Because stealth dyslexia is such a common issue in the middle to high school years, we thought it would be a good idea to open up a thread in this group as well.

Stealth Dyslexia

When you read the word dyslexia, what's the first thing that pops into your head? If you're like most people, you'll probably think of a reading disorder. That response is understandable, considering the way dyslexia is spoken or written of by many experts. For example, in 2003 the International Dyslexia Association defined dyslexia as: "a specific learning disability...characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities...problems in reading comprehension, and reduced reading experience..." Yet reading difficulties are just one of the many neurologically-based manifestations of dyslexia. Dyslexia is also frequently associated with difficulties with handwriting, oral language, math, motor planning and coordination, organization, sequencing, orientation to time, focus and attention, right-left orientation, spatial perception, auditory and visual processing, eye movement control, and memory. In fact, in our practice, we often see children who are struggling academically due to difficulties that are clearly dyslexia-related, yet who show age appropriate--and in many cases even superior--reading skills. Because of their apparently strong reading skills, most of these children have never been identified as dyslexic, or given the help they needed to overcome either their academic difficulties.

We have found this to be an especially common problem among intellectually gifted children, because such children are able to use strong higher-order language skills to compensate for the low-level deficits in auditory and visual processing that cause the reading problems in dyslexia. As a result, they are able to read with relatively good comprehension. In fact, this is such a common presentation in our clinic, that we have given it it's own name: stealth dyslexia.

Children with stealth dyslexia share three things in common: 1) characteristic dyslexic difficulties with word processing and written output; 2) findings on neurological and neuropsychological testing consistent with the auditory, visual, language, and motor processing deficits characteristic of dyslexia; and, 3) reading skills that appear to fall within the normal or even superior range for children their age, at least on silent reading comprehension. In addition, many will show a family history of dyslexia, and/or a history of early reading difficulties greater than would be expected for a child with their obvious strengths in oral language. Let's look at the problems experienced by children with stealth dyslexia in a bit more detail.

The most academically disabling difficulty affecting children with stealth dyslexia is almost always dysgraphia, or difficulty writing by hand. Several factors often contribute to their difficulties with written output. First, they typically have the characteristic dyslexic difficulty turning words in their heads into signals capable of causing the motor system to form the appropriate letters needed to make words. They may lack the kinds of visual templates that can be used to form words, or be unable to translate auditory word images into the kinds of signals the motor system needs to form letters. Second, they may havespatial or sequential processing difficulties that make it difficult for them to remember how to form individual letters (resulting in oddly formed letters, reversals, inversions, and irregular spacing), or to remember what order letters or even sounds come in a word. These children are often especially hard for parents and teachers to understand, because they may have verbal IQs in the highly or profoundly gifted range and show every sign of verbal precocity, yet be unable even to write the alphabet--even as teenagers. Third, dyslexic children may have difficulties with sensory-motor dyspraxia. Motor coordination problems are common in dyslexia, and may cause difficulties with the manual aspects of handwriting even for children who are trying to copy directly from examples of printed words. Often these children experience the extreme frustration of knowing what words they want to write, while being unable to get their fingers to make the proper motions. Finally, dyslexic children often have difficulties of visual processing that can contribute topoor hand-eye coordination, or difficulty using visual feedback to guide their writing.

The severe handwriting impairment associated with these deficits produces one of stealth dyslexia's most noticeable manifestations: the characteristically enormous gap between oral and written expression. Even extremely precocious adolescents with outstanding oral language skills, remarkable knowledge bases, and extremely lively minds can produce written documents of such brevity and simplicity that they look as if they had been written by a struggling third grader. The psychic trauma that can result from this gap between aptitude and output is impossible to exaggerate.

Another tip-off to the presence of stealth dyslexia is the presence of spelling difficulties in a child's written output that are far out of character with either their general language, working memory, or attention skills. While these children are sometimes able to score within age norms on multiple-choice tests of spelling recognition, or even on weekly tests of spelling words that study carefully for, they essentially always show significant and surprising deficits when they try to spell words from memory.

