OT-Calling ALL Moms(Homeschooling too) with child with Learning Disablity- LONG

[danjoealexis3006]

Yesterday I met with the school for a "staffing" (not an IEP meeting) to see the progress my DS9 has made over the school year. He has a "Specified Learning Disablity" I know he is dyslexic and has short term memory problems (I am dyslexic and the school refuses to recongnize an evaluation done by an outside source) and recieves special education services for reading and spelling.

To say the least it has been a difficult year for him. They have tried four different reading programs with him and he has only been able to progress a half of year in reading. He now can only read at 2nd grade level and write at a 1st grade level. To be honest his writing is unrecongnizable. The school says they will keep trying but I am doubtful. I feel as if they are pushing him through . They will advance him to the fourth grade and focus only on math and reading (all other subjects will be pass or fail).

I just don't know what to do. We live in the middle of no where. I have contacted the Michigan Instiute of Dsylexia and the closest center they have is 70 miles away. Nobody in the area is qualified to teach Orton - Gillingham techinques that are sucessful with dyslexics. I have thought about homeschooling but I am in my last year of college and will have my bach degree in social work next April. Yet I know he would benefit from the one on one I could give him ( he gets very little one on one in school). I will be working with him in the summer on the basics. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[HelloChum]

You may want to check out SchwabLearning.org It is an organization started by Charles Schwab...his child is dyslexic and he later learned that he was as well. The website has actually been taken over by greatschools.org...but I think the Schwablearning.org will still get you to the site.

It is an incredible website...and there is an active parents forum.

Another great website for this type of question/support is LDONLINE.org which also has an active parents' forum.

Another website is
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
they have written books and hold seminars on helping you advocate for your child in getting the IEP you need, etc.

I also like AllKindsofMinds.org

Why did they try 4 different programs in one year? Is there an IEP? Wilson Reading is popular in our area. Our school district has been great as far as testing, intervention and providing services. Though friends in neighboring towns aren't as lucky...teachers are dismissing their child's problems with reading as immaturity, etc. and not testing for problems...friends have had their children tested privately...neuropysch testing at some of the Children's Hospitals. They say the testing can run about $3K...but it provides very detailed educational assessments and was they best way for them to advocate for their children and get them the spec. ed. services they needed or tutoring they needed.

Sally Shaywitz has a great book : "Overcoming Dyslexia"

http://www.schwablearning.org/

http://www.ldonline.org/

Hope these websites help!! Good Luck

 

[HelloChum]

Sorry, I haven't been to the Schwablearning site in a while and it looks as though they have closed the Schwab Parent to Parent forum. You may ask questions on their GreatSchools forum though...

http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a

It does look as though you may look at past discussions on the Schwab parent forum...sometimes that can be helpful.

Sorry about the confusing info!! The Schwab forum was very good...too bad!!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I am not sure why they did four different reading programs with him! It is going to take him longer to learn to read so they need to stick with one so he has consistency. Poor guy!

Almost 10 years ago I was trained in Orton Gillingham. It is very, very specific. When we were practicing, we were not allowed to deviate from their approach at all. It is very phonics based as dyslexics need to read sound by sound and then how to blend it all together. I would make sure your school is using the program that is the most phonics based. OG is also done one on one. He needs as much as that as he can get. You should start with the most common sounds a letter makes and not move on until he has that down. He also needs to learn how to blend them together. OG has the kids put their fingers on each letter has they say the sound and then move their fingers along the word as they blend the sounds into a word. I'm not sure I am making sense!!

Books on tape are great so he can get comprehension practice. Also, many textbook companies have their textbooks on tape so he can still learn what the rest of the class is. The fact is that the decoding is going to take so much of his energy that he might not comprehend.

Best of luck!

 

[Schmeck]

Is there a way you are helping him at home with his studies that you can show to the school, ie - this is what we do each night, could this be used in school?

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I am curious why at this stage of the game and at his age why a Child Study has not been conducted? When a student is 2 grades levels below in all areas of Language Arts it is standard procedure in our school to conduct a Child Study. In our school a Child Study conducts reading and a Paper/Pencil test, my DD with Epilepsy qualified for an IEP. It sounds to me as if you son would clearly qualify. I would request a Child Study, as a parent you have that right, or see if you child's teacher can recommend one for you. My DD definitely qualified, as her condition and her meds caused processing of information to be compromised. I would investigate this. Also, your child's dyslexia could be properly diagnosed with a school professional in this case, but I am curious as to why they won't accept an outside diagnosis, in our county they accept it, but they then back it up with their own.

Good Luck!!! I hope you can find some help for your son. I fought for 3 years to get it, but I finally got it.

