[Spelling with speech problems]

Hmm. R ' s and L ' s require more tongue curling and lifting, plus they strongly affect vowels. They can develop later, but it's not uncommon for people with dyslexia to also have a history of speech problems. Yet not all speech problems indicate there will be a problem with reading and/or spelling. I suggest you approach this with the understanding to keep your eyes open for dyslexia and look at approaches used for dyslexia, even if it turns out to just a speech problem.

 

One program used by myself and several others for dyslexia remediation is called Barton Reading and Spelling. It holds off on many of the vowel sounds and r influenced vowels. It might be worth looking at--or at least worth thinking about holding off on spelling words with some of those sounds until your child is further along in his speech therapy. Generally speaking, learning g moves from talking to writing (that's even the name of a writing book/teacher's manual or approaching language based special needs.) Some of the common words that are hard to avoid in early readers, like "girl" and "her", can be taught as sight words until his speech catches up, (and even then, they're semi-sight words to know which spelling for /er/.) You may want to used controlled readers so that the readers he uses does ask him to read or spell sounds he hasn't yet learned. That 's how we approached reading with the first several levels of Barton. And when you look at Barton or other special ed programs for reading, instead of comparing it to the cost of standard reading and spelling programs, compare them to the cost of his speech therapy and they will seem like a bargain. ;)

[IdeaChain?]

Yes! We used it and loved it! It was really interesting to hear how one of in attempted to explain a picture that I would later see. It puts the pictures together with words--and vice-versa, which is one way to help reading comprehension. The program was easy to implement and the author provided phone support. That phone support was why I chose Idea-Chain over Visualizing and Verbalizing, (but once finished with IC, we used some V & V materials.)

 

One interesting experience was my own visualization improved while using Idea Chain. I'm more of a think-with-words kind of thinker. While i did okay in school, a program like this would have been helpful to me.

[Grammar suggestions for 8th grade (vision issues)]

One thing we used was a book on commas by Randy Larson from a series called "Teaching the Boring Stuff". We'd done a lot of basic grammar programs, but standardized tests for 8th grade asked a lot about commas so we spent time later (after his standardized test score came back) going over commas specifically. The book was called, "Commas: Teaching students to use commas correctly without boring them to tears". It attempted to add humor into the comma lessons.There are other books from this same series to cover other specific areas of grammar. I learned of this series on a website for therapists, but it was simple and easy to use.

[LiPS]

We started with LiPS after my son failed the Barton screen. I had already purchased Barton level 1, so we only used LiPS up to where Barton recommended, (I think recognizing a string of CVC). I bought manual, felts and lip pictures, plus the training dvd on Vowels and the vowel circle I made some of the materials with a copier, cardstock and a few of those sticky laminating sheets that don't require a machine. (My old manual's copywrite allowed such printing.) Oh, and we used a tabletop magnified mirror (that I'd previously used for applying make-up) so he could look at his own lips and mouth.

 

I read and studied and watched the dvd. The parts we used, like learning "brothers", were largely scripted. It wasn't as scripted as Barton. I was grateful to switch to Barton when he'd gotten far enough, as the later parts of LiPS are less scripted and some of the materials over-lap between the later parts of LiPS and the early levels of Barton.

 

I used LiPS first for my son who was 3rd grade age at the time. I later used it with my daughter for pre-school/ kindergarten before later moving to Barton. While DD's struggles weren't as severe as her brother's, since she was younger it took more time. Plus, for her it served as a bit of speech therapy as it helped me to teach her how to make one sound she hadn't learned to make yet. My dd is now 9 and has only has vague recollection of which consonants pair up as "brothers" (but I remind her from time to time now.) I found the information in LiPS very interesting.

[What are your favorite reading comprehension resources?]

My favorites for comprehension are Visualizing and Verbalizing by Lindamood-Bell and IdeaChain, (which covers similar concepts as covered in V & V but less expensive.)

[n/m]

I read, "Lose Your Mummy Tummy" and got the exercise dvd and bands that go with it. Some of the most helpful information wasn't what to do--it was what NOT to do. Some of my prior efforts at exercise to flatten my stomach, like sit ups and even just how I got out of bed, made the separation worse. Learning what movements to avoid helped dramatically.

