Speech pathologists, reading teachers, anyone?

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I was wondering if anyone here is/was an SLP, a reading teacher, or anything like this?

 

My 6yo son is a struggling reader (best I can put it). He was also very language delayed and still receives sporadic speech therapy; sporadic in that the SLP has been having "problems" getting to him.

 

I wanted to know if someone could watch a video of my son reading and tell me if it seems developmentally normal, or if I am seeing "something"? I'm not sure what that something may be. I feel like it is a language based problem.

 

If anyone is interested in helping me diagnose my son, or ease my worries, please let me know! I'm going to record his reading lesson tomorrow unless he's willing to do more tonight.

[ChristusG]

I'm not any of the things that you mentioned, but DD6 sounds EXACTLY like your son. She didn't speak until about 24-26 months, and that was only a few words. She didn't begin speaking a lot till nearing three. Since that time, her articulation has been HORRIBLE. I began to teach her to read when she was 5. I helped her learn her letter sounds from 4 years old to early 5, and that went fine. But as for putting the sounds together, she just couldn't seem to get it.

 

She was in speech therapy from 20 months until 3 years old, when her vocabulary became up to par with other kids her age. But I put her back in speech again at 4 years old because no one could understand her except for me. She was in speech therapy at the public school from 4 until early 6 years old when I pulled her out and began working with her at home. Absolutely nothing was working and I feel that we wasted so many years of speech therapy.

 

I found out about a lady who tests for auditory and visual processing disorders and decided to fork out the money to have her tested. Sure enough, she has both. She's been in vision therapy since late November and just finished that up. Now she's just started the auditory therapy. It's making a difference in her reading and articulation.

 

So I know I'm not an SLP or anything, but our situation sounds similar so I just wanted to let you know the route that we took. She's still not reading on her level yet, but we're working towards it.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I wrote out a long reply, then my internet goes out and eats the post! Grrr

 

Thank you for your reply!

[Dobela]

I would look into private therapy at this point. Sporadic therapy is simply not going to have the same effect. You want consistency.

 

I would also look into vision issues. My son had 20/20 vision and yet couldn't read. By using a developmental optometrist we learned that he was not tracking with both eyes simultaneously and he was not seeing in 3D. Because of this he was not consistently connecting sounds to letters. www.covd.org has a signs and symptoms page listing other characteristics of vision issues that could be effecting school work.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Have to throw out this example before I forget.

 

DS came up to me, with no prior warning that he was trying to ask me somthing. "Are those pack of tattoos and tacks?"

 

5 minutes digging into his head and it is translated into- My words here, obviously; The tattoos I got him 3 weeks ago, are they x amount plus tax? Which wasn't even the point of his question. If he does all his chores this week, can he have the tattoos? The tax was relevant when he was paying with his money, which isn't what he was getting at.

 

This is why I'm frustrated being told that his language and reading are on target for a boy his age!

[sixpence1978]

DS came up to me, with no prior warning that he was trying to ask me somthing. "Are those pack of tattoos and tacks?"

 

 

This makes me think of an auditory processing problem. Try popping over onto the special needs board. There are a lot of wise ladies over there.

[Mandamom]

Have to throw out this example before I forget.

 

DS came up to me, with no prior warning that he was trying to ask me somthing. "Are those pack of tattoos and tacks?"

 

5 minutes digging into his head and it is translated into- My words here, obviously; The tattoos I got him 3 weeks ago, are they x amount plus tax? Which wasn't even the point of his question. If he does all his chores this week, can he have the tattoos? The tax was relevant when he was paying with his money, which isn't what he was getting at.

 

This is why I'm frustrated being told that his language and reading are on target for a boy his age!

 

That sounds like language processing issues. I'd follow up with a good speech language person. I currently have my ds5 in private speech because he wasn't making any progress and we have been thrilled with the results. ASk around --- even calling schools that deal with the learning disabled for a good one.

