Dyslexia questions

[mysevendwarfs]

DS Is age 7 and just finishing first grade. I just had some extensive testing done and he was diagnosed with dyslexia. He scored very high on the iq portion of the testing, but in the reading and language areas he did very poorly. As it is the end of the school year we are trying to decide what to do for next year. We currently send him to a small parochial school where he has received speech therapy the last year through the public schools. We are very happy with this school and school community. They have been extremely supportive of our family as our DD battles a brain tumor. I am not eager to switch schools, but am trying to decide what is best for him. He will be our only child in elementary school next year.

We are relieved in a way to know what is causing his school difficulties and behavior issues. He is easily frustrated and struggling a little socially.


This is all new to us as we don't know anyone with dyslexia. Does anyone know if any assistance is covered by insurance? I know it is considered a neurological problem. Any advice for a parent just starting to deal with a diagnosis? Thanks in advance.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I guess the important question is what kind of reading programs are available at the current school or what type of tutoring could you get? As your DS gets older the frustrations will mount, so the early you can get intervention the better.
I currently work with a 4th grader who has a very high IQ, excellent listening comprehension, great math skills etc... but is reading at a mid/ late first grade level and his frustration is really starting to overwhelm him and it is heartbreaking. We have been using the Wilson program and he is finally starting to make good progress, but he has a long road ahead of him.
Your DS needs small group or one on one reading instruction with a strong phonics component. If the current school can't offer that, then I think you either need a private tutor or you may have to look into other schools.

ETA: I have never heard of any insurance company covering things for dyslexia, but I would be interested in knowing if anyone has as most of my students are dyslexic and come from low-income families. Your DS could qualify for an IEP to give him the needed supports (if he doesn't already have one for the speech.) But, not sure how those work in parochial schools? I do know that when one of my students left to be homeschooled, she was entitled to continue her speech and reading services through the public schools. It never happened because mom stopped the homeschooling, but I know it was an option.

 

[disneycruising]

My DD 11, is dyslexic . We have known since she was in 1st grade. We keep her in public school until 3rd grade, at the end of 3rd grade she was still a whole year behind in reading.

For 4th & 5th grade we put her in a private dyslexia school, an hour from our house. It was great for her because everyone in the school was dyslexic. She love knowing everyone was like her. It was also a very small school with only about 20 kids. She improved a lot! Next year she will go to public middle school.

If I could do it over again I would have sent her to the dyslexic school as soon as we she was dyslexic.

If you can afford to, you need to find a school for dyslexic children that uses the slingerland method or an orton-gillingham. Here is their websites: www.slingerland.org
www.orton-gillingham.com

 

[SmallWorld71]

If you can afford to, you need to find a school for dyslexic children that uses the slingerland ethodor an orton gillingham. Here is their websites: www.slingerland.org
www.orton-gillingham.com

I have not heard of slingerland before and will be sure to check that out. I'm always looking for new info.

I am only Wilson certified, but many of my colleagues have O-G certification and Wilson and prefer the Wilson as it is easier to teach. Very similar approaches though, and both are very good.

 

[mysevendwarfs]

Thanks for all your responses! I had a friend suggest homeschooling for a year to catch him up. I'm not sure I would be up to the task, but DD is in homebound school (public school teacher comes for 2 hours a day) currently.

Has anyone heard of or had experience with the Fast Forword program? My friend who is a reading specialist and has tutored for dyslexia recommended it.

 

[iluvdiscruises]

For a K student just diagnosed, what do you recommend goes in an IEP for a first grader? Trying to understand what kind of accommodations would be useful to request.
Thanks!

 

[SmallWorld71]

For a K student just diagnosed, what do you recommend goes in an IEP for a first grader? Trying to understand what kind of accommodations would be useful to request.
Thanks!

