Stealth Dyslexia...is Dyslexia Running in the Background?

How do we know if our children have dylexia? In the absence of formal diagnosis, we are often searching for clues that point to why our children are struggling with their reading and spelling. Afterall, they are thriving in other areas of school and life...why just reading, writing and spelling?

When people picture dyslexia, they often imagine a child who struggles to sound out words or has difficulty spelling. Maybe even spelling words backwords.

But, not all students fit into this mold. Sometimes older students (third grade and beyond) have created their own accomodations...ones that make it just appear that they have things all under control.

Stealth Dyslexia refers to a situation where students that can have strong verbal skills, even great vocabulary, but struggle with reading and spelling behind the scenes. They mask their difficulties through memorization, guessing or contextual-based clues (like constantly referencing illustrations or images in the story). This is often seen beginning with mid-elementary age students. These "work arounds" are solutions for success, allowing them often to keep up in some way with their peers, whom can perform these tasks with quickness and ease.

Mind you, this extra work is taxing and requires extra energy to accomplish even the smallest project or task. They will spend many hours to digest a passage instead of 30 minutes by a non-dyslexic child reading the same passage. If a child is compensating, how can parents and teachers recognize the signs?

Slow reading speed. Reading is tiring and energy-consuming. If your reading is slow and labored (and you know it), it is not enticing to want to read outloud.  If reading is hard, then spelling is difficult.  Writing is also a challenging task if you can't express your thoughts and opinions into words on the page.  Despite great vocabulary, spelling can be full of errors and incomplete thoughts, resulting in messy uncoordinated writing.

They may use charm, wit, humor and other tactics to steer attention away from their difficulties.

If these students go undiagnosed and "just get by" in school they are often overlooked for needing intervention; some schools will not give them an IEP because they appear to be doing just fine, not meeting the threshold for needing intervention.

When this happens, and especially as reading and writing demands increase, they may start having symptoms of headaches, stomach-aches often caused by anxiety, academic burn-out and overwhelm.

Does anyone else in the family have dyslexia or dyslexic traits? This could be grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles....not just in the immediate family. Because dyslexia was not recognized often in generations past, it may show itself in family members that did not enjoy reading, did not read. Were possibly seen as

How can we best serve our dyslexia youth? We can start looking beyond the grades. If it is apparant that a student is struggling with reading, spelling and writing but still making good grades...dig deeper.

How about instead using digital tools to help with reading, writing, spelling? The digital age has been a benefit in being the bridge that assists students in completing what is asked of them....especially beginning in fourth grade, when we start "reading to learn" rather than "learning to read."

Access a dyslexia screener (there is a general, no charge screener available on the International Dyslexia Association site - eida.org). The results will let you know if perhaps you might benefit from additional testing.

Utilizing a multi-sensory cirriculum (as found in Orton Gillingham style teaching methods) are a proven benefit. Learning happens from movement in conjunction with vocalization and auditory (like moving tiles or objects while making sounds, providing textured surfaces that create interest for touch). While small groups can be very helpful, individual one-on-one time spent with a teacher or tutor maximizes learning opportunities.

Another way is to normalize dyslexia. Dyslexia is not a measure of intelligence. It is a difference in the way the brain processes information. If dyslexia is not a point of shame, a child can proudly and confidently advocate for his/herself in school and in life.

So, stealth dyslexia is not easy to identify sometimes. If you want more information on dyslexia, please contact me at www.skywordtutoring.com or visit the IDA site eida.org.