Stealth Dyslexia  - Page 3

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.