DawnM Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 My Aspie son has some learning issues, although we don't know exactly what. He cannot spell at all.....and I have tried just about every program out there! He can remember the "rule" if I tell him at the moment, but then forgets it next time. We have done SRW, AAS, and now Sequential Spelling. He just doesn't retain any of it! Any suggestions? Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamonaQ Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 What about phonics? Can he correlate a sound to a letter (or groups of letters)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zookeeperof3 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 My son has ADHD and has horrible spelling. He also responds better to a game format. We use this http://www.amazon.com/Topics-Entertainment-Learning-Best-selling-Software/dp/B0020R2I1K/ref=sr_1_15?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1294243711&sr=1-15 I use the Spelling Accelerator from the package. My son can not learn the rules, he learns best by word groups. tall, small etc I put the words into the program and the program has different games, splitting the words into syllables,finding the definitions etc and it has a test, the pc calls out the word and your child types it in. We love it! Blessings, kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 What age group is this targeted towards? He is turning 13 in a few weeks and if it is too elem. level he will baulk! Thanks, Dawn My son has ADHD and has horrible spelling. He also responds better to a game format. We use this http://www.amazon.com/Topics-Entertainment-Learning-Best-selling-Software/dp/B0020R2I1K/ref=sr_1_15?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1294243711&sr=1-15 I use the Spelling Accelerator from the package. My son can not learn the rules, he learns best by word groups. tall, small etc I put the words into the program and the program has different games, splitting the words into syllables,finding the definitions etc and it has a test, the pc calls out the word and your child types it in. We love it! Blessings, kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Some. He struggles to read difficult words and often spells things like phone with an "f" instead of a ph. He also forgets to double the consonant at the end of a word before adding -ing. They are (IMO) very simple things that he just can't remember to do. And phonics actually seems to trip him up. Yesterday he kept spelling "they" and "there" with an a instead of an e, so it became "thay" and "thare." Phonetically that does make sense. Dawn What about phonics? Can he correlate a sound to a letter (or groups of letters)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zookeeperof3 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 It is targets for grades 1-5. That might be too young for your son. I'm sorry! Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiD Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 What age group is this targeted towards? He is turning 13 in a few weeks and if it is too elem. level he will baulk! Thanks, Dawn Have you tried "The Spell of Words"? http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?seriesonly=155M I'm using it with my son (almost 12). He's dyslexic and can't remember spelling rules either, so his spelling tends to be spotty. :tongue_smilie: The only way he progresses is to repeat, repeat, repeat... Also, the material needs to make sense to him in order to retain it. So after I explain it, he needs to dig in on his own, make mistakes, dig in some more. Then suddenly, all at once, it seems to click and to stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Many Aspies are visual rather than phonetic spellers. You might look at your library for Jeffrey Freed's very readable book Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World. He has specific chapters on math, spelling, writing, and reading for kids who are visual learners and do not do well with conventional curricula. I used many of his techniques with my Aspie dd, now 14, who several years ago couldn't spell if her life depended on it. I combined Freed's methods with regular spelling teaching for her, because she is not as strongly visual as many Aspies -- but with spelling she certainly seems to be. Now she is spelling at least at grade level, possibly a bit above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Thanks. I will take a look. Dawn Have you tried "The Spell of Words"? http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?seriesonly=155M I'm using it with my son (almost 12). He's dyslexic and can't remember spelling rules either, so his spelling tends to be spotty. :tongue_smilie: The only way he progresses is to repeat, repeat, repeat... Also, the material needs to make sense to him in order to retain it. So after I explain it, he needs to dig in on his own, make mistakes, dig in some more. Then suddenly, all at once, it seems to click and to stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 I will look for it. He is quite visual. Dawn Many Aspies are visual rather than phonetic spellers. You might look at your library for Jeffrey Freed's very readable book Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World. He has specific chapters on math, spelling, writing, and reading for kids who are visual learners and do not do well with conventional curricula. I used many of his techniques with my Aspie dd, now 14, who several years ago couldn't spell if her life depended on it. I combined Freed's methods with regular spelling teaching for her, because she is not as strongly visual as many Aspies -- but with spelling she certainly seems to be. Now she is spelling at least at grade level, possibly a bit above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Just as a matter of course, have you had his eyes checked? A developmental optometrist will do a more thorough exam. http://www.covd.org to find one. Ours will do a basic exam and go further only if they find something needing more attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 You might look at your library for Jeffrey Freed's very readable book Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World. He has specific chapters on math, spelling, writing, and reading for kids who are visual learners and do not do well with conventional curricula. Jeffrey Freed also has exercises to show your child how SMART they are. It was encouraging to a friend's 16 yr-old to realize he was totally gifted in areas most people aren't, after doing some of the exercises in this book. We also have found some great spelling helps at http://www.diannecraft.org/ but her stuff is geared more towards elementary learners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Ok, now I'll stop being an idiot and go get the J. Freed book from the library. A quiz to show my dd's strengths is exactly what I need! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Yes. This isn't a vision problem. He has had some learning problems in this area since age 5. He didn't start reading until age 8 and still is not on grade level. Dawn Just as a matter of course, have you had his eyes checked? A developmental optometrist will do a more thorough exam. http://www.covd.org to find one. Ours will do a basic exam and go further only if they find something needing more attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Is this British? I would hate to have his spelling even more confusing if it is! I grew up spelling both ways and at our school both spellings were acceptable, but then I went to the States for college and it really messed me up (that was before the days of computers and spell check!) Thanks, Dawn Apples and Pears from Sound Foundations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Apples and Pears Spelling HANDS DOWN http://www.prometheantrust.org/soundfoundationsbooks.htm NO rules to memorize, no word lists, etc. just USING the spelling skills as they learn them in little tiny steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Hi Dawn :) I know the frustration of having a bright kid who simply cannot spell. Period. We had tried everything, including an evaluation with Dianne Craft, Sequential Spelling, etc. DS has phonological dysgraphia, which in a nutshell means that phonemes just do not "stick" in his brain. We do use AAS, and have seen some improvement. He will, however, have difficulties with spelling all his days. I wanted to tell you that what has enabled him to produce written work on par with his peers is when we finally made the lateral move to assistive technology. Co:Writer, which is word prediction software, has been an answer to prayer. I like to describe it as spellcheck on steroids. It really is amazing. For example, if you type in a word phonetically~~~say "opshnl", you will get a list of choices. "Optional" will be there, and the user can then click on the choice. You can also download dictionaries and vocabulary words for special projects. Say if you were writing a paper on knitting/telephones/Egypt/Civil War or whatever, you can go on a site and download from there. It's late, I'm tired, and I don't know if I'm making any sense :tongue_smilie:, but I thought I'd just mention what has worked well for us. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I banged my head against that wall for years. Not that you shouldn't keep trying, mind you, but just keep this in the back of your head.... I finally got a neuropsych eval and an appt with a neurologist this year for my son (he turned 13 in December). Spelling is just not going to happen. We now use Dragon software and lots of spell check on the computer (although he spells so badly that it doesn't always recognize his words!). Anyway - if after a few more years nothing is helping, you may want to get him evaluated further so as not to frustrate him and yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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