Does anyone here have a child with Dyslexia, and if so...

[Guest diana in mi]

Hello all,

 

My name is Diana, and I am looking for other moms who have dyslexic children...I'm really in need of some advice/guidance. I have 3 children: 2 boys, ages 13 and almost 11, and a daughter that is 8. I've always homeschooled, and I would say my oldest boy was a normal learner, my younger boy a very quick learner (he learned to read right along with my oldest when i taught him in kindergarten, etc...he was very easy!), and my daughter has been diagnosed dyslexic. She's always had delays; she was developmentally delayed in about every area until she turned 3 or so; then, she was just speech delayed at that point. With everything I've done with her over the years and all that we've gone over with her and tried to teach her, it seems like she's always about 2 years behind on average (on anything that you would normally 'teach' a child, like colors, counting/math, phonics/reading, etc.). It was like she just couldn't retain anything. At all. Then, eventually, she would start to get it, and it would seem to just click. That's been happening for several years now. So now, we're 8 1/2 (she turned 8 in November), and we're finally getting the basic phonics sounds down and reading 3-letter and 4-letter words and doing basic single digit addition and subtraction. I don't know if anything I've just rattled out makes sense or not, but I sure hope it does. Anyway, I'm wondering if there are any of you out there with a dyslexic child, and if so, what have you found in the way of curriculum (or just ideas, etc.) to work for you and your child? I just feel like I'm dropping the ball, and I don't know what to do. I feel so lost sometimes. I just feel like there has to be something out there that I could get that ahold of that could help us learn, etc. Any ideas? I would really, really appreciate any help you all can give Alyssa and I. Blessings to you and your families!

 

Thank you,

Diana

[Stacy in NJ]

Hi Diana, The following link is to SRA Direct Instruction. They offer language development programs, reading, math and writing programs. These are designed and tested to help all levels of learner but are especially effective with lower performers. If purchased through SRA, as you can see, they're really expensive, but they can be found frequently on e-bay, amazon and abebooks for alot less. If you page through the different programs you'll find placement tests for many of them. These are scripted lessons designed for the classroom. They can be easily implemented at home.

 

https://www.sraonline.com/products.html?PHPSESSID=3e6ba3a327257053fd0b68f64d86b079&tid=9

 

Here's another link that includes a 20/20 segment on what DI is: http://precisionteaching.pbwiki.com/Direct%20Instruction

 

scroll down a bit to see the video.

[Pensguys]

Diana, I replied to you on the Curriculum board.

[Kathy in MD]

Hello all,

 

My name is Diana, and I am looking for other moms who have dyslexic children...I'm really in need of some advice/guidance. I have 3 children: 2 boys, ages 13 and almost 11, and a daughter that is 8. I've always homeschooled, and I would say my oldest boy was a normal learner, my younger boy a very quick learner (he learned to read right along with my oldest when i taught him in kindergarten, etc...he was very easy!), and my daughter has been diagnosed dyslexic. She's always had delays; she was developmentally delayed in about every area until she turned 3 or so; then, she was just speech delayed at that point. With everything I've done with her over the years and all that we've gone over with her and tried to teach her, it seems like she's always about 2 years behind on average (on anything that you would normally 'teach' a child, like colors, counting/math, phonics/reading, etc.). It was like she just couldn't retain anything. At all. Then, eventually, she would start to get it, and it would seem to just click. That's been happening for several years now. So now, we're 8 1/2 (she turned 8 in November), and we're finally getting the basic phonics sounds down and reading 3-letter and 4-letter words and doing basic single digit addition and subtraction. I don't know if anything I've just rattled out makes sense or not, but I sure hope it does. Anyway, I'm wondering if there are any of you out there with a dyslexic child, and if so, what have you found in the way of curriculum (or just ideas, etc.) to work for you and your child? I just feel like I'm dropping the ball, and I don't know what to do. I feel so lost sometimes. I just feel like there has to be something out there that I could get that ahold of that could help us learn, etc. Any ideas? I would really, really appreciate any help you all can give Alyssa and I. Blessings to you and your families!

