and trains out of lego, he could draw detailed pictures - and it didn't matter what angle he drew them from, so whereas you would normally draw a house as you see it with the floor at the bottom and the roof at the top, he would draw it upside-down or on it's side if that's how it came out. He's now proven himself to be a talented computer programmer which is odd as programming languages demand totally accurate spelling! However apparently it is common for programmers to be dyslexic or on the autistic spectrum.

 

[Lot1983]

Might be related to how she stores words? A picture of a blackbird is easy, but the word she might be remembering as a picture and if you can't focus on the picture correctly that might be why she's enountering issues? I tend to store everything as a series of snap shots rather than actual words? I like to think of it as using a scanner to input a word document rather than just opening a text file.

 

[KarinUS]

Not a dyslexia expert -just a mom- but I think confusing b and d and p and q are very common. My son is learning to read (age 5) and he along with numerous other preschoolers has trouble sometimes with those too. It's just easy to forget which side the belly is on.
He's getting better with it and the only thing surprising to me would be that the girl still has trouble with it at age 10.
I looked up b and d confusion for you because I am bad at wording my thoughts on this and found this which may be helpful:

Question: My daughter mixes up letters d and b, and says the word saw when she sees the word was. Does she have dyslexia?

Answer: Dyslexia is broadly defined in the dictionary as "an impairment of the ability to read."1 Some scientists describe dyslexia as being a deficiency in the language system that processes the sounds of speech, in the brain.2 Many children who seem to have dyslexic-like tendencies begin to read better when they do activities that help to increase their auditory skills. Mixing up letters d and b is a visual confusion, not knowing which way the "tummy" of the letter faces-to the left or right. (This has nothing to do with auditory issues that earmark a problem with dyslexia.) A child who says dog for bog usually needs practice in knowing left from right. In most children this letter confusion corrects itself by the end of third grade. A child who sees the word was and says saw needs practice in visual discrimination. This can be as simple as writing the words saw and was on note cards. Show your child the note cards, and ask her to tell you differences she sees between the two sight words - was, saw. Or, play the Find That Word game to highlight a chosen word.

http://www.succeedtoread.com/faq.html

 

[pointerlady]

My son has it, although he has mastered it to the degree that its not really noticable. d and b get mixed up. Spelling is awful. They are slow readers compared to others. They are slow writers and generally "hate writing and reading". Maths is usually no problem as is a verbal response. They are intelligent and get very frustrated with themselves. It patience, lots of repetition and praise that gets them through.