2nd grader struggling with reading

[ktgrok]

So my 2nd grader is 7, going to be 8 in Feb. She's had a few speech issues which we are working on, and needs to be evaluated again, as she goes back and forth between being far enough behind to qualify for help and not. S/th/f issues, and she still says "walkeded" instead of walked and "winded" instead of won, although it is getting better. She was late to learn her pronouns...she used to say him instead of he, etc but that is better now. She continues to make progress, but just behind, if that makes sense. the felt it was developmental because she is developing steadily, just later than normal.

 

Reading seems to be the same. She finished AAR1, and is halfway through Dancing Bears A but lacks some fluency, although I'm seeing a big improvement lately. But...she still is definitely behind other kids her age. Fine, no big deal I figured. My oldest was a late reader and blossomed around 8-9 years old.

 

But.. today she was near tears telling me that all the kids in her Faith Formation class at church (new name for CCD classes in Catholic Church) can read so much better than her, and they read their assignments and she can't. Ugh.

 

So....she is motivated to work on this. We are going to try a two week reading "boot camp" of working on lessons 3 times a day (and probably cutting back on math during this time..math is super easy for her anyway). We will do both Dancing Bears and Mindplay (they use different approaches..more of a spell to read approach in Mind Play). She loves Dancing Bears and is definitely making progress with it.

 

Is this enough for now, and see what happens? Or should I go ahead and look into evaluations? I THINK maybe the local University does them, but not sure.

 

Thoughts? My heart hurts for her.

 

Oh, and no real other signs of issues....she does still get b/d mixed up but not as much as she used to. Visual tracking was checked on the mind play thing and she got perfect scores. She can sound out well but struggles with fluency, if that makes sense.

Edited October 11, 2017 by ktgrok

[PeterPan]

Around here I can get an OG-certified reading tutor to run the CTOPP (tool to diagnose dyslexia) and the DAR (reading achievement) for just $75 and it's quick to get an appt. That would be a simple way to start, just to make and make sure there's not another explanation. A psych eval takes months to get in, so it would just be a quickie snapshot. You could compare that to her probable IQ (based on older, obviously very bright sibling) and decide.

 

Personally, I'm of the pissy not wait camp. My ds, as a dyslexic but full intervention kid, finished 1st grade reading at a 5th/6th grade reading level. Reading is hard for him, but he got the intervention. So I really don't see a con to intervention, kwim? Only cons to not intervening.

 

CTOPP will kick out scores for RAN/RAS, phonological processing, and I think maybe fluency, can't remember. So then the reading tutor could tell you what they think is up and what they recommend. Lots of people never get evals and go that way. We didn't end up using the reading tutor. Ds wouldn't read for me at all at the time, so that's why I went in, wanting an explanation. We were both so flabbergasted by the results, we decided we were probably good with me continuing the way I was with him.  :lol:  So it's just an information thing, a way to get a snapshot without spending a ton. 

[PeterPan]

My *guess* is she's going to benefit from some RAN/RAS and fluency work, but I'm not an expert on it. I'd get that baseline first. I guess see how long it takes to get in. If the sessions are going well, doing more is ok. For fluency, we did RAN/RAS work and put all the words, phrases, and sentences from Barton into Quizlet. I'm obsessive like that, lol. It worked.

[ktgrok]

My *guess* is she's going to benefit from some RAN/RAS and fluency work, but I'm not an expert on it. I'd get that baseline first. I guess see how long it takes to get in. If the sessions are going well, doing more is ok. For fluency, we did RAN/RAS work and put all the words, phrases, and sentences from Barton into Quizlet. I'm obsessive like that, lol. It worked.

What is/are RAN/RAS?

 

Sorry, this is new to me :)  My oldest went to public school when he learned to read. He DID have working memory issues, coding issues, etc. 

[Pen]

If you are able to get evaluations, that would probably be helpful for you to know more about what is going on. Dyslexia and speech issues often go together.

 

I think ramping up DB sounds like a good idea!  And if that helps done for a couple of weeks, consider continuing that for as long as it takes to be reading well.  If it doesn't seem to be helping consider other routes.  Consider letting something other than math lose the time for more reading practice however.  My ds was very ahead in math when we started intensive reading remediation, and so I thought it would not hurt to borrow some math time, but in retrospect  I think it would have been better to drop everything else (history etc.) at that stage and just do math and reading.

 

Consider adding www.talkingfingers.com Read Write Type program which works on both typing and some phonics / reading skills at same time.

[kbutton]

I think I would look for a place that can do an Orton-Gillingham screening, CTOPP, etc. My son had issues that were a lot like you were describing. He does have some dyslexic traits (and a dyslexic aunt) as well as speech problems, quirky language issues (and high language scores too), and auditory processing difficulties (he's a mess, lol!). He never got a diagnosis related to his reading issues, though he had some funky CTOPP scores. It just wasn't definitive. He has some developmental vision issues and had VT. It helped a great deal with reading (and writing). I still think he has some borderline issues, but he compensates well. 

 

Eye tracking might be okay, but she might have other vision issues that a developmental optometrist would catch. Sometimes things like retained reflexes create issues with eye-hand coordination that affect reading. I think some of the neck reflexes (for instance--and I don't remember for sure which ones) cause the eyes and hands to move together in a way they aren't supposed to. So she could theoretically track okay until she brushes her hair back or something, and then poof, it's gone. Also, some tracking and movement issues are very, very subtle or are more obvious with one kind of task/format than another (computer vs. paper vs. on the board vs. on a desk, etc.). Sometimes fatigue is the issue. My kids both seemed to have pretty normal ocular motor function, but if the COVD tired them out, then they fell apart completely. We went from, "Well, everything seems to be going okay--one or two issues might be borderline but functioning" to "Whoa, this is pretty bad--I am surprised your kids didn't have more trouble learning to read" with the COVD fatiguing their eyes during exam. (She tried that after the list of symptoms didn't match the exam.)

 

 

 

[ktgrok]

Mini update! So..I talked with her faith formation teacher and it turns out that most of the kids in her class are in third grade! No wonder they can read better than she can! I told her this when I picked her up and her face lit up. We are still going to address this, but at least she feels better now!

[PeterPan]

RAN/RAS=Rapid Naming score. It's included in the CTOPP. 

[ktgrok]

A video of her reading: 

[Heathermomster]

What a sweetie!

 

I am struck by how she doesn’t seem to know the following sounds: /ee/, /ai/, /oi, /oa/, or the correct short vowels sounds for cvc words. I don’t understand the scope and sequence of AAR or Dancing Bears. If she has not been taught those phongrams, she cannot be expected to know them.

 

My dyslexic started working with an OG reading tutor 3 times a week starting in second grade. He was identified dyslexic by a volunteer at the Scottish Rite Learning Center late first grade, and np tested at the beginning of 2nd grade.

 

I fall under the pissy get ‘em tested ASAP category. Testing tends to be a process of elimination. You can get her developmental vision checked by a COVD to rule out vision. You can have her evaluated for motor issues with an OT. The OT could look at handedness, pincer/core strength, balance, motor planning, and developmental motor. Developmental motor issues may affect learning. You could also go to the Barton Reading and Spelling website and administer the Barton pretest.

 

Overall, I think she should be using a phonics-based reading program that teaches explicitly using multi sensory instruction. I think you should get her tested as well.

 

Good luck!

Edited October 20, 2017 by Heathermomster

[ktgrok]

She practices phonograms, including the ones you listed, with flash cards every school day. And knows them pretty well in that scenario.

 

I will look into testing as well, and see what might be available to us. 

[PeterPan]

Yes, it's time to test. Definitely. 

[PentecostalMom]

My niece is the same age and has similar issues. She has been tested nine ways to Sunday (to coin an old country phrase), has been in speech therapy, occupational therapy, had vision and hearing testing....nothing. It’s all developmental they’ve been told over and over. They keep plugging along. She is eight and in second grade.