The dyslexic deficits in handwriting and spelling tend to be more persistent and resistant to treatment than the reading deficits. It's important that children with dyslexic dysgraphia be identified as early as possible so that they can be given appropriate handwriting interventions, and so that they can begin as early as possible to develop proficiency in keyboarding. Keyboarding should become their primary means of written expression for as much schoolwork as possible--in many cases, for math as well as language output.

In addition to difficulties with written expression and spelling, children with stealth dyslexia often show persistent, though subtle, difficulties with reading. Despite the appearance of age-appropriate reading comprehension on routine classroom assignments or even standardized tests, careful examination of oral reading skills almost always reveals persistent difficulties with word-for-word reading. Though often subtle, these deficits, which usually result in subtle word substitutions or word skips, can result in significant functional problems, especially on tests. We frequently see children who consistently show good comprehension reading lengthy passages or even long books, yet who significantly underperform or even fail written tests of reading comprehension because they have difficulty reading short test questions or multiple choice answers.

This seemingly paradoxical difficulty reading short passages can be better understood by considering the nature of the reading difficulties children with stealth dyslexia usually have. As we've mentioned, these children typically show difficulties on the word-by-word reading level, including word skips or occasionally substitutions due to misreading. When they read longer passages, these children are often able to use their excellent higher-order language skills to fill in or correct errors in word reading, drawing on the redundancy and contextual cues that are usually available in longer passages. However, as reading passages get shorter, they contain fewer contextual cues, less redundant content, and often, more condensed syntax. As a result, there will be fewer means of correcting individual word errors, so the likelihood of errors actually increases as passages decrease in length. Unfortunately, there are few types of writing that are more brief, non-contextual, low-redundancy, and condensed than test questions or multiple-choice answers. On such passages, a single missed word--especially conditionals like "not" or "except," or comparatives like "before" or "since"--can yield catastrophic results, and there will be few cues available to show that an error has been made. As a result, children with stealth dyslexia often make "silly mistakes," responding in ways quite different from the way they would have answered had they correctly interpreted the question or answer choices. The same kinds of problems are often seen in math work, as well.

Although these mistakes typically result in underperformance, the 2e child with stealth dyslexia may be able to compensate well enough to avoid actual failure, especially during the early elementary years. As a result, they may not be correctly identified as having dyslexia or any other learning challenge, and appropriate interventions may not be provided. This frustrating pattern will be all too familiar to anyone familiar with 2e children: impairments severe enough to significantly impair learning and school performance, but not severe enough to be recognized or to qualify for appropriate services or accommodations. Like many 2e children, gifted stealth dyslexics often "fall between the cracks," so that the nature of their problem goes unrecognized.
Typically, the children we see with stealth dyslexia struggle through elementary school performing well below their potential, often making superhuman efforts just to keep up. When they meet the heavier writing demands (and sometimes also the more complicated reading assignments) in middle and high school, they frequently find that they are no longer able to keep up. A downward spiral of failure and despair is often the result. This outcome is completely unnecessary. With early identification and appropriate interventions, these children can be equipped to gain all the knowledge and success of which their powerful minds make them capable.

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I have read this before. It is amazing because you could basically insert my son's name into the article. And right down to not being able to write the alphabet correctly at almost 13 when he was tested by a dyslexia tester. When we put him back in school part time in the 6th grade, the teacher would have him type his writing at home because she couldn't read the handwritten work he was doing in the classroom. Then it began that they didn't believe he was writing his own paragraphs and essays. In fact the ss teacher insinuated that again this year in the 8th. It is like they would rather hold him to this heart breaking difficulty he has with his handwriting. Our daughter has dysgraphia issues also. She holds her pencil in her fist, turns the page sideways and writes rather slowly. Because she goes to so much effort, the school denies she has dysgraphia because "they can read it." Very frustrating.
What exact interventions do you suggest and in what priority.
This is a dreadful situation - there are many in schools who just don't comprehend dysgraphia. They don't insist that a person in a wheelchair run the mile, but they expect a student with dysgraphia to write-write-write. If your son is in public school, he should at least be on a 504 and have accommodations for dysgraphia. He would also benefit by accommodations requesting computer use for tests such as the SAT or ACT. You will probably need documentation by an OT or other professional qualified to make the diagnosis.

