Help! Dyslexia

[turning40withMickey]

DS has finally been identified by the school with a "learning disability" as his reading level is far below his math level and his expected ability. He has always struggled, since first grade, and we thought he would eventually "get it" and catch up. He is now 14 and in 9th grade. Since his initial IEP meeting, DH and I have been poring over the internet for research on dyslexia. He SO fits the descriptions for it.

I am an elementary teacher (which is probably why he compensates so well) but I need HELP with learning how to help him become a better reader. Traditional methods used by the school and my training has been ineffective.

Anyone out there had some success with overcoming dyslexia? I need to know what kinds of things help dyslexic children to overcome it and become better readers. Plus, my new research has shown that it runs in families, and it is like a lightbulb going on that my younger daughter exhibits many of the same signs, with a different personality.

Any help from parents, teachers, professionals or strugglers is greatly appreciated. I am confident that he can overcome his limitations, I need to know HOW to help him.
THanks!!

 

[BeckityBobbidyBoo!]

My child is showing signs of dyslexia, but it is very hard to find help for it. Our school district won't 'test' for it. Not only does my child have letter, number reversals/inversions (the reversals are common in the kindergarten and first grade years) he also had some other less well known signs, such as difficulty learning the alphabet and his colors, he also gets his orientations backwards, such as tonight for tomorrow and early for late and word pronunciations that are not due to a lisp but actual letter replacements -one that stuck out in my mind from when he was young was kopelon for pokemon. He is doing well in math, as I know dyscalcula can go hand in hand with reading dyslexia. He relies on phonics, but as we know there are too many sight words to have that be viable. My neice has dyslexia and one person my sil talked to said the kids picture each word as an actual picture and how do you envision a "the" "of" "are", etc. I think tying some mnemonic device to words can be helpful other than that I'm at a bit of a loss myself.

 

[maymom96]

My son was dx'ed with dyslexia in second grade (He is now in 6th). The official dx is "traits of being dyslexic or specific learning disability". Most school systems won't say nor give your child services if you say dyslexia. You need to say specific learning (or reading) disability.
IMO, nothing cures dyslexia. You can spend big $$$ getting services for your child. Davis, Audioblox, Wilson and Orton-Gillingham are a few of the different types of programs you can enroll your child into. We could never afford such programs so I don't know which is best. The key is giving your child skills to learn with dyslexia.
My suggestion is do lots of research. Do a search for dyslexia accommodations to get an idea of what type of accommodations you might want for your son (and then write down why you believe that accommodation will help him). Join dyslexia support groups from yahoogroups. They would be able to help you more than I can. One list I am on has a mother who wrote a book about dyslexia.
My son is doing good in school. He does the same work that the rest of his class does. He reads at a high 5th grade level. He isn't taken out of class for help. In Math there is an aid that read the quiz questions to him and two other kids. My son can read the questions but sometimes he doesn't comprehend what he reads.
There are so many things you can to help your child at home and at school. But if your son isn't willing to use them, it won't work. I have bought so many things but my son refuses to use them because he doesn't want to look different.
I wish I could be more helpful. But there is so much information and what you can do that it would take me days to type it up. Do research, join support groups and be your son's biggest advocate. Good luck!!!

 

[maymom96]

My child is showing signs of dyslexia, but it is very hard to find help for it. Our school district won't 'test' for it.

All schools have to test for it. But you have to do the request in writing. You need to ask that your child be tested for learning disabilities (and ask if dyslexia will be one LD).
I wrote several letters to my sons old school district requesting they test him. Every letter disappeared from his file. I finally wrote the letter and sent it certified mail. I then had proof that it was received. Then the school had X days to inform me of when the testing would be. Each state has a different timeline. If you are going to request the testing, you MUST be informed on how your state deals with the timeline and how the request must be wrote.
The school tested him and the report came back that he has the traits of being dyslexic. The school said that dyslexia is an umbrella term, that the report didn't say he has dyslexia and he wouldn't qualify for services because he wasn't that far behind.
So I went to the next step which was requesting for an independent eval. It was approved and the testing was so detailed. My son hated all the testing and I felt horrible because he would cry he was stupid after the testing. The school still said the same as they did before so we pulled him from the school district. He has been at a wonderful district for several years and they do what they can to help him. It's great.
Texas was the first state in the nation to pass a dyslexia Law. Over the years, that Texas law has become a wonderful model for other states to follow. Do a search and read their handbook.
Like I suggested to the op, join a dyslexia support group. People will help you write a letter requesting the testing. They will be able to give you links to your state laws. The list I have been on for years is called dyslexiasupport2 at yahoo groups. There are 500+ members and so many smart people are members. Good luck!!!