 

This is not to say what your child is or is not dealing with. Just to say that it also could be the same.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited October 20, 2017 by PentecostalMom

[Lecka]

I didn't pick up on the other missed phonograms Heathermonster noticed -- if she missed those I think it is a problem; too.

 

My son I sit and read with now has really low articulation but I know what he is saying -- so it makes me not always hear things like that, I am used to just adjusting what I hear.

 

So if those are being missed that is more than initial blends. Having a hard time with initial blends is a fine stage to be going through.

 

Missing short vowel sounds is a lot more of a red flag to me, I think.

 

If she misses short vowels I think -- go back to short vowels and don't add in too much else. She needs to be solid on short vowels; that is important to be solid on.

 

I also agree on working on words and sentences, not jumping in to stories. Unless she is really motivated by stories. My son right now -- he just wants to read. He doesn't want to do reading practice. Really he should be doing reading practice, not just reading ----- but it is what he wants to do and he is very motivated to do it, and has zero enthusiasm for the kinds of reading stuff I think he should be doing.

 

So I get that.

 

If you have options for what she is willing to use -- I think it seems a bit of a slog to read this, when she doesn't have the comprehension (because she reads too slow -- which is normal, to not have comprehension while she is reading slow).

 

But if she likes it, or if she re-reads and gets better, and that is motivating to her -- that counts for a lot.

 

I also agree -- if you see her miss things as you read this way, I would work on that with individual words, too.

 

Honestly I only noticed that initial blends.

 

Also ----- it is really common for my sons' to miss something in the beginning of a word, and then that throws them off later in the word; but it will be something they really do know; they are just overwhelmed from the beginning of the word. I saw that a lot with initial blends so I might have missed things from being used to that.

 

I think I also may mentally adjust for fatigue -- for them to have fatigue and make mistakes as they read.

 

She did (to me) a lot of reading for being at that sounding-out-words stage. She did a lot of sustained reading. My sons would have fatigue errors with that probably. I would have tried to pre-work on some words before reading that passage, to try to not have the fatigue. Both my boys are also tending to be frustrated and would have been frustrated to be reading/sounding out for that long all at once. It is hard to read at this stage when there is not much fluency. It is draining. I was really impressed by that with her.

[Guest2]

I really drag my feet on testing if I am able to accomodate through homeschooling, so keep my bias in mind as write. I would order the Faith and Life 2 book or whatever they are using so that you could preread it to/with her and she would be familiar/confident with the material. I know that doesn't solve the reading difficulty of there is one, but I think she would enjoy class, learn the material well and be confident. I know I have purchased those books before. Catholic publishing companies sell these to homeschoolers all of the time.

 

The one type of testing that has been mentioned upthread I would do is for visual issues not related to acuity. If you take her to a qualified doc for her annual acuity exam, he/she can do a quick screen to see if there are any issues that would indicate a longer and much more extensive evaluation would be needed. Basic eye exams are often covered by insurance.http://www.covd.org/?page=vision_therapy

I would also agree with above posters to have her do the free student Barton Reading and Spelling screening to see if she would benefit from it .https://bartonreading.com/. . If she doesn't pass the screening test, that will also give you further information about what is going on. My DS2 used to confuse his short vowel sounds,and having to say the Bartons key word for the sounds was helpful. I don't think my younger kids would be reading without Bartons...but ymmv. Hope this helps!

Edited October 30, 2017 by Silver Brook

[PeterPan]

I really drag my feet on testing if I am able to accomodate through homeschooling, so keep my bias in mind as write. 

 

I love that you're owning it. This makes me smile. :)

 

Wow, did we have a whole thread on reading and no one mentioned COVD evals till now? It's a definite thing. My dd turned out to have the visual memory of a 2 yo when she was finally evaled at like 10. Things happen. Her convergence was bad and it glitched the visual processing.

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Edited October 30, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[Guest2]

I love that you're owning it. This makes me smile. :)

 

Wow, did we have a whole thread on reading and no one mentioned COVD evals till now? It's a definite thing. My dd turned out to have the visual memory of a 2 yo when she was finally evaled at like 10. Things happen. Her convergence was bad and it glitched the visual processing.

