Learning ally has the text read by a volunteer human. Bookshare is electronic text that you can have read to you by a computer synthesized voice (Text to Speech). With Bookshare you also get the actual text that allows one to read along or interact with the text by highlighting..etc..(depending on your software).

Megawords?

I use a spreadsheet that I complete each Sunday. Along the side of the spreadsheet are the subjects, and I fill in what needs to be done each day. There is plenty of whitespace to write notes. These days I have a pretty good sense what ds can accomplish in a day. However, there are always things that take longer. So those just get moved by arrows on the spreadsheet to the next day, or written notes about what still needs to be done. There is also room on the bottom to create notes. I then adjust the next week to include those. I also have a space called reading...which if ds has finished something/ or I am working with dd he can be reading (usually literature or history). If both those are done, he reads for pleasure (he always has a book going). ETA: This is not perfect and some weeks, like this one-- with two ASL tests and a submission for a team engineering project-- are really throwing it for a loop. But that is what my arrows and re-planning will encompass.

If you are happy with the school, and she is, why not seek a 504 for accommodations (in the future, if necessary) which may include keyboarding in the classroom. Spend your money on good tutors to re-mediate the reading and writing.

Don't be tempted by super cute older homes! (Although, if you really love them as I do, remind yourself of that often when you see teeny plaster cracks, and dinged up woodwork, and the super teeny kitchen!) Go for something super functional now....12 years later many of our renov. plans are still on hold! Make sure it works for you now, and will later (which was our plan...I am just feeling jealous of big, beautiful kitchens this Thanksgiving day!) Go for location!!!! We have never regretted our choice about being in a practical location!

Often for me regular headaches are because I am dehydrated. I realized I really only drink coffee during the day, which of course further dehydrates, so now I make a huge effort to be drinking more H2O. Also, I discovered even small amounts of alcohol-- glass of wine-- will cause headaches (maybe allergies and adding to the dehydration). So I have cut that (sigh....where is the fun anymore...less coffee, less wine!)

Also, the apps (such as the Learning Ally App) have speed adjustments. Also you can affect many TTS apps too (my ds listens to some things at about 220 WPM...CRAZY fast!)

Yes. I actually think it is the phonological processing problem....which often I think can look like it is vision.

Can they sit at their spot and wait until you are available? That is what my kids do. They have a computer and other things they can do once they finish, and I become available again. Alternatively, I give them a "break" where they can do roam in our outside. They must stop whatever they are doing when I am available to help with school/ teach a lesson. They also know that they can skip problems until I can come help them. As far as one finishing before the other, that's the way it goes. In our house, we have a rule though that no TV or video games until school work is done....for everyone. We also have a serious reward system for our homeschool day. I am not going to go into it because I know some would :svengo: or :willy_nilly:. However, I will say it has been highly successful for behavior modification to help us reach a point of "no freak outs", complicity, and generally efficient and high quality homeschooling. As far as Verticy/ Calvert. Why feel badly? If it has worked for you be happy. Frankly, our 2 years using it were honestly very successful years. It also helped us of getting us on grade level track, set a schedule and increase the expectations for output. I really appreciated that last component. We are currently reaping the rewards this year as ds (7th grade) is taking two high school level credit courses.

I separate my two kids on different floors. The only downside is that I am running steps all day...but I call that exercise :tongue_smilie:

PM'd

Does not cooking dinner count :tongue_smilie: Seriously, I have let go a lot of things that used to seem impossible to let go of.....me cooking from scratch, well-planned meals, for one. Interestingly, the husband is taking over. That also goes for his laundry..... And my husband created a chore system to get the kids doing more to help. That also has allowed me to let go of some of the housework. Otherwise, we have joined a co-op of sorts, and I am out-sourcing some of the teaching (and it is wonderful!)

Excellent books: The Mislabeled Child by Brock and Fernette Eide The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock and Fernette Eide Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz Personally, I would seek diagnosis from a reputable source (ie- someone not trying to sell you something). I would also seek diagnosis to allow for accomodations in testing situations (extra-time, having a reader/ scribe or having a word processor). The best diagnosis will outline accomodations and also identify appropriate therapy/ resources. ETA: Also so you know, dyslexia is not just about reading. There are other challenges, some less tractable than reading, such as writing and procedural operations.

Yes. Although we could have had a similar diagnosis at a lower price, we paid for the expertise and the 2 days of consults with those experts. As a result, we found EXCELLENT remediation that I know we would not have found otherwise. And, because we knew exactly which type of remediation, that turned out to be far less in the long run because the work we did was so directed. The price still hurt, but in the end I KNOW we are much further along than had we not gone this route.