 

[Jacksmom99]

IMO, nothing cures dyslexia. You can spend big $$$ getting services for your child. Davis, Audioblox, Wilson and Orton-Gillingham are a few of the different types of programs you can enroll your child into. We could never afford such programs so I don't know which is best. The key is giving your child skills to learn with dyslexia.

I agree, nothing "cures" dyslexia, it is the way the brain of the individual is wired so to speak. The person with dyslexia CAN learn strategies to help them. I am a special ed teacher and Wilson certified. In my school district they pay to send us to training if we're interested. I provide Wilson training for my students who have decoding/enconding and fluency difficulties. If your child has been diagnosed with a reading disability, and placed on an IEP, then the goals of the IEP should be written to address his specific needs. Nothing lofty (like X will improve 3 grade levels in reading), but measurable goals that can be addressed in one year's time (from beginning to end of the IEP) Whether it's Wilson, or some other program, students with dyslexia require a structured, multisensory approach including decoding, sight words, fluency, and comprehension. I'm sure I'm not saying anything that you don't already know. I think that you should ask the school what kind of reading program they are going to provide for your son. Ask for specifics, and don't let them talk around it. They are not usually required to name a specific program (Wilson, O-G and others can be expensive to implement), but they should be able to provide the same types of materials. Also, there may not be anyone in the school who is certified for a specific program. Ask if there is anyone in the district, or if they have outside consultants. At age 14 this student needs to fill the gaps and learn strategies ASAP, make sure the school district stays on top of it!

 

[debbieinaustin]

My ds was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 8. He started one on one intensive systematic instruction based on Orton Gillingham. Here it is three years later, and he was tested a month ago and is now reading two years above grade level. Yes, the tutoring is expensive, but what is not struggling with reading worth? He will enter middle school next year on equal footing with the other kids.

His tutor has worked with many many kids and she says that kid after kid that the Orton Gillingham tutoring works.

The other thing I did was pull him out of school and home school him for 3rd, 4th, and 5th. (not for everyone, I know) That way he could have one on one instruction in all of his subjects. We could also focus on his strengths like math and science.

FWIW, he is still a terrible speller. I taught him keyboarding so that spell check can hopefully fill in some of the gaps.

Good luck finding what will work with your child. A good place to start is the book Overcoming Dyslexia.

 

[Snow Shoe]

Well, I am dyslexic, and left handed. I'm also over 55 yo. I can remember going to school back in the 50's and 60's, no Sp. Ed. then, wondering why learning in general and espically reading was so hard for me. If there had been Sp. Ed. back then, I most certainly would have been in it. In first grade I managed to make it to the "Bluebird" reading group somehow. From the second grade on though, I was always in the "buzzard' reading group. Reading out loud horrified me. I have to this day reading problems, and being a teacher from public ed-23 years, college-17 years, and finally adult ed-4years, its been an on going delima for me. I won't even talk about spelling.

I tought engineering of which math is BIG! Back then it was slide rules, pencil and paper, no calulators like today. Transposing numbers, basic elementary math-adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing gave me fits! Right brain math like geometry, trig, some EA and Cal were simple to understand, but throw in Algebra, forget about it.

I guess it's the way I'm wired. Some may say the being lefthanded has nothing to do with it, but I feel it most certainly does. When I was taught to print and write in elementary, not one of my teachers was left handed. I can remember several of them becoming very frustrated by the way I would position my paper to write on, horizontal, I write up hill with a very pronounced lefty hand crook. Several teachers even tried to make me switch to being a rightie. Never worked thnakfully.

Over the years, I've learned tricks to help compinsate for the problems. There is no pill or miracle fix I'm sorry to say. Keep tutoring your kids and helping them in any way you can! It's a tough row to plow.

 

[maymom96]

Yes, the tutoring is expensive, but what is not struggling with reading worth?

Sometimes it's not that simple. So many people live paycheck to paycheck. There is no money available to pay for expensive tutoring. These programs need to be affordable so all kids who need help would get it!!!!

