So I am thinking of looking for an ADHD coach for him. I have never heard of this, but I got the book The Disorganized Mind and the author is dyslexic ADHD and an ADHD coach. I'm wondering if anyone has gone this route. I think it would be way more effective for him and sanity saving for me and better for our relationship. I just don't have the skill to coach someone without getting bitchy. Yeah, I should really be homeschooling :P

I was under the impress people are born with dyslexia. I'm not understanding on the sight words page here: "Too many words taught as wholes by sight encourages the development of dyslexia."

Hi, thanks for the info and the links. Looking into them now.

I work at home as an independent contractor. I really like the contract I have and don't want to lose it. Work emailed me to say if I don't start putting in hours, then I my contract won't be renewed. I usually only work at night when the kids go to bed, getting to sleeep at 1 a.m. Lately, I've been choosing sleep over work. How do you pull this off? I'm feeling stressed.

nt

Can I ask if you paid out of pocket how much the baseline exam was, not the initial consult but the exam they will compare to after x amount of weeks, and then the cost of the therapy sessions. I think one person in the thread said this doctor seems comparable and another said her prices were high. $500 for 2 hour testing, $120/therapy session

So I'm wondering if the therapy is 12 weeks, what do I do about reading. I had told him we are taking a break, and then the past few days gave him some sight word puzzle/coloring pages thinking it might be good just to work on sight word for a bit. Is it ok to go back to phonics? Also the doctor said he "skipped the midline" I thought that meant he skipped the middle line of text he was reading, but I'm see now that's not what she meant.

Just a quick reply and then hopefully later I can get back to things individually. Thank you all for ALL this info. :hurray: I think things are becoming clearer to me. I don't think the OD was saying she could diagnose dyslexia. I think she was saying she would be looking for "directional concepts" when I mentioned about him reading a word backwards occasionally and maybe this is why I'm considering dyslexia. I'm sorry, it's clear I am not up on all my stuff and getting some things mixed up. You are all right, it's really confusing! Especially since my husband's dyslexia label was given to him 20 years ago, so I'm kind of behind in my thinking and understanding. To answer if she is requiring additional testing, I think she is. What we went for was a consult which included a regular annual eye exam plus testing to determine if he needs VT. I think the next round is to determine exactly what he needs. I think it's clear my son has a vision issue and I have to start with this. If there is no progress, then maybe there are other issues. The study mentioned is really fascinating. Seems easy enough to try!

I started a new thread after getting back from the OD today. I just felt like this thread was no longer about when to test, so continuing here: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/502344-od-says-my-son-needs-vision-therapy/

My 7 year old son has his developmental eye exam today with an OD I found through the COVD's website. The OD's conclusion was that he does need vision therapy, that his eyes are not looking in the places they should. I saw him make several mistakes with the exam and she said he skipped over a whole row of letters and some letters in the row he was reading. Her recommendation was that he gets more extensive testing for "higher visual function" and then begin VT once a week. I asked should I still pursue testing for dyslexia and her answer is that a lot of the new research on dyslexia and even ADD is that it's a visual issue that can be trained to correct. She said at his age, reversals are still normal, but reading words backwards are not. She said the part of the higher visual function test is "directional concepts" and this tests for dyslexia, if I understood her correctly. She seemed like a no-nonsense kind of doctor, but was warmer when explaining things to me and seemed accepting of homeschooling. I need to take in all this info now and research. So the financial side of it, the higher visual function test she said takes 2 hours and costs $500, and VT is $120/session. She said insurances usually never cover the test, but do usually cover VT. Here I am frustrated, the test we will figure out if after my research I feel it's warranted, but I wish things would get moving with our application through the ACA. Our state (NJ) website says that the ACA site has not transferred applications to them yet, but that insurance will be retroactive to Jan 1. I just want to move on, my son wants to read. This exam was a pretty penny, too. In the paperwork to take home there is a plate that shows words blurring and moving. My dh who is labeled dyslexic has this, road signs blinking too. I am thinking if we see progress with my son with VT, my dh should look into this too. He tells me with things like looking at a ruler, the lines don't line up. What do you think about the OD's stance on dyslexia?

So nice to hear!

Thanks everyone. I guess I really should ASK him if he wants to improve his reading. Micro managing in overdrive! My whole family seems to be EF-challenged, including me - very hyper as a child, super scattered as an adult. Never knew the term Executive Function until reading these boards. I was surprised when I asked on Dyslexic Advantage's FB page for help and they told me to check out a book "The Disorganized Mind". I was confused why she would refer me to something for ADHD, but it fits the bill. I will check out your classes ElizabethB! I appreciate the help, I feel kind of lost with this at times.

I'm really impressed with this class! I think she is a great teacher and has it well organized, especially juggling 160 kids.

Glad to hear you are making progress. Will you still be pursing an NP eval? Is it better to still do both even if a vision problem is found? I should probably go look for your threads...

That's fabulous!! Do you mind sharing what insurance you have?

We have our new appointment tomorrow. I found this doc also through the COVD website. Her website is all about the difference between vision issues and dyslexia, so I thought to try her. My son has been having problems with numbers too now. He went into a crying fit because he started a 100 number dot-to-dot in pen and saw some numbers in the wrong order and messed it up, well messed up according to him. Some other things with numbers like this. Ok, so I obviously have no experience with a doctor visit like this. Can you give me things to look out for? Snake oil red flags?

Thanks so much.

Maybe you just need a humidifier for the winter

...could you please give me some tips? When you add in homeschooling 3 kids, I am starting to feel like everyone's secretary. Feeling a little burnt out. Quick background: Dh is in his late 30s. Given the dyslexia label at 17, never had intervention or help from the school. It's only been the last few years that I started reading about dyslexia and realizing a lot of things about him are b/c of this. We just watched The Big Picture movie and this was the first time he heard others talking about how he sees the world. So, I'm sure there is a lot of learning still we can do about this. Is bad planning, not knowing how much time you have for something repeatedly, and forgetting to do things unless someone else reminds you again and again all part of the dyslexia package? I want to find ways to help him, even wondering if his reading could improve at this age. I'm not so great with organization myself, so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

You can't just have them take a test to see what grade level they are working at?

Thanks for mentioning this. I'm going to go check it out. Sorry, I didn't realize what I started.

I'm just wondering since I hear this so much. Parents plan to homeschool through middle school and then send them to high school. I can imagine the social needs get more complex at this point. Is this the biggest reason?

Well, now that you mention it, I went back and read the reviews better and some are pretty bad. Eh, guess I will be cancelling that apt and looking around better for a better doctor. Is it common with this field for some of the doctors to be so so?

We have a developmental eye exam on Thursday. I feel relieved to be moving ahead.

Ok. You said it could be up to 3 months to get him fully evaluated. Do you think I should start with an OG based program like Rocket Phonics now? Or is it better to wait?