 

 

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Lol. I am testing my current high schooler to see if she can get accomodations when she gets to college. So soon I can join the testing club.

I am with you on the VT , I disliked doing it, but it worked!

 

I think Kbutton and Heathermomster mentioned it upthread, but I thought a link might be helpful.

Edited October 31, 2017 by Silver Brook

[exercise_guru]

I don't know if you are familiar with "logic of english" some people really like it because it groups the words in a way that "make sence" I am also familiar with orton-gillingham type reading because I used saxon phonics and that was very helpful as a base. The thing is at the 2nd grade level there is a combination of sounding things out and just "site words" some of which can be sounded out and some of which need context.  I used snapwords and made up a lot of fun stories with context for the cards and played games forming sentences to help my child see how they fit into reading. I hate it when the teachers just flash card kids with site words its so much better to create sentences and provide context. I know there is a lot of bristle about site words but its so handy if a child knows 80% of the words on a page quickly it allows them to focus on the rhythm and phonics of the rest of the words. 

 

I really think that 2nd grade is an awesome year to just do the I read ---you read techniques. Everyone of my kids responded to that. It breaks the tasks up smaller and its so fun to read a page and then have your mom read a page. It keeps it interesting and helps kids to maintain their interest as the story moves along. 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2017 by exercise_guru

[ktgrok]

She's having some minor testing done today, the KTEA III, to get some idea of where she really is in her skills and what part of reading exactly she is struggling with (phonological issues vs rapid naming vs auditory memory vs?). We got this afternoon. And I've emailed the staffing specialist at our local school to start the ball rolling as far as more extensive testing done through them. 

[Lecka]

I hope you get some good information today :)

[ktgrok]

And...yeah. Evaluator said dyslexia, although it is unofficial at this time as she has to finish scoring things, but it was pretty apparent to her. I brought up Barton and she said yes, that's what she needs. Or at least is the level of support she needs. 

 

So, is Barton the best? 

Can I buy used, and if so, where?

[Lecka]

Barton is "tier 3," you would want something "tier 3." This is a framework where tier 1 is general, tier 2 is extra help, and tier 3 is intensive help. Not that everybody uses this terminology but if things do tell what tier they are then you want tier 3.

[ktgrok]

Barton is "tier 3," you would want something "tier 3." This is a framework where tier 1 is general, tier 2 is extra help, and tier 3 is intensive help. Not that everybody uses this terminology but if things do tell what tier they are then you want tier 3.

 

Oh, that makes sense. She did tell me that if we went to tutoring with them we'd need the tier three tutor they have on staff. 

[PeterPan]

Well it's a lot to get the diagnosis, but it's good that you did it! Will she generate a report or do you need to wait for the school's eval for that? The only reason I ask is because the National Library Service/BARD is AWESOME. She'll qualify, and you'll love it. You'll take your paper trail to the ped, have him sign the NLS application form, and boom you're in. They sent us a reader device, headphones, and now we get quarterly catalogs with all the new recordings. LOVE the NLS.  :thumbup:

 

Yes, Barton. Or have them do it. It's really how flush you're feeling and how far away it is (how much of a pain in the patoot) and how involved you want to be. As long as the kid is progressing, that's all that matters, in the end, not who does it. A tutor can be stellar or you with Barton can be stellar. Other programs can be great (OG, tier 3) but they're going to have a learning curve for you or require training. That's the real reason people say Barton, because it's fully scripted.

 

How much is tutoring there? Around here, well I figured out I could dump $10K a year into it if I tried, sigh. There are definitely pros and cons. The nice thing is that, now that you know there's a disability, you're going to have a short leash for problems and be researching to find options for them. It's sort of gonna be a cascade, because after the reading it will be writing, notetaking, spelling, typing, on and on. It's kind of a pain the butt. Not romantic like regular homeschooling.

 

In your terrific spare time, you might look up Dyslexic Advantage by the Eides. It is the single most wholesome, whole child approach you'll read to dyslexia, and it may give you some counterbalance to the whole must ramp up the intervention thing. It's the OTHER stuff you'll be thinking about at the same time. 

