What would you recommend for a 12 yr old girl with a brain injury whose oral language and auditory processing is a relative strength (roughly 18th-27th percentile) but whose word decoding is a great challenge? She presents at the 8th percentile for her age in Expressive Vocabulary and word decoding is very low. (I didn't record that one, but I believe her word decoding was at the 3rd percentile for her age.) Aside from getting her eyes and ears checked, what program is suitable for a 12 yr old (not too babyish) but really works that word decoding? If it helps, this child's brain injury is FASD, so memory issues will come into play as well. Bonus points if it is engaging! :)

Such a tragic loss! Such a precious life! Rosie, my heart goes out to you and your daughter as you learn to live without this precious boy whose fingerprints are all around you. May sweet memories bring you comfort.

I signed my dd up for an online Great Ideas course which is Language Arts, History, and Worldview all rolled into one course. It looks great, so we're really excited. It is through Tree of Life at Home. I love what I hear about TPS, but for the price I thought that we'd spring for that the final year of high school.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I should have clarified that she has been in school for 3 years and returning home for grade 10 next year. I agree Algebra is deserving of blood, sweat, and tears, and perhaps she will have to have that shift in thinking for next year. I will look into each resource mentioned, thank you so much!

I was set on TT as we've used it before quite successfully, but now she's wondering what else is out there, and I just don't know. She is not strong in math (she can get an 85 with a little blood, sweat, and tears) and needs some extra hand holding and time to absorb. Is there a grade 10 math program that I wouldn't have to teach? Or grade? :blush:

Matryoshka, we are in the exact same boat! My daughter announced last week that she'd like to come home next year after 3 years in school. My dd will be home for grade 10 then, and yes, one way ticket here as well. My dd is in the youth orchestra (flute and piccolo) and has an amazing teacher. Her dream right now would be to spend more than her current 4 hours a day on flute/piccolo; she'd really like to spend more time on music theory and skip the wasted time she sees at school. She also feels that Language Arts in school is incredibly dumbed down. I'm not much help with your plan, I just thought I'd chime in as you're singing a familiar song! It's an exciting song though, with a faint backdrop of coins clanging in the distance. :tongue_smilie:

I would focus more on life skills, such as Menu Math, Burger Hut Math and Department Store Math. For reading I would look into a box set called Practical Reading, from Remedia Publications, which will introduce some essential comprehension skills. Mayer-Johnson.com often has it cheaper than other places. For history I'd use a visual method, like LindamoodBell's See Time Fly series. I'm a big fan of special material developed for special people like our kids. :)