Depends on the severity of the problem, but the children that I work with in grade 1 have a reading and/ or writing goal which may focus on things such as phonics, sight words, retellings, learning to write using invented spelling and so on depending on what they need. Typically, I work with them for about 45 min. each day in the classroom. We also are a Title 1 school and my students get the luxury of small group (2-4 students) pull-out for 1/2 hour daily with a reading specialist as well. We have found that the "double" reading everyday (not including what they do with the classroom teacher) has been most effective. I know Title 1 is not available everywhere, but some small group reading is essential whoever might be the person in your school to do that.

Some accomodations that may be helpful include:
* preferential seating
* access to a word wall (or word bank) for high frequency words - most 1st grade classrooms have these, but not all
* directions clearly defined/repeated/rephrased
* peer and adult modeling
* consistent routine
* repetition
* small group activities
* verbal and visual cues

If writing is an issue, you may need to have the quantity of written work reduced when necessary or allow DS to dictate answers when needed. (This last one I generally only use when there is a serious fine motor issue.)

I'm sure there are tons of others that may be helpful, but it's the last week of school and I think my brain is already on vacation. Your DS may not need all (or any) of these, but they are some of the accommodations that my students have gotten in the past.

HTH

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thanks for all your responses! I had a friend suggest homeschooling for a year to catch him up. I'm not sure I would be up to the task, but DD is in homebound school (public school teacher comes for 2 hours a day) currently.

Has anyone heard of or had experience with the Fast Forword program? My friend who is a reading specialist and has tutored for dyslexia recommended it.

I am not trying to discourage you from homeschooling, as that is a very personal decision. But, if your child is truly dyslexic, it is a life-long disability and chances are you wouldn't be able to just keep him for a year and "catch him up" as it is something that will always be with him and something that he will continually be learning strategies to deal with. Just something to think about when making your decisions.

 

[Vowelmommy]

I am not trying to discourage you from homeschooling, as that is a very personal decision. But, if your child is truly dyslexic, it is a life-long disability and chances are you wouldn't be able to just keep him for a year and "catch him up" as it is something that will always be with him and something that he will continually be learning strategies to deal with. Just something to think about when making your decisions.

This is one of the most important things I was told when my son was diagnosed. He was born with dyslexia, he will have it when he is 30, he will have it when he is 80. He will not outgrow it, and it is not just a phase. I think it really helped me make decisions for him.

 

[iluvdiscruises]

Depends on the severity of the problem, but the children that I work with in grade 1 have a reading and/ or writing goal which may focus on things such as phonics, sight words, retellings, learning to write using invented spelling and so on depending on what they need. Typically, I work with them for about 45 min. each day in the classroom. We also are a Title 1 school and my students get the luxury of small group (2-4 students) pull-out for 1/2 hour daily with a reading specialist as well. We have found that the "double" reading everyday (not including what they do with the classroom teacher) has been most effective. I know Title 1 is not available everywhere, but some small group reading is essential whoever might be the person in your school to do that.

Some accomodations that may be helpful include:
* preferential seating
* access to a word wall (or word bank) for high frequency words - most 1st grade classrooms have these, but not all
* directions clearly defined/repeated/rephrased
* peer and adult modeling
* consistent routine
* repetition
* small group activities
* verbal and visual cues

If writing is an issue, you may need to have the quantity of written work reduced when necessary or allow DS to dictate answers when needed. (This last one I generally only use when there is a serious fine motor issue.)

I'm sure there are tons of others that may be helpful, but it's the last week of school and I think my brain is already on vacation. Your DS may not need all (or any) of these, but they are some of the accommodations that my students have gotten in the past.

HTH

This does help. I have some additional questions if you don't mind:
* preferential seating (front row? near teacher's desk?)
* access to a word wall (or word bank) for high frequency words - most 1st grade classrooms have these, but not all (is there a word bank book you can recommmend in case there isn't a word wall?)
* directions clearly defined/repeated/rephrased (by the teacher? could a 1-1 aide be helpful here?)
* peer and adult modeling (how? have a strong reader read to him? or?)
* consistent routine (get this...our grade 1 is VERY consistent)
* repetition (extra pages of homework? or?)
* small group activities (any suggestions? all activities require a small group?)
* verbal and visual cues (are there particular methods that you would recommend?)

