The psychologist also treats the older brother, so he would know the background, fortunately.

I have suspected Asperger's, particularly since her older brother has been diagnosed. I think her glasses are fairly new. I'll have to ask.

I don't know where ElizabethB is located. I am in Georgia.

Yes, she is my niece. I have not worked with her except that I have listened to her read a few times, and another time I administered several of the McCall-Crabbs reading tests and determined that her reading level was 2nd grade level. In my opinion (as a professionally trained educator--M.Ed.), her problem is a mixture of lack of exposure and some underlying issues that I haven't pinpointed yet.

This definitely sounds good to me!

I don't know about the ESL specialist, but I doubt it. I will have to find out more details.

Thank you! This is very helpful for me as I try to make the best choices for this unusual situation.

They live in a really small town, so there's not much in the way of services for kids like her.

I would have her several hours per day over the summer, possibly 2 consecutive days (with her actually sleeping over at my house). Her mom did try to teach her with sight words (mainly) and they dabbled with phonics.

I did point out to him that he needs to have her see an educational psychologist, so I hope he was listening!

I haven't seen any signs of depression, but I do know that she has trouble socially, and there is some degree of bullying at school. She isn't a particularly pretty child, she wears weird clothing combinations (NO fashion sense AT ALL), and doesn't always remember to wash her hair or brush her teeth. Unfortunately, her mom didn't teach her much about personal hygiene or taking pride in one's appearance. About the mom: there were emotional/psychological issues (BPD?). I know that she saw a therapist, but she would never disclose anything about that. Other family members tried repeatedly to intervene for the sake of the children, but were always told to butt out. About 3 years ago, the mom suffered from multiple strokes, and has been living in a nursing home since then. She is able to have day visits at home occasionally, but is unable to speak clearly or care for herself. She cannot walk or feed herself without help. The children visit her most weekends, but sometimes she doesn't recognize them. So you can understand why this child has such a problem.

She does have vision issues and has worn glasses since she was very young. I don't know exactly what the vision issues are, but she does wear glasses.

She has another aunt who might be willing to help with practice another day or two per week. Dad is too overwhelmed, and her older brother has issues of his own (Asperger's) and would not be able to help.

She really, really WANTS to read. She tries, and hasn't given up yet. I am afraid that day is coming, though.

I suspect that the school has dropped the ball--since they say she doesn't have any LDs, she's not getting much help. She is a very sweet child--NO behavior problems--and is willing to work but gets distracted, according to her dad. She will sit down and start working, but then--oooh, shiny!-- and "forgets" what she's supposed to be doing. He says that as long as someone is nearby to redirect her when she gets sidetracked, she will stick to it, but if she has to do it on her own, she will be off on another tangent pretty quickly. She is very, very, VERY immature--really more like a typical 11 year old than a 15 year old. Her interests (games, television shows, etc.) tend to be what you would expect of a 5th or 6th grader, and at church and in the neighborhood, she gravitates toward playing with the 10 & 11 year old girls and doing what they do. I don't know about her pencil grip.

She got a tablet for Christmas--not sure what kind--but it probably has the capability of running the Kindle app. She lives with dad & 2 brothers, one older & one younger. Dad works nights and sleeps during the day while the kids are at school. He's up when they come home (on the bus) and helps them with homework, fixes them dinner, and then sends the younger 2 off to bed before he has to leave for work at 9:30. Grandparents and an aunt & uncle live across town, but don't have much time to help.

I don't know how much extra help she has been getting, just that her teachers are trying to help her as much as they can. I don't think there are any special classes/programs/tutoring, but I'm not sure. You're right. She has never been taught how to read. That is the problem in a nutshell, and exactly what I've said all along for the past few years.

I haven't had time to read all of the responses, but I have been going through them slowly, reading a few at a time and responding. I just want to say a tremendous THANK YOU to all of you who have taken the time to respond and give some insights in order to help ME help HER! I really expected to receive very few responses, and I am so very grateful for those who have taken the time to post.

Two days per week would be over the summer. Her dad has asked me about teaching her next school year along with the group of girls I already have (we have school 4 days per week). The trouble is, 1) she is way, way below the level of the three struggling learners I already have, and 2) in order for me to teach her, she would have to actually LIVE IN MY HOME 4 days per week because of her dad's (he's dh's brother, so my BIL) work schedule and the fact that they live an hour's drive from us. It would be a HUGE disruption to our lives, since our own children are now adults (one married, one a college student only home on breaks and the occasional weekend).

Her dad told me yesterday that he has made an appointment with a psychologist, and she will be going in a couple of weeks. I'm interested to see what the psychologist says.

I actually have a copy of OPGTR that a friend gave me. I'll get it off the shelf and see if it looks doable for her/us.

I have taught WRTR before, but it has been years! I still have the teal-colored book (3rd edition???) on my shelf, so I need to pull that down and review. Thanks.

She is embarrassed that she is so far behind, and sometimes becomes frustrated, because she genuinely TRIES. She really, REALLY wants to learn. I get so angry sometimes, just thinking about what a disservice her mom did to her by not teaching her, yet claiming that she was homeschooling.

What reading/phonics program would you suggest to someone wanting rapid success in teaching a 15 year old to read? Background: Up until 2 years ago, the girl's mom claimed she was "homeschooling," but they rarely did any school work. The mom is no longer in the picture, and the child is currently attending public school. Testing for special education services shows that the girl has no learning disabilities; instead, the test administrator reported that she simply "hasn't been exposed to the material"--meaning that the mom did not teach her--and she reads on 2nd grade level. Her spelling and handwriting are AWFUL, and she also has problems in math, but reading is the primary issue. In spite of the gaps in her learning, when she entered public school, the administration decided to place her in 7th grade. (Age-wise, under normal circumstances, she would have been in 8th grade.) She failed 7th grade last school year and is repeating this year, but, not surprisingly, she is failing again, and the school plans to place her in 8th grade next year because their guidelines do not allow her to repeat a grade more than once. I have been asked to work with her 2 days per week over 3 months this summer. What would suggest that I use that would give us rapid results?

They can be fiction or non-fiction, but I expect they'd be more interested in fiction. Also, books should be no more than 125-150 pages because my students are intimidated by "thick" books.