[Question about dyslexia vs. vision issue]

One more thought: you might check out Lindamood-Bell ' s programs. "Seeing Stars" and "Visualizing and Verbalizing" might help address some of the issues you mentioned. They're reading programs that address some of the visual processing issues aspects of reading. Seeing Stars has many phonics components that your son might already know, but it also addresses common words too so that portion of it may be helpful to him.

[Question about dyslexia vs. vision issue]

It does sound difficult to determine exactly what's going on--and there may be more than one thing. Do the reversals that happen sometimes seem to happen more when he's tired or sick or maybe right before an illness? If he's tested when healthy and we'll rested, the things that concern you about his vision/reading might not show up when the covd evaluates him for follow-up post vt. Regarding the skipping of little words when reading--does he skip words that would change the meaning of the sentence or just those pesky little words like articles, "to be" verbs, etc? If he skips prepositions, are they ones that affect the meaning and/or does he comprehend prepostions well otherwise? Is he possibly trying to read too fast and therefore skipping those "extra" words, like some people text without them? If you tell him to re-read and go slower, can he catch that he left out a word?

 

I don't know what I'd do in your position. I wouldn't likely ask the school district for help, especially if he's overall reading and spelling words at grade level and comprehending most material. I'd look for patterns to his errors in the ways I mentioned above before spending money on further testing. I'd probably be on the phone with the covd to ask more questions about his follow-up and I'd ask about glasses if that wasn't already discussed. And if he wears glasses, I'd check if they need cleaning. My own glasses get smudges that require cleaning several times a day.

 

After writing all that, it sounds to me like "vision plus" issues. It's harder to figure out what's going on when there is more than one issue and/or if the problems are intermittent. Tired, sick and/or hungry kids present differently, and if their issues are mild enough, the problems may not appear during testing.

[Today, I drove my mother to the nursing home where she will now live]

Hugs and prayers for both of you.

[Organization]

After eight children, over twenty years of life with toddlers and young children, and a very large collection of various toys, I've got a system and philosophy that works for us.

 

It's far too easy these days to aquire more toys and stuff than children can reasonably handle. Giving them more than they can handle in a recipe for frustration. They can't even truly enjoy what they have because they have to mine through a mess to find the particular treasure they want. The term "hidden in plain sight" comes to my mind.

 

We keep most of the toys in "deep storage" (closet under stairs or high shelves kids can't reach) then rotate which are within reach. We have one of those train table, (low to the ground, large table with edges to contain parts) that holds whatever building toys or multi-piece sets that are currently out. (Trains, legos, Keva planks, playmobile, etc.) Most of the building and play takes place on the table or can be put there in a short time. It's in the basement where we homeschool. There's another toy box for miscellaneous toys , plus 2 old hampers--one for stuffed animals and one for dress-up clothes. Crayons go in a box near another table where the younger ones homeschool. Chalk and white board markers go by where they are used. Book shelves all over, but there were often barricaded or behind closed doors.

 

We often start the homeschool week on Monday morning after a weekend with putting things in their place. I figure it's an outward exercise that does something similar to what we're trying to do inside there head. We organized in such a way that they can access what they have. Group similar things together. Don't give them more than they can handle - or at least don't give them more than they can handle with your help. They can't do everything at once, so put some things aside until they're ready for them.

 

As far as the deep storage and toy rotation is concerned, it's a bit child directed and a bit mom-directed. Sometimes they ask, other times I decide it's time for a switch.

[Annoying things people say about your ASD/ADHD dc's behavior...]

Here's one coping strategy to survive life with our fellow humans: When people make unkind remarks, give them the benefit of any doubt and assume they did not intend to be unkind. Not everyone uses the same vocabulary, and many words have different connotations to different people. Some seemingly normal people can't always find the proper word at times. Plus, words and terms can change over time and not everyone keeps up with the changes. The "r" word was once used as a diagnostic term without any malice. "Backwards" might be a decent description for some learning styles, similar to the title of the book "Upside-down Learners". Social clues may help clarify if they intended to insult, but even then some people are socially awkward and may say things that come across as insults. Treat people who say potentially rude things as if they may have a need for accomodations for their language or social issues. Don't assume they meant to insult your parenting skills or your child.

