I'm not sure. How is his memory? Being a good speller must mean he has a great memory. I think what constitutes a good speller is not having to study spelling- just picking it up naturally. He may make some mistakes, but they are understandable mistakes, and then he won't make them again once he learns once how to spell it correctly.

That's just it, his memory is terrible, he can't do anything beyond 3, like sequencing, directions, etc etc so how he is able to remember spelling words is beyond all of us even the professionals. Spelling doesn't come natural to him, he needs to study, study study, and some words like picture, he can't spell, no matter how much he studies it, so this is what's so confusing to everyone. He spelled the word language with no problem. The word picture he would put pichure--so is it the way he's decoding it or hearing hit? We know he has no physical conditions with his ears, could he have slight audio processing disorder going on? Heck at this point it wouldn't surprise me since he has everyother processing disorder. I just wish I could understand all of this.

I used to be like that as well. Star Wars was a huge thing when I was a kid. "Darth Vader" to me was "Dark Vader". Princess Leia" was "Princess Leah". There are so many others. Woolworths I could never get a handle on, so I called it "Werewolf". And my hearing was fine too. Some sounds get tangled up in our minds I think. As I grew older, it cleared up. Maybe it will for your son. So the word "picture" sounds like "pichure", so that's how he spells it. As for "language"- it's crazy great he can spell it. I probably didn't learn how to spell it until two years ago. (No, just kidding, sort of) Does he read a lot? I hear LD readers tend to have disjointed spelling because they remember certain words from their readings but not others.

Reading is extremely difficult for him, we do read, but it's a challenge for him. No matter what, we still read.

OH my he is so into Star Wars Lego's it isn't funny. He loves Vader and Darth Maul. He has some awesome costumes I have gotten him. He also likes General Greivous--I don't know if he is from the original SW or the Clone Wars, but he loves both.

Read a lot of web or books on "learning techniques & learning styles, I don't think we will ever understand "why's" sometimes even though we so wish we could but it all comes in & processes differently for everybody, so using some advise in those category books may help u guys learn how he needs to learn. Much luv 2 u:)

Welcome aboard my friend--I am so glad to see you posting here. I read so much that I think I boggle my own mind over what I have read, so I have to take a few days to diges everything then go back and learn more about key points that struck my curiousity button. We have tried several so far, but what makes it hard is not really knowing the full extent of his LD's and where the stem from. We know he needs alot of reminders and repitition--unfortunately the school is not that patient, they move from one topic to another so quickly that he's still stuck on the previous one. ) : Another friend of mine wants me to pursue the possiblity of him having absence seizures--I am having such a hard time with that, but since his eeg is so contradictory I guess I should pursue it, even if it's to cross another possible cause off the list. I think the idea of him having absence seizures just scares me.

I don't blame you being scared- the thought of seizures is terrifying. But you might as rule out everything. If he does have them, at least you will have answers and probably a remedy. If not, then great, it's not medical, and you can continue on.

I told you in my other post that he is having absence seizures but I can't rule out that he's not having Jeavon's Syndrome which is a form of epilepsy that only effects his eyes. That will be for the Neuro to figure out. He's photosensitive and I think I caused the spell one night by turning on the bathroom light--that is when I saw it for the first time. Now that I have seen it--I reconized that I have seen them before just never connected the dots--because they are over as quick as a snap of the finger. So now we can possibly find out if they episodes are causing damage to his brain. Hopefully if he has to do med's it will help him.

I will keep you posted.

Our 10-yo GS is having a horrible time with spelling. He spells the word correctly one minute but then the next minute he can't. He is undergoing the WISC test by his psychologist to determine what exactly is wrong. He also has ADHD. I was thinking depression - his mother passed away suddenly 2 years ago and his little half-brother (in another state) suffers from Batten disease and will die within 2 years, if not sooner. He actually has meltdowns when it comes to doing spelling and cursive writing. Last night he had such a meltdown that he was screaming and crying and then trashed his bedroom. It continued this morning and lasted until about an hour ago. I did not send him to school. If it's frustrating for us, imagine what it's like for the child.

Hi Sowle,
I use to be a lot like your son as a child and still today. Though just recently, my parents actually got an answer as to why I had so much difficulties as a child and throughout school. From early on my parents and teachers could never figure out why I was such a mystery. A lot of my teachers when I was younger always thought it had to do with a processing issue or an attention issue but no doctor could ever pin point exactly what. At first my parents went with the belief of all of this still being a developmental delay(diagnosed from pediatrician). In middle school I was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder by a speech pathologist and was treated but showed no improvement. Things just got progressively worse as I reached my higher grades. When I reached high school my parents had thought to give it a try with ADHD drugs to help me focus because, many of my teachers complained I couldn't focus. Though none of them worked! So they took me off of them. I was accused of my problems as "its your epilepsy"(clearly it wasn't) , "you don't have central auditory processing disorder, you only have that when your young", "its the age, she will outgrow it" to "Your not trying hard enough". Until I reached college that was a whole different ball game. If it was not for my advisor and my recent neuropsychology test I will probably of though I was still stupid. I was diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disability. Has your son been tested for Nonverbal Learning Disability?
Here is a link if your interested http://www.nldontheweb.org/