THANK YOU again for your assistance!

 

[bopper]

Not only will he be dyslexic all his life...but also dylexia does not determine how smart he is! Make sure he knows that.
I used to work with an extremely intelligent person...who was legally blind and also dyslexic. The only issues she would have is if I would say "let's review page 39" and then maybe she would go to page 93 or something.

 

[SmallWorld71]

This does help. I have some additional questions if you don't mind:
* preferential seating (front row? near teacher's desk?) Depends on what is needed - up front would be most common, but some kids might do better with something else such as away from the door/ windows or on the side/ back where they could stand up or move around; if the teacher has the desks in groups, often the desks face different directions so someone with dyslexia might need to face forward
* access to a word wall (or word bank) for high frequency words - most 1st grade classrooms have these, but not all (is there a word bank book you can recommmend in case there isn't a word wall?) -I don't know of a specific book, but I have seen teachers print out their own personal ones just by using a list such as the Dolch list of high frequency words, generally one letter per page, so all the commonly used 'a' words would be on one page and so on; I like the word wall better for grade 1 because it's easier to use, but this is an alternative - especially as the child gets older
* directions clearly defined/repeated/rephrased (by the teacher? could a 1-1 aide be helpful here?) -I think this could be done by anyone, I find this necessary with children with receptive language difficulties* peer and adult modeling (how? have a strong reader read to him? or?) -could be, or it could just be a finished product to look at, or the adult could do one example to show the directions (if the child can't read them), this works well in math where dyslexic children often excell, but can't read the directions for what they are supposed to do
* consistent routine (get this...our grade 1 is VERY consistent)
* repetition (extra pages of homework? or?) On this one, I just meant frequent practice of things that were difficult such as sight words etc... Could be homework or in class
* small group activities (any suggestions? all activities require a small group?) -With the little ones, I find the small group is most needed when it is time to do activities that involve a lot of writing or if there is reading above the child's independent reading level; this one can also depend a lot on how much support the classroom teacher has
* verbal and visual cues (are there particular methods that you would recommend?) -I was thinking more along the lines of if there are reading issues, then verbal directions etc. would be needed rather than written or a picture showing what the child might nt be able to read in wordsTHANK YOU again for your assistance!

Just want to clarify that these were very general suggestions. You would want to tailor things to fit your child. Also, not everything would be needed by every child. But, it gives you some things to think about. Also, a lot of it is what a good teacher might do for everyone, but, I always feel better if things are clearly specified on my students' IEPs since you never know what a teacher's style may be or if the teacher may need to change for some reason.

 

[AZDisFamily]

I just wanted to say my DD (age 7 and going into 2nd grade) has had reading / spelling issues since K. We have had a direct instruction reading tutor come twice a week during the school year and it has help her reading a lot, but not the spelling.

We are in the process of having our DD tested for dyslexia and this thread has been very helpful to me in understanding what accomodations might be possible next school year.

We are having her tested outside of the school district as the district does no specifically test for dyslexia - only for qualification of services (???).

Anyway, I just found it refreshing to see a post about this here on the Disboards as we are also going to WDW this summer (less than 3 weeks away!).

Just another reason to love the DIS!

 

[SmallWorld71]

We are having her tested outside of the school district as the district does no specifically test for dyslexia - only for qualification of services (???).

Just to clarify - Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis so it can't be diagnosed by the school. A school can do testing and find that a child has a "specific learning disability" in the area of reading. Also, I don't know if this varies by state, but in order to qualify a child for a specific learning disability there is a lot of paperwork and the school must prove that they have tried interventions and that they haven't worked and that the disability isn't a result of something else (attendance, background etc...). So, where I am at least, it is rare to see this as a disability before grade 3 at the earliest. My first and second graders generally either have Developmental Delay as their disability (with the school gathering evidence to prove a learning disability later on if necessary) or a Communication disability and they also are eligible to receive speech services. This is my long winded way of saying that sometimes an outside eval. can be necessary to really help your child get the services they need early enough. Sadly, many dyslexic children don't get help in their early elementary years because they have average/ above average IQ's so they are able to function well in the classroom in spite of their disability.

