Ideas for dyslexic/dysgraphic kids

[laundrycrisis]

Our DS1 is likely dyslexic/dysgraphic. He is just emerging as a reader (he is a vision therapy patient with identified visual processing issues.) He absolutely hates writing by hand and it is very laborious for him - he has not committed any of the handwriting strokes or direction/order to memory so writing anything really wears him out. We will continue working on this but I want to find other ways for him to learn to express himself in printed words. He has just started to learn keyboarding but it is going to take a while. He is not comfortable with spelling either.

 

I just found something I think is going to help him...I didn't find any other posts about it here so I thought I would post about it in case it helps someone else. I found a company called Primary Concepts, and they have a bunch of products that are different types of tiles. They have one particular product called Instant Sentence Tiles. Words are already put together in color-coded groups that fill in who, what, where and when. The child can just pick a tile from each color group and make a fun sentence. I ordered these and I am hoping they may get him started with some written expression.

 

http://www.primaryconcepts.com/sent-stories/Inst-Sent-Tiles.asp

 

I don't know if anyone else here has used anything like this or not. I also ordered some of their other tile products - they have word tiles, tiles with letters already grouped into combinations that occur in English, compound word tiles, build-a-longer-word tiles, and then just plain letter tiles. I also ordered a storyboard and magnetic words from Lakeshore:

 

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/p|2534374302101182~~f|/Assortments/Lakeshore/ShopByCategory/language/writingskills.jsp

 

I want to get him creating sentences in print without the need to write or type holding him back. Right now he just wants to avoid the whole process completely and I'm trying to make it less intimidating for him.

 

The other product line that I found that I couldn't find much about here is the First Strokes handwriting series. I've ordered some of the workbooks for him. I'm want to help him commit the direction and order of the handwriting strokes to memory. His vision therapist is going to start doing this with him too but she only sees him once a week. I have looked through the Handwriting Without Tears materials and I just can't get into it, so I went looking for something else. I hope these materials will help him and that we can get handwriting going without OT. This series is used by OTs so I am optimistic about it.

 

http://www.firststrokeshandwriting.com/FS/Products/product_list.php

 

If anyone else has tried either of these things, I would like to hear how it worked for your child. I can also come back and post an update about both the First Strokes materials and our experiment with all these tiles after we have used them for awhile.

Edited November 20, 2010 by Laundrycrisis2

[Guest]

The sentence tiles sound like a great idea. He can also work on spelling using magnetic letters or Scrabble tiles. Until he's got the letter formation pretty well automatic, it's going to be overload to try to combine that with other aspects of writing.

 

What I and many others on the boards have done is have our kids dictate sentences, stories, narrations, etc. while we write them down. I did this for years with dd, now 14. It isn't handicapping them; it's doing everything they would do in terms of organizing their thinking into words, producing sentences, processing information, and all the rest -- only separated from the physical act of producing letters on paper. Many people have posted about how they also did the written part of their child's math during the very early years; others swear by using a whiteboard and markers.

 

Copywork and later, dictation, from favorite books, fiction or non-fiction, is a wonderful tool for dysgraphic kids and may extend for years. Dd still keeps a compendium of quotes and lists of musical theater productions, things like that. This is another way in which they can gain understanding of how a sentence is put together, what it looks like on paper, etc. without having to be both originating a sentence AND figuring out how to get it down.

 

I know it can feel scary when a child has such problems with handwriting and you want him to "catch up" -- but try to resist pushing and overemphasizing writing. Until visual processing issues, fine motor problems, directionality, and all kinds of other elements come together, writing will still be sheer hard work for a dysgraphic kid, and doing too much writing will be both exhausting and frustrating. There are plenty of other ways for a child to work with language and to show what he has learned (simply talking at it at this age, drawing, taking pictures or painting, building or making models, etc.).

 

If he's narrating to you (telling you about what he reads or what you read together), working on handwriting separately from content, spelling with tiles or magnetic letters (you can even get tiles for math problems; I found ours at Lakeshore), he will be doing what he needs to do until his eyes and hands and brain can work together easily. At that point, at whatever age this neurological maturation happens for him -- and you cannot rush it -- he will have all the foundations in place and you'll be amazed at how much he will leap through.

[peacefully]

.

[peacefully]

.

[laundrycrisis]

Thank you both !!!

 

It means the world to me just to be able to bounce ideas off of others who understand this stuff, and who have experience to share. :grouphug: (And I will add, who don't suggest that I'm negligent for not turning the whole job over to the school district.)

 

Good to know about the Primary Concepts magnetic tiles. I got the level 2 magnetic words from them, and the bigger word set, and they do seem flimsy. I will keep the Gorilla Glue handy. Everything else I bought is the hard tiles - some white, some clear (because those were on sale). I will use them all on a white board anyway so the clear didn't matter to me. The hard tiles all seem nice. The instant sentence tiles are hard tiles. Fortunately none of it was very expensive :)

 

It used to be that he would forget what he was writing mid-word, sometimes mid-letter.

 

DS1 totally does this. He doesn't write anything independently except "I love Mom". He doesn't write anything else from memory either - he only copies a few words at a time at this point - and sometimes even when he is copying, he forgets where he is and switches to a new word in the middle of one he hasn't finished, or forgets what letter he is writing mid-letter and starts another letter without stopping - so we get some strange characters that are a combination of two letters :001_huh:

 

His visual memory has been tested but I don't think they tested working memory. I will look into that - thank you.

 

I am wondering if I should be pursuing more/different types of testing beyond what the developmental optometrist has done. He is making such great progress with his vision therapist, and the reading tutor he sees once a week, and the work we do at home, that I hate to mess with something that appears to be working or add anything else in right now. But I do wonder if there are other areas that therapeutic work might help in. I've come to believe that the therapy work we do has much more value right now than the "academic" work we do. I only see him making progress in academic stuff as he makes progress in vision therapy.

Edited November 21, 2010 by laundrycrisis

[gardenmom5]

What I and many others on the boards have done is have our kids dictate sentences, stories, narrations, etc. while we write them down. It isn't handicapping them; it's doing everything they would do in terms of organizing their thinking into words, producing sentences, processing information, and all the rest -- only separated from the physical act of producing letters on paper. .

 

:iagree:I want to second this. At the time, I had no idea what was going on with my 2dsnow18, but he could have a tantrum for hours if he had to write a sentence. Even doing "fill-in-the-blank" would stress him out. I started to allow him to dictate to me, and he'd be done in minutes. When he was older, I allowed him to type on the computer, and he'd just go do it. He wasn't comfortable doing much handwriting until he was at least 12 - 13 years old.

 

3ds5 is SPD, and has dx fine motor delays. I give him the option of me writing.

[Guest]

I'm remembering that another thing I did with dd was to make lower-case letters out of cardboard, and then make them tactile: Montessori uses sandpaper letters, but you can also sprinkle sand over glue, or glitter them up, or put on something nice and soft like nubbly furry material. Then the kids use their finger to trace the letters.

 

Another interesting thing I once read is that handwriting in Japanese schools starts with kids standing at a chalkboard, whiteboard, or huge sheet of paper taped up to the wall. They begin with absolutely enormous letters that require them to use their shoulder, arm, and back muscles -- letters three feet tall. They do this for about a week. The next week, the letters are half as big. They continue working to gradually decrease the size until they are sitting down writing on paper at a desk.

 

For dysgraphic/dyslexic kids I think the process would be more extended; but I've always been really interested in that whole idea after reading that many children who have problems with writing have weak body core muscles, and this actually has an impact on the muscles in their hands.

[peacefully]

.

[cathmom]

I don't have this movable alphabet set, but I was considering getting them. They are not too expensive.

 

http://montessori-n-such.com/detail.aspx?ID=274

 

And right now the cursive set and box is about half price:

http://montessori-n-such.com/detail.aspx?ID=1410

[LizzyBee]

My 9 yo is diagnosed with dyslexia (reading and writing disabilities), auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder, receptive and expressive language weaknesses, some visual processing weaknesses, working memory deficit, and ADHD-combined type. From her diagnoses, you'd think she's just a quivering mass on the floor, but she's a happy, normal, well-adjusted kid. :D

 

Her first OT taught her cursive and 2 subsequent OT's checked her handwriting and said it was functional. But it really wasn't because she would complain that her hand hurt after writing just a couple of letters. I finally got the 3rd OT to take a closer look, and she tried having dd write on a slant board. The slant board reduced the laboriousness of dd's writing by about 80%, so we immediately ordered one from Therapy Shoppe. She just finished WWE 1 and started WWE 2, so we're moving from copywork to dictation. She's also beginning to write a little bit on her own, such as letters to friends. Her sentence structure and word choice isn't always the best, but I'm just glad she's wanting to write more.

 

I just ordered Dragon Naturally Speaking to help her improve her composition. I'm thinking that I can have her dictate a paragraph to the computer, then print it out and have her copy it so she's getting the mechanical practice.

 

We used Barton Reading and Spelling and she's doing really well with that. We previously used LiPS (Lindamood Bell Phonemic Sequencing) to get her ready for Barton. She does most of her Barton writing on a small lined white board from this company: http://www.active-learner.com/

 

We use a variety of manipulatives for math. She loves the Right Start games, but Singapore is the primary program we use.

 

She's used Interactive Metronome and Therapeutic Listening Program as part of her OT. Thankfully, our insurance has covered all of her OT and ST! I think both of those programs really helped provide a foundation that has allowed her to have the ability to learn. Some things we've added based on OT recommendations: exercise ball, sensory cushion, exercise bands put on the chair she sits in so she gets sensory feedback when she swings her legs, trampoline (with a safety net of course), and jump rope. Also, no equipment is required for things like wall push-ups and jumping jacks.

Edited November 21, 2010 by LizzyBee

[peacefully]

Thank you, Elizabeth, for mentioning those slant boards from the Therapy Shoppe. I've been in the market for one, and until I saw these, I wasn't very happy about the options. I think I found the perfect one. Man, I just love this board! :-)

 

Laundrycrisis, is it too soon to ask how First Strokes is going?

[laundrycrisis]

Laundrycrisis, is it too soon to ask how First Strokes is going?

 

Yes :) I ordered it two days ago - also we are spending the holiday out of state - it will be at home waiting for us when we return and dig back into school work.

 

I am excited because they start with letters that are very large. I want to have him practice these really big letters in a variety of ways. I have an easel he can try. I'm also going to let him write on the glass doors with dry erase markers - that should be fun !

[PeterPan]

Letters like that can be hard to work with because they have to use a visual skill (scanning) to find the one to use. I would narrow down his selection pool to just 4 or 5 each time. AAS does this, and it's a very good trick.

 

Have you had him evaluated by an OT and a neuropych yet? He might not even be dyslexic for all you know. I know that sounds funny, but I've had TWO practitioners tell me not to jump the gun yet on that, that dyslexia is a very specific thing. Apraxia and expressive language delays can cause problems like you're describing. You need to keep getting evaluations till you peel through the onion. Apraxia can be oral, verbal, spatial, etc., meaning it shows up lots of ways, basically anytime you have the brain trying to connect and make something happen with the body. So to get thoughts from his mind onto paper involves initiation and motor control. It might not be what you think. You really want to keep going with evaluations.