[Ancient seeds of extinct tree successfully sprouted--so cool!]

Great story!!!

 

I wonder about the ancient person who stored a bunch of seeds that would revive these extinct trees two thousand years later. Who was he or she? Is that person looking down from heaven and smiling?

[In your opinion, what does prayer do?]

I woke up thinking about this thread and the neurology involved in prayer. Alberto, do you remember response rial psalms at Mass? The reader reads a short phrase from a psalm, then the congregation repeats it, then another part of the psalm is read and then the congregation repeats the first phrase, etc. Remember? That kind of activity is a fantastic exercise for auditory memory! How does auditory memory work? How does memory work exactly? Do you remember praying the Hail Mary out loud? Did you ever give much thought to all the words with r and l sounds and blends in that prayer? I have because I had a child who had greater difficulty with those sounds. A well said "Hail Mary" was a sort of speech therapy for him--and with his memory difficulties, it took him far longer to learn that prayer. I pray and teach my children to pray because I believe praying is good for them. The more I learned about special education and remediation of various learning challenges, I kept finding things that we did as Catholics that could help my child neurologically speaking even apart from any "supernatural benefits" of prayer. Even making The Sign of the Cross involved crossing the midline.

 

Prayers are actions as well as words and thoughts. I don't know how all of those movements and formation of sounds and thoughts work even apart from their supernatural side. (Scientists only recently found some lymph parts hiding behind the sinuses in the brain, despites decades of brain scans! They really don't understand what's going on in the brain much at all even apart from prayers. One of mine has had expensive brain scans that told us virtually nothing about what was going on in his head for a physical and nuerological problem.) I don't think you are wrong for asking these questions about what prayer does. I think about it and ponder it too. But I don't think we can discover all the answers to our questions. My realization that the ancient practice so praying responsorial psalms was good for my child's memory struck me that the people who went before us did things when praying that were good for the human mind, even if they didn't develop those prayers as forms of auditory memory practice. We can read and learn and ask questions, but we cannot learn all the answers. If we had to have all the answers about how thoughts and movements and such work in the brain before we could move or think, we'd be paralyzed and unable to form any thought. We don't have to understand prayer before praying. We can start with a simple sign of the cross, with our right hand touching our forehead, then our gut, cross the midline to the left shoulder, then touch the right shoulder, then fold hands together. It starts simple, but the even the mere physical actions are anything but simple to explain from a physical and nuerological perspective.

[For bigger families/smaller houses - master BR in basement?]

Before moving any family member into a basement bedroom, check radon levels. Also, resolve any drainage issues or water problems before you finish the basement. It's easier to fix or avoid any potential problems with those things before the space is finished.

[In your opinion, what does prayer do?]

...

 

...

 

I concluded that if my own thoughts and emotions could be mistaken, or could be explained without supernatural variables, then what does that say about the credibility of these claims? People who believe prayer work have either come to some conclusions about these questions, or have suppressed some measure curiosity. My question is for those who have developed some conclusions. What are they? What, in their opinion, does a prayer do? How does the psychological plea transfer into actual physical effects? How does this action (often simply mental, or even relying on base emotions) manipulate the laws of physics to provide the state of being willed by God, in contrast to the state of being that natural cause and effect have produced thus far?

I'm replying on my phone, which isn't the easiest way to type out a lengthy reply to some of your profound questions. Yes, some of us have given much thought (and prayer) into the type of questions you are asking. I haven't suppressed my curiousity, but my understanding of how prayers work can't be neatly wrapped up in some quick explanation.

 

I believe in the Communion of Saints. I believe prayers work bot individually and collectively. Some prayers are like grains of sand. They add up together to something more weighty. But even just a grain of sand in the right place at the right time can help create a pearl. Pearls form over time. Some prayers may last over generations. I think the prayers of our fore-fathers and fore-mothers may affect us still today. I believe some prayers are more powerful than others, particulary when combined with fasting and/or some type of sacrifice like almsgiving. While I wrote some prayers are like grains of sand, some are more like pebbles, rocks and even boulders. I read some time ago that the prayers of new believers are sometimes more readily answered, as God wishes to show them the power of prayer.