 

[blackforest]

Hi. I don't have a lot of help, just tons of support. My DD13 has had the battery of tests, has an IEP, and we have wonderful school system. It saddens me as a mom and a teacher that all school systems are not created equally.

DD just started exhibiting signs of Tourette's Syndrome, and I think we are starting to connect the dots! We, as moms of these amazing kids, are their BEST advocate! Hang in there!

 

[danjoealexis3006]

First of all let me say thanks for the input from everyone! My son has been tested by the school and they say he has "Specific Learning Disorder", which is the schools way of saying "your kid does have a problem but we don't want to do further testing because if we said he has dyslexia then we would have to train a staff member to help him". I believe it is because we live in a very small district and money is tight.

He does have an IEP but it says to have him go to resource room for help in reading and spelling, reduce homework ( I have fought all year with his general ed teacher), tests in math are to be read to him by a highschooler or aide. I am in the process of pressuring the school to install a text reader in a computer in his general classroom next year ( I just learned about this software).

I guess I trusted the school to do everything possible for him. Now here we are and things are only going to get more difficult for him. Unless I really get onto them, It really is sad.

My friends have suggested that I get the training in OG if the school won't, but according to Michigan Dyslexia Instute the training would be about a 200 mile round trip for me and it involves several classes. Unless I could do something online it is out of the question.
Thanks for the suggestion. Please if anyone else has anything to add feel free.

 

[danjoealexis3006]

I am not sure why they did four different reading programs with him! It is going to take him longer to learn to read so they need to stick with one so he has consistency. Poor guy!

Almost 10 years ago I was trained in Orton Gillingham. It is very, very specific. When we were practicing, we were not allowed to deviate from their approach at all. It is very phonics based as dyslexics need to read sound by sound and then how to blend it all together. I would make sure your school is using the program that is the most phonics based. OG is also done one on one. He needs as much as that as he can get. You should start with the most common sounds a letter makes and not move on until he has that down. He also needs to learn how to blend them together. OG has the kids put their fingers on each letter has they say the sound and then move their fingers along the word as they blend the sounds into a word. I'm not sure I am making sense!!

Books on tape are great so he can get comprehension practice. Also, many textbook companies have their textbooks on tape so he can still learn what the rest of the class is. The fact is that the decoding is going to take so much of his energy that he might not comprehend.

Best of luck!

Were you trained as a teacher or did you do the program as a parent?

 

[HelloChum]

You may want to check out their website.
http://www.wilsonlanguage.com/w_about.htm

Here is a list of upcoming training...not sure if any of them are in your area...parents can take training as well as teachers.
http://www.wilsonlanguage.com/w_training.htm

You can also call them for a list of Wilson trained/certified tutors in your area. It is very important to get a knowledgeable and certified reading tutor preferably with SPED background.


There are other programs as well. It's too bad the Schwab website isn't still active b/c it was extremely helpful. Sally Shaywitz's book is extremely helpful as well...as far as recommendations for intervention, etc.


Good Luck

 

[K and K's Mommy]

Were you trained as a teacher or did you do the program as a parent?

I took OG towards my masters. They asked me to tutor, but as I was taking it I found out I was pregnant with my first. I did not want to teach, tutor, and be a mom so I have never specifically used it. I did make sure I was doing more phonics in my class as a result of the class, but I only taught for 2 more years until baby number 2.

I think it is great, but it does need to be done one on one. I believe my class was every day for two weeks. I had to memorize A LOT - all the phonetic sounds, what order they should be taught, how to teach them, and probably more.

It sounds like you are going to have to be a huge advocate for your son. My school system actually didn't use the dyslexic label either. I am not sure why (I was a regular teacher, but I took the class because I always had at least one or two learning disabled kids in my class.), but at least where I taught, we did every thing we could to help these kids. I would have been afraid I was breaking the law if I didn't follow IEPs! I was also lucky to have a very good resource teacher who gave lots of help.

 

[graygables]

I'm not clear...has your DS been diagnosed with dyslexia or is it a presumption based on what you are seeing? I ask b/c I had similar problems with my now 12yo DD and come to find out, she wasn't dyslexic at all, but needed vision therapy. She did a 12 week course and we do refresher things now, but she went from NON-reader to reading on level (4th grade) in that time. She still struggle occasionally and her handwriting is horrible, but the VT was a miracle for her. We recently got the Nintendo DS game Flash Focus and that has also helped tremendously.

That said, if the school will not conduct further testing, I would take it to the appeals level. Often just the threat of that will kick things into a higher gear, but you are going to have to be the strong advocate for your DS and I mean STRONG. Know your parental rights and exercise them actively and with vigor. My DD was in a virtual charter school at the time (homeschooled but still public school funded, so IEPs and all that mattered) and I had to really do my homework and prepare my case, then PUSH it through. They knew I was not taking "no" for an answer.