Jeanne wrote:

I'm not the OP but you've just described my 7 yo daughter except her
reading may be a bit weaker than your child. I know what you're going
through. It's hard to know where to begin.

Do you know anyone whose child is in a private school for dyslexic or
learning disabled children? I knew such a person, so she was my obvious
source for where to start. She also confirmed my suspicions about DD -
that I wasn't over reacting. I also talked to another friend who works
in the local school system (former teacher and principal) to see if I
was on-target about DD's spelling issues.

Jeanne: Thanks for your reply. We're in a small enough community that
the closest such private schools are 100 miles or more away, and I
don't have any contacts there. But I'm confident enough of my
instincts that I know I'm going to pursue testing. My uncertainty
rests in whether to have it done through our public school, through a
very good local nonprofit organization that serves kids with
language-related learning problems, or even through someone who can do
a very complete psychoeducational assessment (the fact that M. also
has mild ADD is nudging me in that direction). Then the decision will
be what specific remediation to pursue and where.

I feel like I have a lot of information to wade through in making
these decisions, but with my son headed for middle school next year
I feel great pressure to get them made quickly.

--Molly