I have been told this on a few occasions by a few different people but there is and it can be called Dyslexia.

The number one warning sign for dyslexia is spelling issues. If you can't decode words to read them you won't be able to decode them to spell either.

IDEA definition of Specific Learning Disability is as follows...

Specific Learning Disability

(A) IN GENERAL.–The term 'specific learning disability' means a disorder in 1 or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

(I underlined and used boldface for the word spell)

Spelling usually falls under written expression and written expression sadly is harder to get services for however if your child is having reading issues and has an IEP there should also be a goal about spelling.

By now you probably know my feelings about Kelli Sandman-Hurley from the Dyslexia Training Institute. Kelli has been doing a lot of work in the area of spelling as of late and if you have not already liked their page, you can find it here. She posts a lot of information about teaching spelling. Kelli recently posted this on their facebook page:

Well said. If your child has an IEP, make sure there is a spelling goal.

But what if your child doesn't have an IEP. What if when your child takes the universal screener required for RTI they score just above the 25th percentile in reading but your child can't spell, doesn't understand correct punctuation and capitalization? Then what do you do?

I wish I had some magic idea for you but sadly I don't. Written Expression is hard to fight for but if you do your research, save all your child's work, keep a journal of your child when doing homework, you can try to make the point of where the issues are.

There is such a thing as a spelling learning disability, most times it is called Dyslexia.

My daughter just started 4th grade and she was very nervous about it, but she is always nervous at the start of the new year. My little secret is, I was really nervous too. I know what 4th grade is like and I have been worried about how she will do with this tougher school work. I tried to make sure I had everything ready and set for her but you just never know what you might be missing.

Her first week of school she got in the car when I picked her up and she started doing her homework. She had to write 6 sentences about the story they read in class. Sigh. I was so nervous for her, that she would be stressed out about it but we got home and she finished her sentences. Later that evening she asked if she could read to me what she wrote, and I said "of course". This is what she wrote....

She did an excellent job on her sentences, she said exactly what happened in the story. But....look at her spelling errors. Now, any parent of a dyslexic student at this point might get very worried, all that red ink (or whatever color the teacher uses) all over the paper, handing it back to the student and maybe even making her re-write it, we all know how that student would now feel, and it's heartbreaking.

So the next day she brings home her paper and this is what it says on the front...

She didn't have to rewrite it, there were no marks on the sentences in the back, just that big 100 and Awesome work kiddo! I am still beaming about this paper.

Any guesses on how this happened? You're right, my daughters teacher understands dyslexia! She knows what dyslexia is and she knows how to accommodate in her classroom! She didn't grade on spelling, she graded on content! I love my daughters teacher.

I will say it again...Teacher training is so important!