 

Thank you,

Diana

 

Dyslexia is usually used as a catch-all phrase for individuals who can't read after a standard course of training. There are many underlying causes of dyslexia and your dd may suffer from one or more of them. The two big categories are auditory and developmental visual problems.

 

Before we can recommend academic programs for phonics and math, we need to know what sort of underlying problems your dd has and if they have been treated. Just as you would not teach a child algebra before you taught the child to add, you would not teach a child phonics before the child could distinguish between different sounds. Visualize a pyramid divided into three parts horizontally. The point is academics, the middle is cognitive skills (how the brain processes imput from the senses) and the base is physical imput from the senses. If any layer below the academics is weak, theacademics will be weak. Learning the academics is much faster and easier if the underlying problems are addressed first. Because of your child's early delays, she may have some underlying problems that are blocking her ability to learn phonics.

 

What speech therapy has she had? Did it cover the entire gammit of language problems or did it only teach her atrdiculation? My ds's early ST covered only articulation and the therapist ignored my comments that he spoke only in canned phrases and that he misunderstood simple questions and words. There was no way he could learn to read until he recieved therapy for that problem.

 

Also was your dd slow to learn to walk? Did she have poor balance? These are a few signs of a problem that could be affecting her inner ear and her ability to learn. It's treated by therapy is may be covered by your insurance. A few other signs of this problem is sensitivity to touch and clothing and not sitting up straight or supporting her head on her hand when sitting.

 

A developmental vision problem isn't caught typically in the standard eye exam. A standard exam is testing to see if you can see sharply for a brief time up close and 20ft away. A developmental vision exam tests the efficiency of your eyes in tracking, holding binocular vision and many other visual skills needed in reading. Efficiency is needed in order to read a paragraph (my ds's limit prior to VT), a page or even a chapter of a book. I didn't see any indication in your post that your dd has this problem, however if she has the both the problems I mentioned in the above 2 paragraghs she may also have vision problems.

[Rod Everson]

 

A developmental vision problem isn't caught typically in the standard eye exam. A standard exam is testing to see if you can see sharply for a brief time up close and 20ft away. A developmental vision exam tests the efficiency of your eyes in tracking, holding binocular vision and many other visual skills needed in reading. Efficiency is needed in order to read a paragraph (my ds's limit prior to VT), a page or even a chapter of a book. I didn't see any indication in your post that your dd has this problem, however if she has the both the problems I mentioned in the above 2 paragraghs she may also have vision problems.

 

I'll go even further than Kathy with the recommendation for a developmental vision exam. If either you or your spouse had trouble with early schooling, or have siblings that did, then your child very likely has a vision issue of the sort addressed by vision therapy, and a developmental optometrist can determine that. Successful treatment of the vision problem, followed by a good phonics course, can make a huge difference in your child's future.

 

For further information on why I feel this way see My Take on Dyslexia on my website at OnTrack Reading. You can find the nearest developmental optometrist at covd.org, and you can read more on vision therapy and the vision problems common to dyslexics at childrensvision.com, the site Claire usually recommends.

 

Rod Everson

OnTrack Reading

[EKS]

You could be describing my son. He has been diagnosed as having vision problems requiring vision therapy, auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder, motor planning problems, Asperger's disorder, ADHD, and dyslexia (he was later undiagnosed with Asperger's and ADHD). Vision therapy, occupational therapy, and attention to his auditory needs really helped. It's really important to get the sensory stuff taken care of before trying to remediate the academics. My son was 8 when we finally started getting some answers and doing therapies. The results were amazing.

[Pensguys]

You could be describing my son. He has been diagnosed as having vision problems requiring vision therapy, auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder, motor planning problems, Asperger's disorder, ADHD, and dyslexia (he was later undiagnosed with Asperger's and ADHD). Vision therapy, occupational therapy, and attention to his auditory needs really helped. It's really important to get the sensory stuff taken care of before trying to remediate the academics. My son was 8 when we finally started getting some answers and doing therapies. The results were amazing.

 

This is MY son exactly too! Minus the Asperger's diagnosis. OT, VT and using different reading materials to teach him has worked WONDERS. We started all of this when he was 8 (he is almost 9 now).