dyslexia vs executive funtioning weakness?

[rafiki]

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[merry gardens]

Thing is, when they're 12 and as big or bigger than you, it gets a bit harder to compel them. I pick my battles very carefully. But we'll see. Maybe I can add that to my courage list. I do different things in summer, so I just have a mental running list and drop/add as we get there. Right now we're finishing up May. We have testing at the end of the week, and then we officially start summer. I'm looking to change up our approach with more things that she can do very independently for a while. Seems like, no matter how hard I try, a lot of the stuff still requires me to be nearby to be effective. I have some new things in the wings to break it up. The piano could go onto an independent work checklist. Sigh, can't even imagine. I mean last time she had lessons, practiced, I did flashcards with her (standing there, trying to help her through them). But you know, it was before the VT. Let's just say it was ugly enough I'm not thrilled to go back. I thought about trying a new instrument on her like guitar (despite the fact that we have *two* pianos), but she thinks that would be even harder with the motor control.

 

So Merry what did you do during that time? Just do the lessons and whatever his teacher said? Something extra? Any tips or tricks?

I get what you are saying now. I thought before you were saying you wanted to do piano--which is sort of what you are still saying but I get the hesitancy because of the history.

 

In the beginning, I sat down to show him finger placement on the keys when he practiced. He practiced mostly daily, but not for very long. To be honest, it was somewhat painful to my ears, so I didn't push him to do it longer. Plus, although I'm very musical, the piano wasn't my instrument. My son wanted to dismiss everything I tried to teach him about music since I didn't study piano. I left most of it up to his teacher, figuring that's what we were paying her for. She's great! She has experience working with dyslexic students and she's this very patient, grandmotherly figure who loves both kids and music. She even comes to our home to give lessons. I couldn't do this without her. She started "cracking down" on music reading this year with all her students, but she does it in really up-beat, child friendly way. She offered little rewards for practice and music theory. My best tip to you if you want to do piano lessons is find a good teacher!

 

Separate from the piano lessons, at some point in there I bought a bunch of percussion noise-makers. I did that when I read something (that one of you probably linked or posted) about reading and rhythm. I put on some children's music and we'd parade around the room marching, left-right, left-right. It helped everyone's rhythm, and it was fun.

[rafiki]

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[merry gardens]

Y'all just reminded me of why we got involved with piano in the first place. I was looking into IM, and I just thought to myself, well dang, if I'm going to pay money to have my kids move something to a beat, they might as well learn piano :tongue_smilie:. Obviously not the same thing, but that's my story :). Mixing with the other thread though, ironically my ds8 with the slow processing speed has great rhythm. He doesn't always have the fine motor skills to match, but the rhythm is there in his head at least. Doesn't make sense, does it...

:) Oh, it makes sense! I've read the names of famous musicians on list of successful people with dyslexia. Someone wrote something somewhere on this very long thread about "finding the glitch". I think that's it. Not all of them have the exact same "glitches". Rhythm isn't always a problem for every child with some of these other issues, just as handwriting or math or spelling or even reading isn't always a problem.

 

"From Talking to Writing" uses the analogy of building a clock. In order for a clock to work right, numerous things need to take place. If there's problems with any of those things, then the clock doesn't work right. A human brain is far more complicated than a clock. Something--or things--aren't working right in the brains of dyslexics or people with executive function problems. Trying to figure out exactly what isn't working right is a bit tricky.

 

I'm certain that my son would qualify as dyslexic, by most any diagnostic criteria. (He doesn't have formal diagnosis.) It helps me that some of the problems common to people with reading problems are often lumped together under the same lable of "dyslexia" because it gives me ideas of what areas explore as likely trouble spots. I look for the problem area, and then I look for the solution. I hope that one day we will have sufficiently "fixed" whatever "glitches" to overcome the present struggles.

[peacefully]

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[peacefully]

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[PeterPan]

Bother. Michele's original link about EF is not working for me, and I wanted to make some comparisons between EF and the Output-Organization Deficit subtype of CAPD and dyslexia. