Katheryn, I think part of my emotional to this issue stems a great deal from how I was treated as a child by parents and teachers. It is not as much about the fact that he struggles with something. As for dyslexic, I do not believe this issues support this condition. I believe his difficulty fluency is more related to only taking the time to see the first few letters of a word and impulsively making an assumption about what the word is without looking at all of the letters. Also, I think he just has trouble keeping his eyes moving on the line of text he is reading. I know when I read mind sometimes gets out of sync with my eyes or as I am reading it will float off on some tangent. I will say that I taking the Adderall has helped a lot with this issue and given me the ability to sit for longer periods of time. I just really don't want my 9 yr old on medication.

Sunrise, yes I think my son has some characteristics of ADHD and I worry that I am just resistance to accepting that he has ADHD, in the same way that I resisted my own dx. Having said that I by no means think that he is disabled or in need of labeling by the school district. He is currently in an advanced placement classroom, he struggles a little to keep pace, but overall he is doing great. His fluency scores have remained staggant for the past few assessments, and I guess now he has moved into the at risk level. I am not a reading specialist, but I've recognized his difficultly in this area for several years now. I've raised my concerns but was always told....he is above the benchmark so he doesn't have a problem. Unlike, me who was monitoring his lack of progress over time, I guess his teachers just cared about some benchmark cut-off.

Anyway, over the years I have done my own intervention; maybe that is what kept him above their radar for so long. I've enrolled him in reading enrichment activities outside of the school system and spent a lot of time working with him at home. Unfortunately, he is to the age where he doesn't just accept what mom signs him up for. He started asking, "why do I have to go to reading class on Saturdays, none of my other friends have to go?" This year in particular it has been difficult for me to provide him with additional support, without making him aware that he might have a problem. I don't want him thinking he has a problem or that he is dumb. I would much rather have him thinking: I can handle any academic challenge. I may just need to be more creative and work a little harder than others to do it, and that's OK. Unfortunately, the school system doesn't seem to promote this belief. I am afraid they are going to simply tell me to move him to a lower ability class and let him feel good about getting 100s on his tests. I believe most children are capable of much more than than the marginal level work they are given.

Sorry this post seems to have gotten off the ADHD topic. The bottom line is ... I'm a successful professional who happens to have ADHD. Dispite my childhood teachers' expectations and what my SAT scores predicted, I've earned degrees, published maniscripts, presented in my field, and done many things that I was told I couldn't do.

BWT, one very simple technique that has helped with maintaining eye focus while reading is to use a ruler to keep your place on the page. Neither of my kids can tolerate following along with the finger. But for my youngest the ruler method is tolerable and doesn't add yet another distraction.