Have a fabulous Disney trip!

 

[clanmcculloch]

I'm sorry to hijack this thread, but can somebody please explain to me the current definition of dyslexia? At one time, years ago, I understand that it was an issue with letter reversal but I also understand that this definition has changed quite a bit. My daughter had issues with letter reversal (plus a bunch of other visual issues) and the eye doctor was very clear about the fact that she does not have dyslexia. I'm confused though. The neurologist we just saw (having her evaluated for NVLD or ASD; I suspect her vision issues may be NVLD related but he doesn't) wants her tested for dyslexia. The letter reversal, convergence and tracking issues seem to have been corrected through vision therapy but she definitely still has some visual processing issues. Her brain doesn't seem to connect the individual words that she reads into sentences and paragraphs with meaning; they remain individual words. Reading enough times, especially if she reads out loud so she can hear, she will eventually absorb the info but it takes a lot. She also doesn't seem to retain much information provided visually. She's very strong with comprehension and retention of auditory information but visual just doesn't process correctly. She does have some issues with spacing and placement with writing. She can spell orally but will mis-spell written words and doesn't leaves out obvious letters when even trying to guess based on phonetic spellings. When I read up on dyslexia this does sound like some of the descriptions but every site seems to have different definitions so while yes this matches some sites it very much differs from others. I'm so confused. The eye doctor who said she does not have dyslexia is a COVD doctor. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not.

Again, I'm sorry to hijack, but I really do appreciate any insights any of you might have.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I'm sorry to hijack this thread, but can somebody please explain to me the current definition of dyslexia? At one time, years ago, I understand that it was an issue with letter reversal but I also understand that this definition has changed quite a bit. My daughter had issues with letter reversal (plus a bunch of other visual issues) and the eye doctor was very clear about the fact that she does not have dyslexia. I'm confused though. The neurologist we just saw (having her evaluated for NVLD or ASD; I suspect her vision issues may be NVLD related but he doesn't) wants her tested for dyslexia. The letter reversal, convergence and tracking issues seem to have been corrected through vision therapy but she definitely still has some visual processing issues. Her brain doesn't seem to connect the individual words that she reads into sentences and paragraphs with meaning; they remain individual words. Reading enough times, especially if she reads out loud so she can hear, she will eventually absorb the info but it takes a lot. She also doesn't seem to retain much information provided visually. She's very strong with comprehension and retention of auditory information but visual just doesn't process correctly. She does have some issues with spacing and placement with writing. She can spell orally but will mis-spell written words and doesn't leaves out obvious letters when even trying to guess based on phonetic spellings. When I read up on dyslexia this does sound like some of the descriptions but every site seems to have different definitions so while yes this matches some sites it very much differs from others. I'm so confused. The eye doctor who said she does not have dyslexia is a COVD doctor. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not.

Again, I'm sorry to hijack, but I really do appreciate any insights any of you might have.

Have you tried this website? www.interdys.org

It's the international dyslexia association's website. It might be able to answer some of your questions.

Also, I have seen plenty of students who appear to have reading issues, when it is in fact a vision problem. However, I have also seen plenty of children with both. I'm of the opinion that you should follow the neurologist's advice. Either she will get a diagnosis and that will give everyone more insight in how to help her or she won't and then you won't have to wonder about it. JMO

 

[clanmcculloch]

Thank you SmallWorld.

I've got her on the waiting list for a doctor recommended by her neurologist. Unfortunately, the waiting list for this doctor is several months out so it's going to take time. I'm a firm believer in waiting for a good doctor rather than finding the first one who can you because we've had poor experiences with doctors in the past and this particular doctor has been recommended to me by other who've had great experiences with him plus he was recommened by the neurologist. I just have to try to be patient.