 

I also know that God is God, and I'm not. Things I pray for longer term are often not answered in the ways I imagined. I believe God respects with our free will, and do when we're praying for other people, that's a factor in the equation. I do see it a little like a math equation although I'm not convinced that's theologically correct. He gives grace. If we pray, that ability to pray is also a grace from God, but it's grace working with our free will and the free will of others who may have been praying for us without our knowledge. As I've gotten older, I find praying, "Thy will be done" has gotten easier, (or at least it is right now for me.)

 

Alberto, I'm glad you are asking these questions. It shows you are thinking about prayer. :)

[Would you give a school your child's NP report?]

I wouldn't give them the whole report. I'd fill in that information any place on the application that asked about learning disabilities or special concerns. If he's admitted, then I'd work with them and provide whatever documentation they need at that point.

 

Maybe it was my state's laws, but when my ds (with APD) attended a private school where I'd filled out all kinds of information, I later learned that the teachers knew nothing about his diagnosis. It was a small school. They told that was due to rules about his privacy. I learned later that he wasn't receiving some very simply accomodations, (like sitting towards the front and away from any obvious source of background noise and writing the homework assignments instead of just telling, which was already a school policy.) I needed to personally tell his teachers about his needs--and he's in high school, so there were several teachers to tell. Not all teachers responded as expected. Attempting to communicate with some of them was quite frustrating. He returned to homeschooling again.

[In your opinion, what does prayer do?]

Prayer does many things.

 

One of the many things it's done for me is clarify wants and needs. Several times I've started a novena (nine days of prayer or longer) for a specific request and found by the end of it my prayer request has changed. Usually it's a slight tweaking of what needs changing, often relating to an increase of virtues.

[Hugging acquaintances?]

Agree it's was a creepy, drunken power-play against your husband, done via weird flirting and inappropriate physical contact by someone who saw you as something to conquer. Your response to cozy up to your husband and mention how great he is was a good recovery. Also, btw, it sounds like your husband further impressed that strange nemesis person by having you for a wife. Your husband won that round, thanks to you. ;)

[Paleo funny]

To think...I almost didn't open this thread or link. Too, too funny! :D

[Scary Feeling/Trusting your instincts]

I call that my "Creep Alarm". Pay close attention when your creep alarm is going off. I wouldn't call it "fear" because I don't feel afraid per se. It's an inner knowledge to be careful and find a safe place.

[Scientists demonstrate the future affecting the past]

Fascinating. I wonder if the particle somehow knows or senses what's coming ahead. I can think of many examples where people make decisions based on what they know (or believe they know) what will happen in the future.

["Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans" (article) -- cross-post]

Does he really see his usefulness to society as helping people through his writing to justify failing to pay back loans they agreed to pay? His writing is not too useful.

 

My child who chose a private college entered the military in order to pay for it. His younger brother chose a much less expensive public university in a place with horrid weather. Our other children are considering various options, such as those already mentioned above, community college, trade schools, etc.

[Twins!]

:)

 

How exciting! Twice the fun! We have twins - ours are babies #4 &5. It's hard work, but so worth it!

[First Amphibious Pitcher (or as my English teacher would say....Words matter!)]

He can pitch baseballs both on land and in water.

[Auditory Processing Disorder]

There are different types (or maybe the term is subtypes ?) of Auditory Processing Disorder. An audiologist visit with hearing test would be in order if you suspect it.

 

Inappropriate comments can happened be in the context of APD if the person misheard what was said and responds to what he/she thought was said instead of what was actually said. It may not always happen but be conditional to situations such as background noise. Hearing devices or lip reading may help with this. Being aware that one has APD might also help, so that one can adjust things that may be in one's control, like background music in one's own home or proximity to others when holding a conversation.

 

The story of eyes shifting when watching TV sounds like a vision issue rather than auditory. Background noise bothering you could be related to APD or something else like sensory processing.

 

Confusing similar sounds can happen with APD and other learning disorders. There's a relationship between the ability to correctly hear sounds within words and with reading. Doctors sort through how to diagnosis one thing from another, but there can be a lot of overlap with symptoms. I've read that most people on the autism spectrum have some type of Auditory Processing problem, but not everyone with APD is on the autism spectrum.