Possible learning disability... any advice appreciated.

My DD is 6 and in first grade. She reads well, but her writing and math skills are horrible. The problem is that she reverses a lot of her letters and any possible number she can. You can imagine how difficult that is for math... the problem will be 12+__=18 and she will rewrite it as 21+6=81 with the 2 and 6 reversed. She forms all her letters and numbers incorrectly and no amount of practice at home or at school makes her form them correctly. When she writes something and she sounds it out she mixes up the syllables. So for example, if she's trying to write the word "inspection" she would write it "inshunspek." She's been pulled for every test known to man... eye tests, OT, intelligence, reading assessments, you name it. The teachers keep telling me, "Something is wrong, but we can't figure out what it is." The teacher is very aware of the issues, but because she tests high for reading, there's basically nothing she can do. My DD compensates for things... she knows she can't make the numbers and letters properly, so she makes them super neat and perfect. She can't even copy them properly... I will have the numbers written out and tell her to copy whats there, but she can't do it. They have the numbers and letters taped to her desk at school. She will stare at the letter on the strip and write it totally backwards. She gets so frustrated and I just feel so bad for her.

There's a TON of dyslexia in my husband's family. He has a mild case of it and his mom and brother are severe. So of course, that has crossed my mind, but have been flatly told by the school there's no way to test for it until third grade. Given the fact that the teacher and specialists acknowledge that there's something wrong, I don't understand why there's nothing they can do in the meantime to help her.

Anyone in a similar boat? Advice? TIA.

Re: Possible learning disability... any advice appreciated.

Have you taken her to see a neuro? I think that's what I would do next. I would also take her to an eye doctor, just in case. Dr. Scibilia in Bay Shore is great.

Good Luck!

Re: Possible learning disability... any advice appreciated.

It sounds like she may have dysgraphia, based on the fact that she is reversing some letters and numbers. It is a kind of learning disability. This website has some helpful information for you. I have had students in the past that have had dysgraphia and the students all were of average intelligence, but had difficulty writing. My students were older (3rd grade) but had accommodations such as scribing for tests and access to a computer for writing purposes. Let me know if you have any questions!

Re: Possible learning disability... any advice appreciated.

I'm in a similar boat in that my daughter is a strong reader pretty good at math but spells phonetically & reverses random numbers & letters.

I had her tested by the school district. I was hoping for "Oh, this is wrong & we know how to fix it." instead I got "we've never seen anything like this in my 30 years". Wonderful right?

The only hope I can offer you is that it's very common at 6/1st grade. My daughter is 9 & is getting a lot better but it's still a challenge.

Oddly enough, with all of the testing that the school district did, she's now in the gifted & talented program (even though she can't spell??).

Re: Possible learning disability... any advice appreciated.

Just to offer a little insight...until third grade, it is considered typical for children to reverse their letters and numbers. That may be why the district is saying they cannot determine until 3rd grade.

That being said, it does seem there is something going on there. You may want to consider a neuropsychological evaluation, but they are not cheap and insurance often doesn't cover them.