 

[turning40withMickey]

My child is showing signs of dyslexia, but it is very hard to find help for it. Our school district won't 'test' for it. Not only does my child have letter, number reversals/inversions (the reversals are common in the kindergarten and first grade years) he also had some other less well known signs, such as difficulty learning the alphabet and his colors, he also gets his orientations backwards, such as tonight for tomorrow and early for late and word pronunciations that are not due to a lisp but actual letter replacements -one that stuck out in my mind from when he was young was kopelon for pokemon. He is doing well in math, as I know dyscalcula can go hand in hand with reading dyslexia. He relies on phonics, but as we know there are too many sight words to have that be viable. My neice has dyslexia and one person my sil talked to said the kids picture each word as an actual picture and how do you envision a "the" "of" "are", etc. I think tying some mnemonic device to words can be helpful other than that I'm at a bit of a loss myself.

I can relate to your reply. My district is not qualified to label "dyslexia", just a "learning disability" which means that it often takes a long time for the gap to become large enough for a student to qualify for support. I see it all the time as a teacher. After researching on the internet, there is no doubt in my mind that my son has dyslexia, and that I need to become an advocate and help him. I am a teacher, but in my district we have no one certified in alternative methods that help dyslexic children. I am going to become trained myself, so I can help him. IT is still expensive, hundreds of dollars for each level of training, but I am able to afford it with some creative managing of my paycheck. I am also already trained as a teacher, so quite confident in my ability to start almost instantly on tutoring him. I know many others are not in this same situation. I can now pick out many children I ahve taught over the years that are quite probably also dyslexic. This new training will make me a better teacher, too. If you haven't already discovered the website
http://www.dys-add.com/teach.html
check it out. It was very informative.
Good luck to you!

 

[turning40withMickey]

Sometimes it's not that simple. So many people live paycheck to paycheck. There is no money available to pay for expensive tutoring. These programs need to be affordable so all kids who need help would get it!!!!

You are so right! Most districts just do "accomodations" like longer testing time, or reading the question aloud, which is helpful, but doesn't begin to address the real problem of dyslexia. I am just the type person that is needed to be an advocate for children! Maybe I can help get some changes started that will help many kids in this dilemma!

 

[turning40withMickey]

My ds was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 8. He started one on one intensive systematic instruction based on Orton Gillingham. Here it is three years later, and he was tested a month ago and is now reading two years above grade level. Yes, the tutoring is expensive, but what is not struggling with reading worth? He will enter middle school next year on equal footing with the other kids.

His tutor has worked with many many kids and she says that kid after kid that the Orton Gillingham tutoring works.

The other thing I did was pull him out of school and home school him for 3rd, 4th, and 5th. (not for everyone, I know) That way he could have one on one instruction in all of his subjects. We could also focus on his strengths like math and science.

FWIW, he is still a terrible speller. I taught him keyboarding so that spell check can hopefully fill in some of the gaps.

Good luck finding what will work with your child. A good place to start is the book Overcoming Dyslexia.

THank you for taking the time to post. Before this weekend I had never even heard of Orton Gillingham, now I am practically an expert and very excited about this new door that has opened after a long and frustrating struggle.
Thanks!

 

[Drewsmommybear]

I am a reading specialist who has been teaching children with reading disabilities for ten years and cringe I when I hear the word "dyslexia". In the past, this term meant people who reversed letters or read things out of order. Now it's a term term that's used to lump together any and all reading issues. Most children who reverse letters or read things out of order also show other signs of reading disabilities. To be able to help your son, it's important to know exactly what he's doing. Then you can look at programs and modifications just6 for him. Chances are, if he's 14, he's already created some of his own coping mechanisms. I can also say that most of the children that I work with are beyond brilliant. For some reason, they process things differently than other people and that's not always bad.

I will also say that there is NOT a test for dyslexia. What can be tested for is a reading level as well as the ability to process.

Try to pinpoint your son's reading issues and then it's possible to see if something like orton gillingham would be worth looking into.

 

[turning40withMickey]

Tutoring is expensive and can be hard to find someone trained expressly for dyslexia. I just got a great suggestion from another thread, to check out the special ed department at a local college to see if they have graduate students who need to do a practicum or tutoring as part of their coursework, also to see if the college offers any tutoring, which could be reasonably priced. I think it is worth exploring!

