Reading challenges are a common concern among homeschool parents. In the following article, my friend Christi discusses the challenges she faced while homeschooling a child with dyslexia:

My heart sank as I read,“the advntshurs uv Buz Lityeer”. I wasn’t disappointed that my six-year-old son couldn’t spell. I was disappointed that, like some cryptic code requiring a secret decoder ring, I had to hold the paper up to a mirror in order to read it. That secret decoder ring revealed what I had already known in my heart to be true; just like my husband, it was quite likely that my little boy struggled with dyslexia.

Symptoms of Dyslexia

In the early elementary years it can be quite difficult for a parent to distinguish normal development from symptoms of a problem. Any child may scramble some letters or use some creative spelling, but dyslexic children may also:

• Complain about the words floating around on the page,
• Mispronounce certain words because of auditory processing issues,
• Be particularly uncoordinated and clumsy, and
• Exhibit sensory integration issues.

However, parents need to recognize that dyslexia does not equal unintelligent. In fact, dyslexics tend to have higher than average IQs. That can add to the frustration of parents who are homeschooling children with dyslexia. How can a child with a genius level IQ be struggling to read?

Dyslexia Testing in the Homeschool

If you are homeschooling children with dyslexia, seek professional testing. We officially began the process of having our son diagnosed at the end of his second grade year. Prior to then, it’s simply too common for a child to invert, scramble or even write letters in mirror image. In fact, many places will not test until a child is seven years old.

Some homeschoolers contact their local public school systems to inquire about testing or seek referrals from a pediatrician. I took my son to our pediatric ophthalmologist and he referred us to a college of optometry that performs dyslexia testing.

Just as there is not one simple place to go to have your child tested, there is not one simple test. My son underwent a battery of fairly intense tests over the course of weeks. The tests examined reading, writing and auditory skills. Because dyslexia comes in varying degrees, it is important to know exactly where your child’s struggles lay.

I was told that my son had the most severe case of dyslexia they had ever seen, and that it was doubtful that he would ever read. Yes, I was actually told that.