That site is very informative. Thank you! I definitely need some time to process it all. At first glance, it's actually bringing me back to my original suspition that she has NVLD rather than dyslexia but I'm definitely going to wait until the doctor's been able to form his own opinions before I bring my questions about specifics of one diagnosis over another to him (don't want him only looking one direction if that makes any sense). Lots of reading to do. Thanks again!

I do know she has vision issues in addition to the procesing issues. I guess that's what makes it even more confusing. Ugh, the alphabet soup of issues in my house can make a person's head spin.

 

[scroot]

I am 46 now. It was determined that my adacemic problems were caused by dyslexia when I was 12. So, I have known for 34 years. While there were times when school was very hard, I eventually "learned how to learn."

I earned a master's degree and am very happy in my chosen field.

I would encourage you to be patiet and encouraging with your child.

It might also help to discover the skills your child has developed that compesate for the dyslexia. For example, I am a terribly slow reader but I remember everything that I read. It may have taken me two to three times as long to read my text books, but I recovered that time by needing much less review that my fellow students. I, to this day, can not spell well but I can remember people's names and information after one encounter. If someone were to say, "we can take away your dyslexia but you will lose your freaky memory" I wouldn't take it.

Even though it was very hard, I was bullied by students and teachers alike, I have come to see my dyslexia as a gift. I hope your little one can get to that point as well.

 

[AZDisFamily]

Just to clarify - Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis so it can't be diagnosed by the school. A school can do testing and find that a child has a "specific learning disability" in the area of reading. Also, I don't know if this varies by state, but in order to qualify a child for a specific learning disability there is a lot of paperwork and the school must prove that they have tried interventions and that they haven't worked and that the disability isn't a result of something else (attendance, background etc...). So, where I am at least, it is rare to see this as a disability before grade 3 at the earliest. My first and second graders generally either have Developmental Delay as their disability (with the school gathering evidence to prove a learning disability later on if necessary) or a Communication disability and they also are eligible to receive speech services. This is my long winded way of saying that sometimes an outside eval. can be necessary to really help your child get the services they need early enough. Sadly, many dyslexic children don't get help in their early elementary years because they have average/ above average IQ's so they are able to function well in the classroom in spite of their disability.

Have a fabulous Disney trip!

See we have had her tested by the school and the result was that, while she was struggling, she wasn't "discrepent enough" to qualify for services - so pretty much she was behind, but not far enough behind to warrant help.

That is why we started with our own direct instruction tutor at home twice a week. Now that second grade is coming up, the tutor suggested we get an outside evaluation done, because if it comes back with something, then we can go to the school and get either an IEP or a 504 plan in place since, per the tutor, second grade will require more of her in spelling / reading /writing and while she does have an average / above average IQ and has been able to compensate so far, this could be the year things start to fall apart without some sort of plan in place.

 

[katrina1122]

Just to clarify - Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis so it can't be diagnosed by the school. A school can do testing and find that a child has a "specific learning disability" in the area of reading. Also, I don't know if this varies by state, but in order to qualify a child for a specific learning disability there is a lot of paperwork and the school must prove that they have tried interventions and that they haven't worked and that the disability isn't a result of something else (attendance, background etc...). So, where I am at least, it is rare to see this as a disability before grade 3 at the earliest. My first and second graders generally either have Developmental Delay as their disability (with the school gathering evidence to prove a learning disability later on if necessary) or a Communication disability and they also are eligible to receive speech services. This is my long winded way of saying that sometimes an outside eval. can be necessary to really help your child get the services they need early enough. Sadly, many dyslexic children don't get help in their early elementary years because they have average/ above average IQ's so they are able to function well in the classroom in spite of their disability.

Have a fabulous Disney trip!

That was me, I wasted tested in the 4th grade and was shown to have several mild learning disablitites including dsylexia, but because my grades were farily good and my iq made me eligible for the Giftend and Talented Program the school didn't help me. I finally got true help when I went off to college from our disability resource center. They taught me how to study, cope, compensate, etc and made allowances for extra time on tests, etc. It made a huge difference.