The pencil grip is often a symptom of a problem rather than the cause - usually it is that there is finger confusion - either on a sensory or motor basis - activities or therapy that encourage finger isolation and better sensory feedback while forming letters can help - but these things are easier to implement if a child is still young. When we see students with severe dysgraphia who are in high school - usually the best choice is to accommodate in the classroom - and find activities that would improve motor sequencing / sensory feedback etc. as part of their normal kid routine (e.g. music lessons, keyboarding).

Many successful adult dyslexics also dictate all of their work using programs such as Dragon Naturally Speaking. I have to add more of these gadgets in the "Tech Toys" group...
Thanks, He does have a 504 for add and auditory processing, which give him the same accomodations. The school doesn't want to put the 2 "D" words on the document although they don't deny it. Some of his teachers are great. He manages to pull off A's and B's with little effort. High school is next. He will need accomodations for the SAT and ACT. I don't think he would be able to do well on the SAT essay without them. He is a competetive mogul skiier, and I feel the training all these years helps somewhat with the focus on left right left right, some improvement, but not significant. Good suggestion about the OT.
Yes, the story of the stealth dyslexic is all too familiar to us. Thanks for posting this discussion, which I'd love to use for advocating. Here are two passages that particularly resonate with me: "Like many 2e children, gifted stealth dyslexics often 'fall between the cracks,' so that the nature of their problem goes unrecognized," and "When they meet the heavier writing demands (and sometimes also the more complicated reading assignments) in middle and high school, they frequently find that they are no longer able to keep up. A downward spiral of failure and despair is often the result. This outcome is completely unnecessary." I'll add that the unnecessary outcomes may persist in college and beyond. I have plenty of stories to tell about that.

I find that I have a question, though. I'd love to lay my hands on a detailed discussion of the emotional impact of dyslexia, or LDs in general. There seems to be a certain division of labor between professionals who "do" educational evaluations and recommend accommodations and those who "do" emotional counseling. I have had to explain again and again that dyslexia may lead to severe anxiety in an academic setting. My explanations have drawn a blank stare from very smart and very qualified people. It would be nice to pull up an article and say, "Here. This may clarify a few things."
We do know of many successful stealth dyslexics in high school who get A's, but are having to work much harder at home, have their parents read their texts etc. The last thing they want to do is go for an assessment - but when they are tested, sometimes the only revealing scores are some supplementary scores on the WIAT-II (so not always given) and the Nelson-Denny (college and graduate-level reading material). Sometimes the variations from other scores (like reading comprehension) are greater than 75 percentile points. These are kids who will get extra time on the SAT and ACT (if the testing was before they took these tests) as well as accommodations in college (options for lighter courseloads etc) - but if these particular tests weren't known, might have sailed into a top tier college, only to fail freshman year because of the heavy reading loads of required core classes, requirements to live on campus (mom can't read texts to them, didn't realize how much that helped etc....)

Of course there are also many bright dyslexics who once leaving college, return a few years later and find all the courseloads "easier" because of more development in their wonderfully wired late blooming brains...

Luiza, I will see what I can find re: papers.

There is also another excellent dyslexia and the university guidebook / handout that I'll add to the college group. Oh, if only all stealth dyslexics were identified as they entered college, received their advisor, had accommodations all in place - like some UK universities! United States colleges and universities have a lot of catching up to do...

p.s. I just looked at Christine's post about turning the page sideways - we do have some kids who do that...horizontal eye movements require more interhemispheric connections..eye exercises and vision therapy can help with this...but when the quantity of work is high, it's good at least she can flip the book...
I am worried about high school. He says when he reads it is like a movie is playing in his head. Certain tests that the school uses like the MAP testing, both score much much higher. They don't do as well on the State testing.

We are really worried about our daughter. She is taking hours to do her homework many nights. She is a dilligent student, she does everything she is suppose to to, and well. She was identified as gifted by a neuropsch, but does not excel, works way too hard to be "average." She does have a weakness in concept imagery. We have to work on that.

It is actually overwelming on what to do.
Christine Johnson said:
I am worried about high school.
We are really worried about our daughter. She is taking hours to do her homework many nights.