 

[TruBlu]

Tutoring is expensive and can be hard to find someone trained expressly for dyslexia. I just got a great suggestion from another thread, to check out the special ed department at a local college to see if they have graduate students who need to do a practicum or tutoring as part of their coursework, also to see if the college offers any tutoring, which could be reasonably priced. I think it is worth exploring!

Wow! That is a great idea!!! We are struggling with this right now. We just dropped DS down to two hours a week instead of three to cut the cost a little. It is still as high as a car payment!

 

[turning40withMickey]

Wow! That is a great idea!!! We are struggling with this right now. We just dropped DS down to two hours a week instead of three to cut the cost a little. It is still as high as a car payment!

How is DS doing with the tutoring?

 

[TruBlu]

How is DS doing with the tutoring?

Slowly making progress - and I mean slooooooooooooowly. But, he really enjoys it. They have a great program where they reward him not only for doing well, but also for trying. He works very hard. I know eventually he will get it.

 

[kileybeth]

a related question. do any/all/some of you use the term Dyslexia in front of your child? or even learning disability? My daughter seems to have some of these issues and as some on this thread have said, has already learned her own coping methods. But reading is not a joy for her at all. And that hurts as she is from a family of huge readers. any advice? I just have never attached a label of any kind to my kids for lots of different reasons but would still like to help her. what think you?

 

[turning40withMickey]

a related question. do any/all/some of you use the term Dyslexia in front of your child? or even learning disability? My daughter seems to have some of these issues and as some on this thread have said, has already learned her own coping methods. But reading is not a joy for her at all. And that hurts as she is from a family of huge readers. any advice? I just have never attached a label of any kind to my kids for lots of different reasons but would still like to help her. what think you?

We are using the term dyslexia with our 14 year old. HE has struggled with reading for so long, it is almost a relief for us to finally have a name to put with it. Also, dyslexia has taken some of the pressure off (it is not that he isn't trying hard enough, there is a real, valid, problem that can now be addressed).
On the other hand, our eight year old shows many traits, and we have not said anything to her about it yet. She doesn't struggle as much as our son did/does, and her personality is different for coping.
We are a family of readers, too! I am a reading teacher, and books and reading were and are always modelled in our home. I love to read aloud, too, and the kids love to hear it. I am hopeful that after my son gets some "reprogramming" in reading instruction, he may come to enjoy books, too. Finally being labelled has given us new direction in remediation. Good luck to you!

 

[maymom96]

My son has known that he has dyslexia and what it is since the day we found out. I have pointed out the positive side of dyslexia. I have helped him research what celebrities have dyslexia. I have bought him books where the main character has dyslexia (Hank Zipzer books are wrote by Henry Winkler who has dyslexia). Dyslexia is not a bad word in our house.
I think by knowing that he has dyslexia, it will empower him to stand up for what he needs and start to advocate for himself. I believe that by showing him we are not embarrassed of the dyslexia it shows him that we are not embarrassed of him. I tell him all the time that dyslexia is a gift that he needs to be proud of. He thinks outside of the box, he is highly creative, excels at hands on learning and thinks of things I can not imagine thinking of.
Do a search for positive aspects of dyslexia. You will find tons of links. The happy dyslexic was really good.
Empower you child, find the positive of their LD (which stands for learning differently in our household). Teach your child to see the gift and I believe these are the tools they will need to succeed.
BTW, do a search for F.A.T. City workshop. Buy the video or ask your library to buy a copy so you can borrow it. The F.A.T. City workshop and video are contributions to the important process of understanding learning disabilities. F.A.T. stands for Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension — and that's exactly what the participants experience. This workshop and video provide teachers, parents, caregivers, and siblings with the opportunity actually to experience the emotions and stresses that children with learning disabilities face daily. By using simulations and contrived activities as models (for example, telling a story without using any words that contain the letter N), the participants temporarily experience the frustration, anxiety, and tension that is the lifestyle of students with special needs.

 

[gottalovethem]

I am so relieved to have found this thread. I just met with my dd's pediatrician today to discuss ADHD/Dyslexia/Insomnia -- as my child, who's in first grade, has some signs of all of this. Nice to know we are not alone and that there is hope.

Thanks for all the info!