I just took a really good special needs course, and it was suggested to have learning look like this: 25% academics which includes art and music first, then language and numeracy. 25% life skills which includes getting dressed, laundry, shopping, asking for directions, etc. 25% job skills taught as early as junior high, using of course, their interests as a guide (get creative, if he likes something, where can he use that?) and 25% volunteering and service in a community setting which allows for interaction and a sense of purpose and accomplishment. I really appreciated the breakdown of the above in a pie chart with space for me to write examples and brainstorm. As far as math goes, look into Teaching Math to People with Down Syndrome and Other Hands on Learners. There are 2 books total, but you only need the first one for now. We also use Menu Math and Market Math to help with basic money skills. I also appreciated the presenter saying to teach inter-dependance. We all depend on each other and we've wasted so many years reaching for "independence" when it doesn't really exist in today's culture. An adult with exceptional needs can survive with a debit card instead of cheques, a phone with pictures of mom and social worker on them, a system of support built up around them. So teach them to ask for help and let go of the independent illusion. *insert release of held-in breath, it is ok to be dependent* I'm sure you are aware of PECS and visual schedules and all kinds of hands-on learning, but wanted to mention it again. Visual learning and hands on learning is often easier on this crowd. For communication and language, Laureate Learning Systems has been a God-send. It is computer based, self-adjusting according to the child's ability, and most importantly, my son is learning, retaining and transferring what he has learned into other environments. I have found it helpful to focus on his happiness first, then, because like you said, I don't want to limit my son, I do imagine what he could be like as an adult. I open my eyes more to opportunities to teach him things he will need to know. Some examples: safety signs on roads, how to cross the street, how to ask the owner to pet the dog, how to take turns at the park, how to make a sandwich, how to dial the phone, how to get a drink, how to turn off the tap, how to ask for help, etc. One of the most helpful things I have heard is to teach manners, because if your child can use a tissue and say excuse me, please, thank you, and hold open doors for people, everyone will take note and want to be with them when they're adults. That came as a golden nugget while overhearing two women talk about the special person who joined their weight loss group. They were simply delighted just because the person was so polite, and they both carried on about what a great job her mother did to teach her such manners. I have also found it helpful to make use of executive function material, namely the book Learning the R.O.P.E.S for Improved Executive Function. My son has blown me away with what he can accomplish using those methods and printouts that come with the accompanying CD. In just a few months he has mastered many self-help skills, such as getting dressed in the morning, recalling the day's activities, and completing the bedtime routine. For a 12 year old, to finally be able to do these things independently (with mom or dad fading out as much as possible but still present) is pretty noteworthy! As for the job skills and volunteering, take inventory of what you have at your disposal. Get creative. My son loves languages that have different fonts (arabic, chinese, hebrew, greek, etc.) and he loves playing with little kids and their toys. I have a preschool across my street in my church, so I've been toying with the idea of once a week going in to let my son write a word on their board in a different language. If they are studying colours he can write the word blue in a different language for them. So he would be using his love of languages to serve others, then he gets rewarded by playing with their toys for a few minutes. I'm still brainstorming, and perhaps us moms always will have to, but I do find it so rewarding to come up with neat ideas using their strengths. Continue to expose him to outside sources of "undiscovered interest". Along the same lines as "strangers are friends you don't yet know", well, you never know what he will strike a fancy with. Take him everywhere (zoo, space centre where he can look at clouds through telescopes, science centre to handle all kinds of things, all field trips, all kinds of exposures, etc.) let him explore and take note of what holds his interests. There could be many more potential leads just around the corner! Lastly, take care of you. Enjoy your relationship with him. Life is a sweet, sweet thing, and we are blessed mamas to get to enjoy such precious innocence for a longer time than most. :wub:

We have been very pleased with Gumdrop's DropTech Series. Many falls and thrown around, still perfect.

Our church is starting a Friendship class. Check out Friendship Ministries. They've done all the work for you and have excellent resources. They have a CD and info packets that you can share with your congregation. I took a lot of training classes from the late Director, Nella (she passed away last month) and they were so informative!

Momto2Ns, thank you, that inspired me. We did purchase 2 swings which we can switch around, and they'll be going up next month for his birthday. Excited! So happy to finally do this! thebacabunch, thank you, that was quite real, reassuring, and doable! I'll be returning to read this a few times I'm sure. Thank you.

Beautiful! You guys rock!!! Thank you!

Here's another one, called Educate Autism. They have some great articles there that are probably useful for many special needs or visual learners.

aw, the link is gone... the material is gone... I don't suppose anybody saved all that gold as an alternate file?

I'm familiar with Jump Math, and have poured over their entire website for months. My son has autism, and this is what we'll be using next year. I've never heard of Mastering Mathematics until now, so I just spent a bit of time on their website. My initial reaction is that Mastering Mathematics is hard on my eyes. Not just the website, but the samples they have up. The blue, the size of the blue font, oy! The page that has the lesson on it is WAY too wordy for my son, and if other lessons are similar, then we'd scrap that program really quick. Jump Math's slow, incremental approach by (most often) showing rather than telling (and when they do tell, they are less verbose) is more up my son's alley, but I can't speak for your children. ;) Can you print off the samples from both and see which your dc prefer? I was torn between several programs, and it did take months to decide. I still get *almost* pulled in by Touch Math, but not quite. As much as you have my sympathies for having to decide, you also have my envy because it's a fun thing to be doing! Keep pouring over both and trying the samples and you should be able to figure out the best fit for your dc. I hope someone else can chime in here as well and help more than I did! :)