Also, does anyone use Learning Ally. I may sign up when our official papers come in the mail.

Thank you everyone. She has been very successful with AAS. I like the idea that Barton has more sophisticated selections though. She reads on about a third grade level right now. I wonder if we will blow through the first few levels of Barton.

DD is 11 and just given the official diagnoses of Dyslexia and both types of ADHD. The Dyslexia is profound in the area of spelling, moderate in reading, and for some odd reason she is only slightly below grade level in reading comprehension and above grade level in writing fluency which the tester said does not take spelling and grammar into account. We currently use All About Spelling and love it. Does anyone use All About Reading with a Dyslexic student? I looked at Barton, which seems to be a wonderful program, but the cost difference is massive. Thanks for your help.

My DD has been taking piano for a few years now. She loves to play but has had a great deal of trouble progressing through the books. She started learning with the Bastien Method but after almost 2 years she was still trudging through the Primer. We started with a new teacher in January which has been a wonderful change! The previous teacher was very understandably impatient when DD didn't know note names etc. I know nothing about piano so I didn't realize that a typical student would have mastered that by now and there was no communication from the teacher. The teacher would ask DD to play the songs she practiced all week and if they were not correct she would tell her "No, it should sound like this" Well, of course DD could then play the song she just heard. (She has a good ear) Our new teacher is using the Piano Adventures books. She was completely baffled when we started. She has taught piano for decades and said she has not seen someone on so many different levels in so many different areas. I.E. She cap point to a half note and say "This is a half note it gets 2 beats, a dotted half note gets 3 beats , a whole note gets 4 beats," etc. However when she plays it is difficult for her to keep a steady beat or give the notes their value. She can pick almost any melody she hears on the piano given a little time but after years and flash cards and computer print offs, she still can't identify note names, other than middle C, with any consistency. She identifies other notes by finding C and singing up and down the scale as she touches the keys. I heard Ms. Barton say on a video that children with Dyslexia should not be forced to learn to read music because they will learn to hate it. I also have a friend who has her Pedagogy who say's she was taught that although Dyslexic children have a difficult time learning to read music but it is good for their brain development to keep at it as long as they are in a positive environment. Has anyone out there had experience with this? Does your Dyslexic child play an instrument? Is another instrument better suited? Do they read music? Right now DD's teacher is very loving and understanding and I think with the circumstances she will apply gentle pressure and lots of encouragement. DD adores her and she is breaking down each concept for her. The other side is last week they spent an entire lesson clapping rhythms that DD still can't get. I am eager to hear of another's experience.

No, those conferences are too far. I live in the south. NC, I am finding a great deal of resources now that I never knew existed. You all have been extremely helpful and that has been a great launching point! My vision is blurry from all the internet education I have received in the last six days or so and I am settling in to the idea that everything is going to be just fine. Maybe not the just fine I thought a week ago but that is ok. I am excited to find new ways to do things that may help DD succeed and get some pay off for her hard work and I am realizing that every "It's hard" and "I forgot" isn't a work ethic issue on her part. I am also realizing that although I was angry with myself at first for not catching this I have actually given DD an IEP for years now. I didn't know we might have a diagnosis but I did know she learned best when I read to her so that is what I did....a lot! I realized that she absolutely had to have manipulatives for math even though I liked the workbooks with pretty illustrations. I realized she hated writing so we started typing very early. I realized she loves to memorize so she has over 100 scriptures committed to memory. It amazes me sometimes that although I am running around like Chicken Little saying "The sky is falling" my God is still on the throne and His peace is there if I will just be still long enough to commune with Him. So as this frantic feeling fades my hope is that I have learned more than 1 lesson from this. I hope that I can encourage someone else the way you all have encouraged me, and I hope that maybe, just maybe, the next time the sky starts falling I will take one less lap before I get to the King's throne.

There is a SR speech facility in my state but it is about 3 hours away and we have to get a psych. IQ test first. I made an appt w/ the Dev. Optometrist but had a little sticker shock....$400. It will be two 2 hour evaluations though. 30 min. of the last day being a conference about results. He seems very knowledgeable. This is worth it right?? Also, I am in contact with our school system about the County School System psych doing an eval. I know it won't be as good but thought is might be helpful in giving us direction. Now for the clencher I re-administered the Barton screening at night when my house wasn't chaotic with 3 boys and she passed it with 100%. Now she still scored just under on the Z screening and the words test placed her reading at 3rd grade level instead of 2nd. (She is in 4th) Also I checked our Home School conference and Diana Waring will be here this year. She speaks on right brained issues. Has anyone heard of her?