Christine, the fact that you understand your children is HUGE. I am sure they know you believe in them and that you will do your best to help. Knowing that mom believes in them will go a long way to helping them believe in themselves and avoid the spiral of despair and failure than Brock and Fernette wrote about.

I don't remember if your children have an accommodations plan or an IEP. If not, you may want to advocate for one of these documents. Your observation that your daughter takes long hours to finish homework should be a strong argument to get her at least a 504 accommodations plan. You may want to document these long hours though, because schools sometimes dismiss unwanted information. Maybe you could keep a journal, describing the assignment and logging how many hours it took her to finish it. I have friends who got good results with a journal.

As for me, I only realized that there was such a thing as an accommodations plan when dd (darling daughter) was halfway through MS, and had already spent years coping with long homework hours.

Good luck,

Luiza
Thank you so much Luiza. What we learned when we went through the special evaluation process through our local school two years ago was that their standard of measure is failure. We do have a 504 for our son. We started the process with our daughter this winter but they said she did not need to be evaluated because she making b's and some a's. We decided not to force it at this time, but forced the CAPD evaluation. She ended up having auditory processing disorder and we will require them to give her a 504 for next year. I like the idea of a journal and will implement that.
What is really upsetting about this is that we decided to have a consultation with the best special education attorney in the state, to make sure we understood the law and the 504 process. He told us most of his clients were parents just like us, twice exceptional children, and that it was a difficult fight.
I don't know if it is just Colorado, or if this is a problem across the county.
Replying to my own post... I found a handout on social and emotional problems of dyslexics by Dr. Michael Ryan in the site of the International Dyslexia Association. I am posting it here. I'd love to have comments on this handout, from all concerned one way or the other. Rhanks in advance, Luiza

Luiza Moreira said:
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It was certainly difficult in upstate New York to have our 2E daughter receive adequate support in the public schools.

We found that good will and empathy on the part of school personnel, as well as leadership by the administration made all the difference in the world on whether her needs were met. In our case, it was very important to move dd to a school district with a good record in addressing LDs - and an administration supportive of LD services. A key factor in the move is that a friend referred me to a High School counselor who had been very supportive of her own daughter and very effective too. When we made an appointment to see that counselor, we learned that she was she was the mother of a dyslexic young woman. Things got *much* better after that. The school began to help in any way it could.

I guess the moral of the story is that it pays to be persistent. It is also a good idea to look for an ally within the school, and cultivate that relationship. Just make sure you protect the relationship of your ally to her/ his boss, and protect her job too. Good luck,

Luiza

Christine Johnson said:
I don't know if it is just Colorado, or if this is a problem across the county.
I just want to add toe Drs Eide comment "Of course there are also many bright dyslexics who once leaving college, return a few years later and find all the courseloads "easier" because of more development in their wonderfully wired late blooming brains..."

I am an adult dyslexic who, somehow, made it thru college. I even have 18 credits towards an MBA. I wouldn't say that I am a 2e, but I am certainly a stealth dyslexic. My reading scores were high, but my academic performance was low. On the SATs and the GREs, I scored in the 600s on the math and in the 400s on the verbal. I could never understand how there could be such a descrepancy between the two scores until I read about Stealth Dyslexics, and my questions were finally answered. My dad used to called me a late bloomer because I finally starting performing well when I got to HS. All of a sudden, all the subjects that were so difficult for me became easier. I knew that I had to work 4 times as hard as normal students, and I did that. I worked very hard in college because getting BA was very important to me. But learning did get easier for me as I got older. I have had a successful career as a computer programmer with IBM for the last 24 years. I still have to work very hard to understand many things. The good thing about it is that, once I learn it, I never forget it! I am 56 years old and I am now being tutored for expository writing, something I always wanted to do well, but never understood how to do it. I have just found out that I am also dysgraphic and my tutor is working on that with me also. I am very lucky to live close to Diana King who has graciously accepted me as her pupil. I don't think of Dyslexia as learning disability because I am able to learn. I just need to learn at a slower pace in order to digest it all. Visual teaching also helps immensely.

So, for all of you with 2e children, learning will get easier for them as they mature. But, they will probably still have to work hard to keep up. I think that working hard is a good thing because then you'e never afraid to "dig in".

Ilene

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