[ktgrok]

Thank you. 

 

Tutoring with their Tier 3, OG trained person is $100 an hour. Barton is cheap in comparison. Especially if I resell, which I would.

 

I laughed at the "not romantic like regular homeschooling" thing. Oldest is my ASD/ADHD/SPD/Depression kid. In comparison, dyslexia or not, she's a walk in the park. She's SO sweet and compliant and eager. I know we can make this work for her, and I'm SO grateful she's homeschooled, so we can utilize audio books, documentaries, and me reading to her. We've been doing that all along, which means that her other subjects are not being held back due to her reading issues. In fact, they said her math skills are amazing :)  

 

The hardest thing right now is that as a lifelong book worm and a professional author, it hurts my heart that she has a reading disability. Kind of like a professional marathoner finding out their kid has a limp or something I guess. 

 

But mostly, I'm grateful we know, and glad we have the resources to help her and give her a great education no matter what. 

 

Oh, and yes, I'll get a full written report soon...she's going to contact me when it is ready and we will set up a meeting to go over it. Good to know about taking that to the pediatrician to get her set up for those other resources you mentioned!

[ktgrok]

Oh, and I'm going to get Dyslexic Advantage, and right now am starting this book, that a friend who is a reading specialist for a school in Colorado recommended. I'm barely into it and already fascinated. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118845242/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ktgrok]

And I'm also annoyed with the universe because I did everything "right". I used a true phonics program (AAR). I didn't teach sight words. She doesn't guess based on context. And yet, here we are. Sigh. I'm trying to tell myself we'd be even further in the hole if I'd used something else with her. 

[PeterPan]

Wow, you'll learn a ton from that book! Wiley is a good publisher. I've read photography books published by them, and they're always stellar.

 

I'll bet you're awesome with Barton. :D  How old is she? 7? That's better. We started at newly 6, and of course ds runs young emotionally. But a socially typical 7, she's gonna be fine. She'll grow into the material and understand and be fine. You'll be awesome.

 

Around here I can get a certified OG with experience for $65 regular, $80+ if the kid has autism and is under the table and a pain in the butt. So yeah I can see your gulp at the $100. My two cents is that if you use Barton, you're not gonna screw her up. You really won't. So it's more a matter of starting and going ok, I'm distracted, ok we don't like the dynamic, ok the alligator ate my toe, I don't know. 

 

So if you decide to do some Barton a few levels and pawn her off after say level 4, it will be FINE! If you decide to continue to level 10, fine too. But it's similar enough that she'll transfer fine. 

 

I can tell you that the $$$ tutor who tested my ds when he was in level 4 of Barton was stinkin BLOW AWAY. Like really BLOWN AWAY. So do NOT underestimate your ability to do this. 

 

I'm not sure I understand the emotion thing. Does she feel that way about herself? I don't know, my ds has had so many "disabilities" diagnosed over the years that now it's like oh well. Do you remember the story of Rachel what's her name from the Signing Time videos? Do people even use those anymore? We used them with ds. Anyways, she has this talk she gave that was recorded on youtube, where she talks about finding out about her dd's deafness. Now remember Rachel Coleman was a professional musician in a band, so this was DEVASTING to her that the girl would never intersect with something that was so important to her. And that's a negative never. Like hello, deaf. And she started Signing Time and they found their way.

 

Anyways, she tells this story, and you can look it up, but the jist is that the girl looks up at her, totally silently, and RC realizes that in the little girl's mind she's NORMAL, not broken. And I'm like you, where reading was really important. My dd is a STELLAR reader, so I was pretty prideful about that! And now I'm kinda like ok, just another way to intersect with text and thought and what is HIS way. His way is audio. It's fine. Sometimes he chooses to read, and that's fine. 

 

My ds just has a very different normal for what it means to intersect with text. He actually is a really avoid listener of audiobooks, an ear reader if you will. REALLY avid. Tons and tons of them, hours and hours. 