 

Of course, if could also be APD which frequently goes along with the language processing, dyslexia, and whatnot.

 

Anyway, yes, I"m a reading teacher/tutor and OG and Wilson trained. If you want me to look at the video I will.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Thank you for all of the replies.

 

My eaten post from earlier was that we're not new to issues, just that his issues have not been properly figured out. He was denied early intervention services despite being non-verbal at 2. He's been through a lot.

 

He carries overlapping and not all accurate diagnoses of PDD-NOS, ADHD combined type, SPD, S/L disorder, ODD, some signs of CD, etc. This is a result of Drs not communicating with each other! LOL. He will be having a comprehensive evaluation in a few months and I hope it will shed some light on his true problems.

 

I've had more than one SLP say his picture should be next to APD, while others say he's right on track. One neurologist said he's autistic and he wasn't sure how he could be functioning in school, another say he's fine. I know that his underlying problem will hopefully give a good starting base, my hopes for the video is that someone will see "something" educationally, or at least be able to guide us on the right path to reading.

 

Thank you all again! I will have the video done tomorrow. I will obviously be highlighting his difficulties, but will have some "normal" reading and speaking as well.

 

ETA; Before we moved he did see an optometrist who has a son with autism and adhd, and a daughter with autism. He really seemed to know what he was talking about. Said DS had no problems tracking like he would normally see in Adhd. Said he seemed fine as far as vision. He has also scored fairly well on all evaluations in the visual areas except copying shapes. DS did have problems crossing midline until about 4-4.5.

Edited March 22, 2011 by amo_mea_filiis
add something

[LizzyBee]

Thank you for all of the replies.

 

My eaten post from earlier was that we're not new to issues, just that his issues have not been properly figured out. He was denied early intervention services despite being non-verbal at 2. He's been through a lot.

 

He carries overlapping and not all accurate diagnoses of PDD-NOS, ADHD combined type, SPD, S/L disorder, ODD, some signs of CD, etc. This is a result of Drs not communicating with each other! LOL. He will be having a comprehensive evaluation in a few months and I hope it will shed some light on his true problems.

 

I've had more than one SLP say his picture should be next to APD, while others say he's right on track. One neurologist said he's autistic and he wasn't sure how he could be functioning in school, another say he's fine. I know that his underlying problem will hopefully give a good starting base, my hopes for the video is that someone will see "something" educationally, or at least be able to guide us on the right path to reading.

 

Thank you all again! I will have the video done tomorrow. I will obviously be highlighting his difficulties, but will have some "normal" reading and speaking as well.

 

If you can find an audiologist who is trained to diagnose APD in your area, I would make an appt for an evaluation. SLPs and neuro- or educational psychologists can screen for APD, but only a specially trained audiologist can diagnose it. A lot of the testing is done in a sound proof booth with specialized equipment. Some teaching hospitals have APD clinics, so that would be one route to try.

 

My dd9 was diagnosed with severe APD when she was 7. She had all of the subtypes and could not pass any part of the evaluation. There was one part where she couldn't even get through the sample questions to move on to the actual test. The audiologist knew before she even scored the tests that it was bad and told me I needed to go ahead and schedule comprehensive testing. A month later, an SLP told me that she didn't see any signs of APD. :lol: We've never gone back to that SLP.

[ChristusG]

I don't think that an ophthalmologist can always detect visual processing issues. It definitely sounds like you should have him evaluated for auditory and visual processing disorders....someone specially trained for those issues. They are difficult to find. Thankfully, some cousins in our family actually went through therapy with this therapist and recommended her to us. She specializes in auditory processing, vision processing, and language.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

When I talk to the comp team, I'm going to ask about audiology. He's only 6 though, isn't that a bit young? I thought APDs can't be accurately diagnosed until at least 7. He's just shy of 6 and a half.

[ChristusG]

DD is almost 7 and she was diagnosed back in October at exactly 6.5.