Just my 2 cents worth. I would get a diagnosis first. Until you know what you are dealing with, you can't make a good plan to help. As the other moms have said, many problems present in very similar ways. For us, it was well worth the hassle and cost to get a thorough picture of what dd was dealing with.

I am a pediatric physical therapist and know several families who homeschool their children with down syndrome. Here is a link to a blog with further links from there: http://barbarafrankonline.com/articles/homeschooling-your-child-with-down-syndrome.php This is an excellent resource: http://www.scribd.com/doc/30242645/Homeschooling-Children-with-Down-Syndrome NATHHAN is a wonderful organization for support and information: http://www.nathhan.com/ I would encourage you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity for your entire family to live and learn together in another culture. You can do this!

Our dd, now age 12, was just diagnosed in the spring. We went to a private, homeschool-friendly neuropsych who did a lot of testing. She sat down and explained it all to me and it was definitely worth it to us. Our daughter tested with a very high IQ, which is not unusual with dyslexic children. They are quite adept at compensating for their issues, so often don't present as "typical" dyslexia- whatever that is. She loves to read and reads well, but her spelling was attrocious, after years of intense instruction. Our daughter has problems with phonological sequencing, so I chose to use the Barton system that several posters have already mentioned. We started with Level one and raced quickly through Levels One and Two. She is now on Level 5 and her spelling is improving daily! My take on why this program works so well is that these children don't intuit much about language and they need the explicit teaching that Barton provides. It is pricey, but the resale is very high. I am averaging about $70 net cost for each level. There is definitely help out there! I tried every spelling program known to man with little to no improvement. It was only when we figured out the underlying problem and dealt with it that she is able to make progress in her spelling. She will always struggle with it, but she is learning how to deal with that as well.

Oh, my dear! :grouphug: I want to encourage you to press on. Get the medication issue resolved and get the diagnosis of what is going on with this child. It is completely frustrating that this has gone unrecognized and untreated for so long. But the buck stops with you. No one loves and cares enough about your child to be tough and tenacious as long as it takes to get him the help he needs. He needs you to be that one, Mom! Can you try a different approach to school while you are figuring these things out? Worksheets can be the worst! Maybe reading aloud together, playing math games with him, doing messy, fun experiments and taking field trips. It could be that you can use this time of evaluation and adjustment to build your relationship. I (and most all of the parents on this board) have felt just like this at many points in the journey. Stay the course. There are answers for you and wonderful days ahead for both of you. Katie

I called HSLDA. It probably is a members-only feature. I just got an email from them today asking for people to send them contact information for special needs consultants so they can expand their recommendations. Diane Craft is in Colorado. Her website is http://www.diannecraft.org/ She does evaluations and is one of HSLDAs Special needs consultants. It may be a place to start anyway. I'm not sure she would be the best choice for an evaluation for dyslexia but she may know of someone who is. Check with your state's homeschooling organization and any local support groups. Praying that you get the answers you need.

Don't feel bad. I just got a diagnosis of dyslexia for my then-11yo dd. She is an excellent reader but a horrible speller. She also can't remember her math facts from day to day, despite years of work. We used an educational consultant recommended by HSLDA and other HSing moms in our area. She did a lot of testing, including an Intelligence test. As someone else said, very intelligent children compensate well, so don't display as "typical" dyslexia- whatever that is! I elected to go with Barton, starting at Level 1. We, too, have done every spelling program out there, to no avail. Since her problem is phonological sequencing, I wanted to deal with that. She rocketed through the first 3 levels and is now in Level 5. Her spelling is improving daily! She is writing a book- that is utterly unbelievable, since it was like pulling teeth to get her to write a sentence before Barton. She uses her Franklin Spelling Ace, which Barton starts teaching them to use in Level 4. I hope this encourages you. You are probably dealing with a very intelligent little one, who is compensating for many of the problems of dyslexia. I personally would get an evaluation by an independent consultant and go from there. It has made all the difference for us. Katie

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I'm a pediatric physical therapist and I definitely say "Don't wait!" There is so much that can be done with early intervention. Start with your MD and if you don't get a referral for evaluation, start calling early intervention programs in your area and ask questions about doctors they would recommend, etc. Trust your gut feelings, mama!

So glad you got the answers you needed. Even though we raced through Level One, it was helpful in learning all of the routines that you use in all of the Levels. And yes, you do need all the tiles up to that point for each level. I just order an extra set of tiles with each level so that I can keep one and sell one with the set when we finish.

We finish a lesson in a day. Most days it takes between 30 and 45 minutes at this point. I will limit it to an hour- that's at Susan Barton's recommendation. We do 4 days a week. We finished Level One in several days. I strongly suggest that you order that level from Barton directly. I called when we finished and they shipped out Level Two to us at no charge, even paying shipping for it and the Level One return! Level Two was also really quick. Level Three took several weeks. Now Level Four is about one lesson per day, but it's taking longer, so I expect the pace to really slow down now.

Just wanted to put in my 2 cents worth. I am using Barton with my dd who has just been diagnosed with dyslexia at age 11. She is a good reader and enjoys it. She is a horrible speller, despite years of hard work with many recommended spelling programs. The problems showed up in her reading as the words got more difficult. We worked through Barton Levels 1,2 and 3 very quickly. It slowed her down and taught her to carefully sound out each word. The physical actions of finger spelling and pulling tiles down really seem to be helping. Her spelling is improving exponentially already. As we are working through Level 4 now, I see that she really doesn't intuit a lot about language and the Barton system is really helping her learn those things. We probably are atypical, but thought I would put in another viewpoint.

She could contact HSLDA's special needs consultants for a referral in her area. That's what I did and was very happy with the specialist who tested my daughter. She used the Woodcock Johnson and several more tests and gave me the complete results and recommendations for curriculum.

My suggestion would be to go for a big city teaching hospital, even if it's a drive for an evaluation. You want someone who sees a lot of children with your child's dx. Local docs will usually take on follow-up care in those circumstances. That's what I did in my dd's case. I went to Children's Hospital, LA for her initial workup and set-up with meds, etc. Now my local pediatrician does follow-up with the understanding that if anything changes, we go back to CHLA. Just my opinion, but as a physical therapist and a mom, I have found neurologists of any stripe to be the most arrogant and hard to deal with! Neurosurgeons are the worst, but as a colleague used to say, I guess you want someone very, very sure of themselves before they go mucking about in your brain! Hope that helps. Let us know how it works out.

I have to echo what the others have said- Barton was the answer for my dyslexic daughter and me! Very, very easy to use and addresses exactly what she needs. Resale value on the levels is excellent, so don't let that scare you off.

Thank you for all of the helpful info. I was really taken aback when he said the initial eval was $1750! I will call around and find someone with a more reasonable cost. We live near LA and there are many developmental optometrists there. I will press on with the insurance company and see if we can get at least some of the costs covered.