Calling All Moms: What do you think this it? And which curriculum?

[renabeth]

These are the symptoms for the child, an 8 year old boy:

 

low reading ability (k-1st)

cannot understand other people's jokes

misses social cues

doesn't make friends

hand flapping and jumping when excited

terrible handwriting-not on lines

cannot remember math facts

clumsy

 

What is this?

Which curriculum(s) would you recommend under these circumstances?

 

Thanks so much!

Edited November 7, 2010 by renabeth

[AngieW in Texas]

my dyslexic dd at 8yo:

low reading ability (k-1st)

 

my Aspie dd:

cannot understand other people's jokes

misses social cues

hand flapping and jumping when excited

terrible handwriting-not on lines

clumsy

 

my ADD dd:

doesn't make friends

misses social cues

clumsy

 

 

doesn't match any of my kids:

cannot remember math facts

 

You didn't really post enough information to be able to narrow things down much and it's certainly possible to have more than one condition.

[Barb_]

This was my adhd daughter at age 8. At age ll, she has outgrown:

low reading ability (k-1st)

cannot understand other people's jokes

doesn't make friends

terrible handwriting-not on lines

cannot remember math facts

 

But even on Ritalin she still hasn't outgrown:

hand flapping and jumping when excited

clumsy

misses social cues

 

No special curriculum. Just time, patience, training, fish oil, and finally last year, medication.

 

Barb

[renabeth]

Thanks so much for answering Barb and Angie! I had been checking this thread all night. :) Honestly, I can't decide whether to seek a diagnosis...so I thought I would check here first.

 

I guess I am just wondering what to do? Should I do anything? I am thinking of ordering Barton and Visualizing and Verbalization. I have NO idea on math. Any suggestions?

[KatieJo]

Just my 2 cents worth. I would get a diagnosis first. Until you know what you are dealing with, you can't make a good plan to help. As the other moms have said, many problems present in very similar ways. For us, it was well worth the hassle and cost to get a thorough picture of what dd was dealing with.

[siloam]

Thanks so much for answering Barb and Angie! I had been checking this thread all night. :) Honestly, I can't decide whether to seek a diagnosis...so I thought I would check here first.

 

I guess I am just wondering what to do? Should I do anything? I am thinking of ordering Barton and Visualizing and Verbalization. I have NO idea on math. Any suggestions?

 

I love Right Start math. It worked for all my kids, who are dyslexic/dyscalculic/dysgraphic to some degree or another. The math fact practice with games really clicked for my kids and before that I had tried Calculadders, flash cards and Flashmaster with no results.

 

Have you looked at Non-verbal disorder? Though I was just reading about it so I might have it on the brain. :D

 

Heather

[renabeth]

I have never heard of non-verbal...I will look into that. I have glanced at right start but have never taken a serious look. He is using TT3 right now with lots of success, BUT counts on his fingers adding and subtracting. And as far a reading a graph...forget it, that is impossible for him. :) I always was glad for the graph problems when I was in school because I thought they were easy, but I guess some kids have trouble with them. Thanks for the advice.

[ElizabethB]

You can try the cheapest OG program, "Recipe for Reading," $25.

 

Also, try some nonsense words with my game and you could also try my phonics lessons and Webster's Speller.

 

:grouphug:

[PeterPan]

Ditto with the others on getting the diagnoses first. You might have more than one thing going on. The writing problem could be visual, and when they correct that and start working on visual processing, his fact retention could improve. A developmental optometrist does the vision testing. (COVD) A neuropsych could point you in more directions.

[renabeth]

Thanks Elizabeth B, I will look into your game. I had never heard of Recipe for Reading. It looks interesting. Thanks for all you do. I have looked at your site before and it is awesome.

 

OhElizabeth, we have a partial diagnosis from a vision therapist. And he is making gains on tracking the words. But NO improvement on sight words. I am concerned because he has to re-sound out the word Every. Single. Time. Even if they appear in the story many times. So that concerns me. Maybe I will contact our local school and see if they can provide some testing. Thanks for answering.

[Lisaroe]

Just my 2 cents worth. I would get a diagnosis first. Until you know what you are dealing with, you can't make a good plan to help. As the other moms have said, many problems present in very similar ways. For us, it was well worth the hassle and cost to get a thorough picture of what dd was dealing with.

:iagree:

I agree with KatieJo- you really need to see a professional first. Try your doctor or your local school- The schools are obligated through IDEA to test for free and you don't have to enroll your child in school to have them tested but it maybe worth the information you can gain and where I am from the schools even provide services to homeschoolers - which could help you choose the right curriculum.

Good Luck.

Lisa

[PeterPan]

Renabeth, you might want to re-evaluate how you're teaching phonics. Traditional phonics and sounding out might not do anything for him. Our VT immediately asked if we were using an OG (Orton-Gillingham) based method, which of course we have for years. It's probably the only reason dd reads as well as she does, making it pretty much in spite of the eye problems. She couldn't sound out words either, and she TOTALLY bucked me on it even in K5. I blew it off, thinking it was personality. She literally wouldn't sound out. We did SWR, which has the spell words you think through and dictate, and then they read the words back. We practiced those words (which she understood phonetically at that point) daily, learning them cold. After we had gone through the first 12 lists or so (to about list I2), she started reading. She literally just started. But it was because she had memorized words up to that level.

 

We also did LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of audio books, and if I could say anything, I'd encourage you to do that. They're good for a normal kid, but they're IMPERATIVE for these kids. It's putting into their minds more advanced words, so when their eyes finally catch up their brains will recognize them quickly. Use audio books a lot. Put them on while he plays, several hours a day. You won't regret it. Nothing dumbed down or theatre version. Use real literature, stuff that is a fuzz above him. The Chronicles of Narnia (unabridged), Charlotte's Web, Uncle Remus, etc.

 

My dd, after 2 or 3 months of VT, started asking sounds of letters just out of the blue. They had exercises they were doing in VT that directly mimicked the skill of sounding out. They had these dinky fonts and would have to read them, making a different marking on every single letter and trying to beat a time. It was utterly torturous, but after quite a bit of that she started trying to sound out words. So sometimes curriculum isn't the answer but waiting and letting the VT kick in. However I wouldn't use a traditional word family approach, just me. I taught my dd with SWR, but now that we're almost done with VT I'm starting over, all the way at the beginning, with AAS. I'm flabbergastingly amazed with AAS. I just can't tell you how great it is. It's incredibly thorough, well-laid out, easy to implement, etc. I see it picking up holes in my dd's understanding, little nuances I wouldn't have expected. For instance today we were doing an identification game where we pointed to letters when I said the short sound. It surprised me how much she hesitated with this, because she has had those memorized for years (and years and years!). (BTW, my dd reads quite well, can read a LoTR book through in short order. She just has these bizarre holes.)

 

Well I could keep going on. Don't sweat the sounding out. They don't have to sound out to read. Look at some OG-style materials but make your focus the VT. Bang out the VT, and in 3-6 months he'll be in a much better position to have the phonics click. Do lots of audio books.

Edited November 17, 2010 by OhElizabeth

[siloam]

Thanks Elizabeth B, I will look into your game. I had never heard of Recipe for Reading. It looks interesting. Thanks for all you do. I have looked at your site before and it is awesome.

 

OhElizabeth, we have a partial diagnosis from a vision therapist. And he is making gains on tracking the words. But NO improvement on sight words. I am concerned because he has to re-sound out the word Every. Single. Time. Even if they appear in the story many times. So that concerns me. Maybe I will contact our local school and see if they can provide some testing. Thanks for answering.

The difference between Recipe for Reading and the expensive programs, is RFR is a how to manual like the hardback WWE. It tells you how to make your own program and choose your own readers. The expensive programs are like the WWE workbooks, had everything laid out for you. The one difference in my comparison is some of the expensive programs are scripted and some are not. For example Barton is scripted. Wilson is written for teachers, so it is not. I do know of several people who used Wilson without too much trouble.

 

Have you check out the Heart of Reading yahoo group? I have learned a ton there.

 

Heather