You can use bookshare.org books with the free Don Johnson software provided by bookshare, and it will do TTS and allow you to highlight/ notetake. I would look through bookshare to find the textbooks of interest. As Suzzie said, one, and which we use too, is the K12 Human Odyssey. If you don't find it there, you could look at LearningAlly. I found an AP geography book for one of my clients there after striking out at bookshare. Finally, you could contact publishers to see if they have online/ electronic versions. For example, Oak Meadow and History Odyssey have PDF versions. In our version of Adobe, on the Mac, we can use the "speech" function and ds can use TTS. I haven't really explored apps, like Kno, however, there are new apps/ companies that are providing digital textbooks. I don't know how they are delivered and even if there are non-college books available. If you can't find it, as Suzzie said, you would have to scan it. The scanning version of Kurzweil is $3000.

Hi- Yes, many of the things that you would put on an iPad you can have on a Mac laptop or desktop. I think the real question is: what are you wanting to do? The other question is do you already have a laptop/ computer that your daughter uses? My guess is that you want an eReader of some sort, so you are thinking iPad. However, for the RFBD app you still need to check out the books to the computer first. Likewise, I would not use the iPad for writing papers/ composition, unless you got an external keyboard of some sort since the flat screen is not great to use for large amounts of writing. Indeed Dragon is not great on the iPad. Although it is very functional for my ds on the Mac desktop app. I really love Dragon but in the end my ds still types more than he uses Dragon. I will be honest, in our house, with two iPads (one always available), my ds primarily uses the Mac desktop, a Kindle (his eReader of choice) and an iTouch (which he manages his schedule for his classes, and has access to cool little apps, and also listens to audio books on). So, why don't you share a bit about what you currently have and what you are wanting for you dd? Also, what her age is would help.

:iagree:

I am uncertain what you are asking? Are you asking for advice on apps that other dyslexic individuals have found helpful? Or do you have some apps, and you want opinions? Or are you asking for advice on getting an iPad and its usefulness?

My ds primarily uses a Kindle, an iTouch and our Mac. I load bookshare.org books onto the Kindle (he is learning how to do this himself) iTouch-- audio books but also bookshare books in a super portable format/ along with videos etc... Mac-Manages all bookshare/ digital content. I use Calibre for books. Stream netflix movies (along with any comcast content).

Nope. Although we are trying sign language this year. His teacher tells me that she has had other dylsexic students and they are really quite good at sign. I will report back how it goes (so far he has caught onto the alphabet faster than I did, and I theoretically learned it about 30ish years ago).

I would look into phonological processing-- see if she can pass Susan Barton's phonemic awareness test.

I just saw this video on the Eides' website.... http://dyslexicadvantage.com/video/talk-about-dyslexia

I really liked this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donna-flagg/dyslexia-is-the-best-thin_b_936096.html Also, I am really liking "The Dyslexic Advantage" by Brock and Fernette Eide.

At this stage-- going for testing-- I wouldn't say anything about dyslexia. I would say exactly what Lizzy said. We are going to see a doctor who will ask you some questions and do some puzzles with you to see how you think and learn. Then s/he will tell us information about how you think and learn. This will help me be a better teacher, and it will also help you understand how you learn. Afterwards, talking about dyslexia-- "I would talk about how everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I would talk about her strengths, talk about your strengths, too. Then you could talk about some struggles you have had in your life. Then say one of the things that the doctor has helped us understand is why reading is so hard (your struggle). It is because of how your brain works. Your brain is using a different pathway to read-- which is actually quite remarkable how clever your brain is- you are already figuring out ways around the roadblocks. Your brain is super powerful and super smart. Smart people can certainly have struggles, too! Now we know why you are struggling-- it is called dyslexia, lots of regular and famous people have had similar struggles-- including Einstein! You will learn to read-- you already are! We now know how to teach you, and I can do it! I love you! You are a great, unique, wonderful kid, and I am so proud of you. Do you have any questions? If you ~ever~ have questions, ask me! I LOVE YOU! Go play!" (Ha-Sorry, I just ended up writing exactly what I would say). Also, so you know, there can be some emotions that get involved. We have been VERY open with ds about dsylexia--there are also moments of anger and grieving. Ds initially had many of those times, and it seemed to last about 6 months. I also had some grieving to do too. Being open about this has been very helpful as I have had a lot of support, too.

HURRAY!!!!!! I LOVE your idea of stickers and affirming statements for MOM!!!! GOOD WORK!!!! :lol: