It's actually pretty simple. Her symptoms do sound suspicious for dyslexia. Please understand that schools will NOT diagnose dyslexia (long reason why -- suffice it to say that they don't want to remediate it). There is TONS of research out there that all comes to the same conclusion: the most effective way to remediate dyslexia is through an Orton-Gillingham program. This is not an opinion, it is a fact. There are many O-G programs, however Barton is mentioned often as it was designed for parents to implement themselves. Most of the time, dyslexics will not qualify for special ed services. However, if they do manage to get something, it's most often not what they need (again -- they need an O-G program). There are some schools that are coming around and providing 0-G remediation, but they are rare. So don't get excited that she's qualified for something, as it's likely not going to help. Often schools will work on fluency only, which is terrible for dyslexics because what they really need is decoding work. Once they can decode accurately, then the fluency comes up. Fluency training without decoding will actually just reinforce guessing, which is a common and damaging strategy that dyslexics use. Yes Barton is expensive. However, if you buy a level at $300, you can sell it within a few days for $250. It has an incredibly high resale value. The entire first Barton level is phonemic awareness, which your daughter will absolutely need to be successful in ANY reading/spelling program. It takes many children 3-5 years to complete all 10 levels. Parents spend so much time piecing together programs and trying this and trying that. It's really pretty simple: use an O-G program. They work the best, and it's not just my opinion, it's a fact! As for the vision therapy, I agree you will find people on this board who've had much success with it. I tried it for my severely dyslexic ds. We worked diligently for 6 months, and it did nothing. However, once I started using an O-G program, the progress came. He is now in 6th grade, and just tested in the 97%ile for reading!!!!! (He has gone through the first 8 levels of Barton.) Research supports the use of O-G programs for dyslexia, but it doesn't support VT. Does that mean it never helps? No -- I truely believe it helps some kids, but since that isn't being replicated in scientific studies, it leads me to believe it's not the typical outcome. Hope this helps and good luck!

Yep -- Get him Dragon Naturally Speaking (the premium version), and he should be able to just speak and have the program type for him.

Thanks Janice -- I'll check it out!

Is there any way that you can wait for a few weeks and try again? I say this if you JUST ended school and are now transitioning into a less structured, summer day. If that's the case, then it's hard to figure out what may be the meds and what may be the change in schedule (or possibly more screentime?) Try to change just one variable at a time. I doubt the appetite loss is due to a change in routine, but the crankiness could be. Especially if she's doing more screen time. Good luck!

Thanks for the info -- I was curious if your dd had tried qwerty -- guess so! My problem is I have a PC and I can't find a Mavis Beacon WITH Dvorak for a PC -- except for the older versions which won't run on my newer operating system! Frustrating!

OhElizabeth, Did you use Mavis Beacon to teach her the Dvorak? I'm interested in it, because my ds has used qwerty for two years and still isn't very good, but I'm having a hard time finding a typing program that teaches to the Dvorak keyboard. Thanks! Carolyn

Wow! This is such a helpful list of resources -- thanks so much! My ds, age 12, really struggles with handwriting, and these will really help! Carolyn

We gave the windows software a try -- didn't work very well. Then we switched to Dragon. The sales rep on the phone said that the windows software doesn't have the technology that lets it "learn" what you are saying like Dragon does. I have to say, Dragon has worked much better for us. Hope this helps! Carolyn

Hi everyone, I know several weeks ago (or maybe a couple of months?) there were some working memory workbooks that people posted links to. I saved them on my computer and was meaning to buy one, and then my laptop crashed, was fixed, and in the process wiped clean. So now I have no idea what the names of those workbooks are again! So sorry to bother you all again, but I'd really like to order one to work with ds this summer. Thanks in advance! Carolyn

Thanks for all the support, ladies. I SWEAR the first time I looked at the PROMPT website, it said she was certified. But today, when I checked again, the maps are slightly different, and it says she has only completed the bridging. She does work for a respectable children's rehab hospital, so I took that as a good sign -- guess I was wrong. The certified therapists are too far away from us -- like 12 hours, and two states away. So that's not an option. I did ask her via email to consider not including the stuttering diagnosis in his report, as I'm afraid it will come up again in the future. He's having testing for CAPD beginning on Friday, and I don't want the audiologist to comment on it (same hospital). She said she would note that the family does not see signs of stuttering and she will talk to the audiologist before hand, so they don't comment. He seems to be over it, and it hasn't come up, so I'm hoping it's behind us. Thanks again! Carolyn

Thanks for the support -- it means a lot! I'm going to send you a private email sometime in the next day or so. Hope that's okay. :)