 

But it's ok to grieve. It's hard to get diagnoses. Did you tell her? How did she feel about it?

[PeterPan]

And I'm also annoyed with the universe because I did everything "right". I used a true phonics program (AAR). I didn't teach sight words. She doesn't guess based on context. And yet, here we are. Sigh. I'm trying to tell myself we'd be even further in the hole if I'd used something else with her. 

 

Sanseri of SWR loads people with that boatload of tripe too, saying that dyslexia is caused by the schools, by poor reading methods, that it's people's FAULT. 

 

Dyslexia has clearly identifiable differences on MRIs. Once you read Dyslexic Advantage you'll get that. It's totally preposterous to say you caused it, and it's only because the dc HAS been taught with OG lite and IS so wicked smart that she even got this far. You're just moving her over from spoon shoveling to bulldozer in the effort to clear a path and make progress. Time for the most powerful tools.

 

Whatever she does with text, it's gonna be AWESOME. That's what you've got to know. Her brain differences also give her STRENGTHS, and you'll find them, connect to them, patch your way through these issues, and it's gonna be fine. Like maybe fine will be redefined and it won't mean reads fast at what you thought a kid should read. Fine might end up meaning something different. But it will be AWESOME, because she's awesome. 

[PeterPan]

And yeah, I saw "preventing" in that title. Maybe skip those chapters. It's not your "fault". Now the ps that doesn't teach even remotely explicit phonics, they need some guilt heaped for a system that does that. But you don't. You went through the normal triage steps, increasing the level of intervention, and now you're moving up to tier 3. You did it RIGHT.

[PeterPan]

Used Barton is tricky. Honestly, just go right to Barton, buy it and be done with it. It's not worth the hassle. You're gonna save very little in the end and you risk buying a scam on ebay. I sold my sets on ebay and I'm not a scam. So sure you can find legit stuff. However if you buy from Barton you can buy extra sets of letter tiles, can call her for support, get the videos sent by link to you pronto so you can start watching training immediately, etc. 

 

The amount you save buying used isn't worth it if you *can* go new comfortably. 

 

As far as tiles, the gig is you'll want to sell your set with the tiles to make it usable for the next user. That means you want to buy new and buy an EXTRA set of tiles. So if you buy a level used and resell it with the tiles, you won't have tiles to keep going and will have to make your own or sell the set without (which will probably leave you feeling bad, sigh). If you buy directly from Barton, you can buy extra sets of tiles, eliminating that problem. 

 

Me, I'm low stress. It's less stressful for me to buy directly from Barton. I think level 1 is colored tiles. That you could buy used if you wanted.

 

Twould be nice to have that ps testing done before you begin Barton. Not essential, but nice. But they're going to have 30 days to respond to your letter and have a meeting and another 60 days to do the testing. They might go faster or they might not. 

[ktgrok]

You know, I hadn't even really thought of audio books as just another path to books. That sounds dumb, but there it is. Thank you for that. She can still get "hooked on books" no matter what, if I get her into audio books!

 

My emotion about this is me, not her, for sure. For me, reading is my pleasure, my joy, my stress relief and I'd hoped to pass that on. Maybe now I won't, because it will be hard for her. Maybe I still will, or maybe via audio book. Right now, art is her "thing". Which my head knows is just as amazing as reading. It's just a different thing :)

 

I did tell her, and also told her that my sister, her aunt, was just diagnosed as dyslexic recently, as an adult. And my sister is a high school principal with a PhD, so obviously successful. That made my DD smile. And we talked about how it has nothing to do with being smart or not, it' just that her brain processes things differently. That everyone has strengths and weaknesses and she is really good at so many things, but this thing she'll have to work harder at. But that she's a hard worker, with a good attitude, so that's okay. She'll do great. 

 

Hardest part now is going to be when my husband sees the bill for Barton, lol!

 

 

[PeterPan]

Ahh, Barton is nothing. At least you're not paying for a psych eval, lol. I mean, it's real, sure. But you're gonna recoup 75% on Barton.

 

Get her a kindle for Christmas. My ds LOVES his kindle. Like wear the thing out, LOVES his kindle. And once you have the documentation and get her access to BARD and put the app on the kindle, oh my! You're gonna blow the lid off. Or is it only ipad/iphone? Check. We load our BARD books onto a thumb drive and put them in the reader they sent us. My ds listens to books without earbuds at home, and he likes the speaker on the reader from the NLS. It's a really good device, with a nice handle. Works for us.

 

Yeah, give her a kindle for Christmas or an ipad or some other tech. Maybe go ipad mini? Just depends on your budget. Tech will UNLOCK this child in ways that will BLOW YOUR MIND. Tech is where it's going to be at. Tech will eliminate boundaries and empower her. The dyslexia school here gives everyone a macbook pro, or at least did last time I looked into it. Tech is HUGE with this. Text to speech, dictation, you name it. And any device can do it now.

 

Go google Ben Foss. He blows my mind. He shows people how to do speed ear reading. Crazy stuff. He has a book too, Dyslexia Empowerment Plan. There's a guy who OWNS it.

[PeterPan]

Audible has a big sale going right now on kids books. You could dump a lotta money at audible, just saying. You have an old iphone or something she could use? I like the kindle because the speaker is loud enough that ds can listen while he's somewhere playing. He often has books on ALL DAY, hours and hours. The kid ear reads anything you would have had on a list, anything I can find. Massively, widely read. Anything. Freddy the Pig, you name it. I throw it on there and he listens. And he listens to Great Courses. Like seriously, you're gonna be amazed what she could do with some access.

[PeterPan]

That's cool that you have positive role models for her to look at!!   :thumbup:

[PeterPan]

All-New Fire HD 8 - Amazon Official Site - Up to 12 hours of battery. Vibrant HD display. Fast performance.  This in the 32GB would rock. Very nuanced parental controls. On an ipad, you have very crass level controls. On the kindle, even in the NOT kid version, you can shut off/on anycategory you want under parental controls. So I can turn OFF the apps, OFF the video, OFF the camera, whatever. Then if my ds has done something to earn them, I can turn ON the apps but not the videos, etc. You can always use parental controls on wifi access, purchasing, etc. If you need control for whatever reason, this device has amazing parental controls.

 

I wouldn't go with the smaller memory to save money, because it's a pain to be constantly rearranging. 

 

We have long car trips for speech therapy, so I download videos from prime or videos I purchase from amazon. Works great, and I can turn on the videos then and turn them off as soon as we get home, boom. That way the device really is only being used for the things I want it for.

 

If you're asking if it's great as a browser and as good as an ipad, well I didn't say that. But for the price, for the parental controls, for what it can do if you decide to unlock it and do it, it's stellar. For what I use it for, it's perfect. I put up with the annoyances (a little slower, etc.), because that's what paying 1/4 of the price gets you, lol.

Edited November 3, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[ktgrok]

Tech is my husbands obsession, so this may be a way to get him involved. And I already use Dragon dictation for my own writing, when I'm working on a novel, so that's something I'm familiar with! She has a tablet that can do audio books I think already (kindle fire) and we have a subscription to overdrive and hoopla via our library, so that's a start for now. Honestly, she hasn't been in to audio books, but maybe I need to try something "older". I've tried classics, but I bet if I tried something more "fun" she would be. Wonder if I can get, say, magic tree house books on audio? Will check today. 

 

And will look into that Dyslexia Empowerment Plan guy. I love when people own it. We've done that with the ASD with my oldest...he thinks he's normal and NT people are weird, lol. 

 

 

Ahh, Barton is nothing. At least you're not paying for a psych eval, lol. I mean, it's real, sure. But you're gonna recoup 75% on Barton.

 

Get her a kindle for Christmas. My ds LOVES his kindle. Like wear the thing out, LOVES his kindle. And once you have the documentation and get her access to BARD and put the app on the kindle, oh my! You're gonna blow the lid off. Or is it only ipad/iphone? Check. We load our BARD books onto a thumb drive and put them in the reader they sent us. My ds listens to books without earbuds at home, and he likes the speaker on the reader from the NLS. It's a really good device, with a nice handle. Works for us.