How do I find out about the Scottish Rite? I don't see anything glaring on the website.

I plan to get that book this week.

My Mom has a wheat allergy and still reacts to all gluten free also. There are lots of good alternatives out there. Rice pasta, quinoa flour, almond or soy milk. My son could not tolerate dairy until last year. We just took a bag to every party we went to. He didn't seem to mind because he knew he got sick otherwise. I would make him "safe" cupcakes once every few months and freeze them individually. Then they thawed in the bag on the way to the party. We took rice and tofu based cheese to cookouts and wheat free buns are available. It is overwhelming at first then it just becomes second nature. My Mom's GI issues completely cleared when she went wheat free. Her skin rashes cleared too. DS out grew his issue with dairy but it was a severe sensitivity not an allergy.

BTW she has no speech issues and has an impressive vocabulary. She enjoys public speaking and memorizing/performing in church plays. That is one of the reasons I didn't catch the Dyslexia I think. She spoke in 2 word phrases very early and always articulated well for her age. That is probably a strength.

Wow! So much good information. Than you for bringing over the other post. I will start going after some of these leads you just gave me. Thank you so much!

I don't think I am hesitant because of my faith. I actually think a "diagnosis" would be a relief in the sense that we have spent huge amounts of time employing many, many methods to improve spelling and handwriting to no avail. DD's Sunday School teacher asked her to date something a few months ago and when DD asked how to spell September her teacher got really angry. She thought DD was being difficult. DD just did the best she could to abbreviate and finished the task but by the time we got to the car she was in tears. She didn't realize that 4th graders usually know how to spell September and she couldn't figure out what just happened. She is very much a "pleaser" and she is very in tune and perceptive to other people's feelings. That is exactly the sort of situation that would have been avoided if we had an official diagnosis. We do have attention issues as well. As far as testing goes, I think finances would be our primary cause for pause. A friend was concerned about discrimination which was why I asked about that concerning College. (If college is in her future) I just didn't want to open Pandora's Box . I think I am seeing that for most people the testing is worth the money and if that is the case we can and will make it happen. We were just flying blind. I am an impetuous jump in with both feet kind of person and I am fighting that where this is concerned. I am trying VERY hard to be analytical but also make appropriate progress.

I forgot to mention that she did fail a portion of the Barton screening. She had trouble with ch, j, sh, f th,s, and s,sh,s. Also, there is a more detailed post about her learning challenges titled Dyslexia/Dysgraphia??? I know someone out there has answers!

this is exactly how I feel right now. I think we will look at the developmental optometrist. Could that diagnosis be co-morbid with Dysgraphia? She has obvious Dysgraphia. That is the most clear issue we have.

I appreciate it. I just added the books to my Library List and Amazon cart. This is all so foreign and as we pray about the next step we want to learn all we can and seek counsel from those with more experience. When I began Home Schooling I had no home schooling friends. I read books and through the years we have met other wonderful Christian Home School families. I feel now as I did then but I have seen God work through my discomfort and I know He will do the same again. I am weak but He is strong.

Thank you . That seems to be the approach DH is leaning toward. I think my main concern is whether or not an official diagnosis would be helpful or harmful later. I.E. college , I guess if she is caught up to grade level there is no point in it. I will be checking out those links. Thank you so much. I am hungry for good resources right now. I want to educate myself. I did teach her to read phonetically using some Abeka and Veritas Press but I am not sure that is the strategy she is actually using.

A dear friend of mine posed the question last week about my DD who appears to have Dyslexia/Dysgraphia. She did an online screening thru Lexercise which showed she is indeed reading below grade level. She is reading 2nd-3rd grade level and in the 4th grade. Now I am educating myself and intend to use the methods for Dyslexia/Dysgraphia I am learning about. My question is what testing did you all do for similar issues. Our pediatrician said that the full battery with a Psychologist will run around $600-$1200 . That is not impossible to attain but at the same time that could buy a whole lot of resources and tutoring if needed. I appreciate your help as we step into unchartered waters.