After hearing about some other's great experience with PROMPT therapists, I located one in my area and had my 12-year-old ds evaluated last week. A few of you may remember that he has disjointed speech, with low working memory and processing speed, hypotonia, coordination issues, etc. etc. He was also diagnosed with apraxia at age 2. Anyhow, while I don't have the report, she said that she didn't think any of his past apraxia is at play in his speech difficulties. He seemed to do well on many of the tests she performed, but most of those involved single word utterances. But when she administered tests that involved longer replies, I could start to see the difficulties. Not too bad, but still noticeable by me (not sure what he scored on that test, yet). But then she had him tell her about a TV show that he recently watched. I thought he did a decent job, for him. When he finished, she informed him that he is stuttering! She went on and on, lecturing him about this and telling him that he can't let it hold him back, and that he's got to push himself to join the speech team, yadayadayada. He was totally shocked and was just trying to hold himself together, without crying. I finally told him to go to the waiting room, and she and I talked. No one in our entire extended family has ever heard what we would call a stutter, although if you go by a SLP's definition, I guess his pauses and halting speech qualify. It was a bad situation because he was so upset to get this news, and I knew it would make him totally anxious in social situations and not want to speak, so I tried to convince him he really doesn't stutter, and that the therapist was off-base (I do sort of believe this). I was able to smooth it over (I had to lie and tell him that after he left, I had her listen to my speech, and she said I also stutter, which he knew was ridiculous.) In the end, I still think his word-retrieval issues are the problem, along with his low working memory. The two together cause him to pause and speak slowly with less automaticity. I asked her about just some simple exercises to help with word retrieval, and she said to name items in categories for 5-10 min. a day. So we are doing that, and this summer I plan to get some of the recommended workbooks for improving working memory and go through as much as we can. Just wanted to report back on how it panned out for us. Carolyn

I bought Balametrics about a year ago. We did it for about a month, at which time we stopped because we started up neurofeedback, and I didn't want two new therapies going on at the same time. Then we unexpectedly moved to a new state, and my ds is now in a private school, so we don't have time to do the Balametrics. As to whether it's effective, my instinct is that it can be, depending on what the person's issues are. But you've got to commit to doing it regularly (5xs a week?) for several months before you'll know if it's helping (at least that's what the OT said). I have heard from several parents who said they really noticed improvement for their ADHD kids when they started doing really rigorous exercise -- one child started playing hockey 4xs a week. One therapist told me heavy, weight-bearing activities can really help some ADHD kids. That might be another option to try at the beginning of the school day. I know one_michelle says she starts out their day with exercise, and I can totally see how that would help. Just a thought... Carolyn

We've had similar problems with both my boys. In our case, I do think it's a word retrieval problem. Either they can't find the right word, or they accidentally get the wrong one. I just had a speech eval on my 12-year-old, and the therapist said to do 5-10 min. a day of naming objects in categories. For example, name as many vegetables as possible. Then make it harder by naming those that are green. Or those that are root veggies, etc. She claimed that if you do that for daily for 2 weeks, you'll start to notice a difference. I plan to try -- if you do, please report back as to if you noticed a difference. Hope this helps! Carolyn

Thanks for taking the time to detail what you did. It sounds amazing! You must be really good at time management, organization, etc. I think it's best to work on things a little bit, more frequently, and it sounds like you've basically incorporated your "therapies" into your lifestyle -- with amazing success, I might add. Congrats to you and your boys! :001_smile:

My understanding is that a school will test to see if a child is ELIGIBLE for services (if their scores are low enough to qualify). They do not do DIAGNOSTIC testing (which tells you what the problem is). There's no way you can truly test for Auditory Processing Disorder using some quick "Earobics" computer test. It has to be done by a audiologist who specializes in this sort of testing. My ds will be having it done at a children's hospital in 2 weeks -- the evaluation is conducted in two separate sessions by an audiologist. Bombing the nonsense words is a big red flag for dyslexia. I second the advice of the poster who recommended the Barton site. You can get tons of info on it, and you can take matters into your own hands and start helping her, even while waiting on other testing. And to say that she is not dyslexic because she used her finger to track while reading is, frankly, idiotic! If anything, it could indicate she has some visual tracking difficulties, so using the finger helps her keep her place. (Or it can be normal, too.) Honestly, I've seen lots of people try to get their kids help from the school district, and I've never once been impressed. Either they can't get their kids to qualify, or if they do, the "help" they receive doesn't actually help. Our old school district provided a type of remediation that actually further ingrained dyslexia. After all we've been through, I'm convinced it's often best to take matters into your own hands, especially if you're in a rural area where specialists are scarce. I would read up on the Barton website, see if you think she's dyslexic (have her tested by a Barton tester, if possible), and either hire a tutor or do it yourself. There's a huge market for used Barton levels, so you can get most of your money back. Good luck! Carolyn

Wow! Congrats! Can you give a couple of specific examples of an issue, and what you did to work on it? My guy's stuff just seems to stick with us, year after year. So it would be helpful to me to hear a couple of examples. I tend to get overwhelmed. :001_huh: Thanks! Carolyn

Barton quickly gets tough. There's a BIG jump from level 3 to 4, and I can tell you from experience, it's not at all babyish. If you can get her to stick with it, it's the best program out there (obviously just my opinion). You do need to start with level 1, as it sets the stage for the other levels. If it's easy, just breeze through it and consider it a confidence booster before it starts getting tough. There is a huge resale market for Barton, so you can probably get about 75% of your investment back if you resale the products. Good luck! Carolyn

I'm running into the same problem. I tried to contact the level 2 clinician in our city, and her phone just rang and rang -- no voice mail? So then I emailed her, but haven't heard anything. I'm wondering if she's no longer here. About 3 hours away is a level 1 provider, but there's no way I'm doing that. :001_huh: So now what? Wait 15 years for the PROMPT book to come out? I will say that while I think this idea is worth pursuing, I think that my guy has so many variables that contribute to his speech issues that this still would not be a magic bullet for him. He's also got the poor working memory, slow processing speed, word retrieval, dyslexia, and his introverted personality. Carolyn

Well, Hmmmm. Honestly, after all these years and tons of various therapies, I never thought about it being undertreated apraxia. I can kind of see it, though, because he has low muscle tone and poor motor planning/coordination on his ENTIRE body, so I guess that makes sense. In his case, he also has poor working memory, so maybe the two combined would cause a double-whammy problem. I looked up PROMPT and found there is a lower-trained provider near us (we live in Idaho). I will call her and see what she says. I'm REALLY glad you took the time to write your comments. It could end up leading to something worthwhile for my ds. THANKS!!!!!!!!!:001_smile: Carolyn

Yes, I've read about the delayed brain development in HG kids. My guy is 12. I keep hoping a more mature brain in a few years will help. And yep -- we've done the Barton thing -- we'll do level 9 this summer, as my son went to private school this year. It definitely has helped, and I'm hoping to become a Certified Barton Tutor this summer. Glad to hear that time has helped your son. :001_smile:

Thanks for your response. My guy also has Developmental Coordination Disorder and Expressive Language Disorder. And low muscle tone. And poor motor planning. And poor bilateral integration. Sensory Integration Disorder. You name it, he's probably been diagnosed with it, (except for Autism spectrum disorders, which we explored at one time). Since he was 11 months old we've done p/t, o/t, s/t, v/t, neurofeedback, yadayadayada. A few helped some, especially if it targeted muscle control. But I've spend A LOT of money on stuff that didn't help. Anyhow, back to the working memory issue, which is supposedly a biggee for him (and I do believe that). I spent a good hour searching for your posts and got a better idea of what you SLP did during therapy. Thanks -- that was helpful! Now trying to FIND someone as skilled and knowledgeable as yours isn't easy. We just moved from a rural area to a bigger city, so maybe I'll be able to locate someone. I sort of gave up on therapies a few years ago, because I found most weren't helpful, and the research and subsequent therapies that I did were often the most helpful. WHY ISN'T THERE A BOOK WITH SIMPLE EXERCISES (LIKE DIGIT SPANS) TO IMPROVE WORKING MEMORY?:banghead: Maybe there is, and I don't know about it. If anyone knows one, please tell me!!!!! I also discovered, through reading your posts, that we've read many of the same books, like the Eides (I met them personally!), VSL, etc. So that was interesting. We'll have to chat more! :001_smile: Thanks again for your help! Carolyn

Hi Marie -- thanks for your thoughts on executive functioning. We have explored that. He had a neuropsych eval last summer, and the doc said his executive functioning is decent, but that his very low working memory is the main problem. Who knows?!?! Carolyn

Yes -- diagnosed with apraxia at age 2, but then that diagnosis was retracted when he supposedly progressed too quickly. From everything I've read, early speech issues are a symptom of dyslexia. Now, after 12 years, I think his disjointed speech is due to severe dyslexia (still severe after 8 levels of Barton), low working memory, poor word retrieval, and his very gifted brain (yes -- believe it or not I do think that contributes because I believe his neural connections are more far-reaching than normal and less specialized, which therefore results in more time processing all the connections that are occuring and then organizing that info. He has had IQ testing, also.) Just my crazy theories, however. :001_smile: Carolyn

We've had similar issues. Now, at 12, my ds still really struggles to speak in a clear manner. I've read that in the dyslexic mind, automaticity often takes longer to develop, and I really see that in my guy. I've been looking (for years) for a VERBAL program that uses a systematic, explicit, and multisensory method to teach how to speak. For example, just having my son be able to answer the question, "How was summer camp?" in a clear, organized manner, would be very difficult -- still. The program would maybe lead them through mentally thinking about their top 5 interesting things they did at camp. And then organizing those, maybe chronologically in this case, and then describing them. You have to be able so speak well BEFORE you can write well. Anyone heard of such a program?