 

Yeah, give her a kindle for Christmas or an ipad or some other tech. Maybe go ipad mini? Just depends on your budget. Tech will UNLOCK this child in ways that will BLOW YOUR MIND. Tech is where it's going to be at. Tech will eliminate boundaries and empower her. The dyslexia school here gives everyone a macbook pro, or at least did last time I looked into it. Tech is HUGE with this. Text to speech, dictation, you name it. And any device can do it now.

 

Go google Ben Foss. He blows my mind. He shows people how to do speed ear reading. Crazy stuff. He has a book too, Dyslexia Empowerment Plan. There's a guy who OWNS it.

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by ktgrok

[ktgrok]

Ooh, and i do have an old smart phone that she could fit in her little Hello Kitty Purse...I could let her use it JUST for audio books, and make a big deal about it being very grown up, etc. That's a thought. 

 

The good news is she has a really big vocabulary, which I credit to PBS shows and our nightly routine of watching a documentary before bed. Plus NPR on in the car fairly constantly. 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by ktgrok

[PeterPan]

Why do you think she's not into audiobooks right now? Both my kids have been. It would be something to explore, whether there's some ADHD getting her or some APD or something. I'm not saying there IS, just that it would be something to ask. At our local univ. you can get the SCAN screening portion for APD for $35 as part of a regular eval with students. For only $35, it's a really easy recommend, kwim? You've got someone who is processing sounds differently and is not interacting with audio in the way you expect. If you could get it on the cheap or if your insurance would cover it, it would be something you could kinda axe off the list. 

 

My dd has some mild issues that are like RIGHT ON THE LINE for flipping her over to the full test, which frankly in reality means she's probably clinical in some area. Anyways, that screening gave her enough info to learn how to compensate for ear advantage, etc. So you don't have to end up with a diagnosis to learn something useful. 

 

If you find there is some ear advantage issue or issue with dichotic listening or something, she might do better with headphones. It would be something to try, just to see what happens. If you put headphones on and suddenly she's addicted, well then you know something was different about having to filter it from all the other noises in the room vs. having it more directly. And headphones are cheap. I'm all about the cheap ways to gather data, lol. We can send you for $3k this and $2k that, sure, but there are these cheap tricks and things to try too that are not maybe solutions but that let you know ok, maybe we should walk down that path a bit more.

[PeterPan]

Did this lady doing the KTEA do an ADHD screening?

[PeterPan]

As far as what books, sure, try everything. My ds of course has social delays. He listens to adult non-fiction in his areas of special interest, and he listens to Great Courses. He listens to Beverly Cleary books. I have a few MTH from audible, yes. They're kind of expensive. I had hoped to do immersion reading with them. Just $$ that way. If you register with NLS/BARD, then watch and don't buy things from audible that you're just as cool getting from BARD, kwim? So if MTH has to be single books to be immersion, ugh, that's gonna get expensive. I haven't tried immersion on him recently. We've tried on and off and he wasn't ready. It was just really stressful for him. 

 

What are her areas of interest? My dd was very into Little House at that age. You can get all those, the Narnia books, etc. But sure, try things at lots of levels and see what clicks. Buffet.

 

Has she listened to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever? It would be the right time of year, lol. My ds likes the humor and cackles away. Then she'd be into a series.

[PeterPan]

You can throw noise canceling earbuds into her stocking so she can use them with the smart phone. :D

[Zinnia]

We use library books for audio. We have read through most of their audio collection, so I just joined the next county over. :) We do have audible, too, but I like free better.

 

OhE, how does the library of Congress work? It looked like it was for blind or physical impairments. Will they do consider" just dyslexia?

[PeterPan]

Zinnia, there's an application form. Technically you're eligible if you have a print disability. Dyslexia is a print disability, so you can qualify. You take your documentation to your MD/ped, and he signs the forms. 

 

They send out a terrific quarterly catalog of new (to them) listings, and I find that extremely valuable. It's our kids' equivalent of roaming the shelves of the library.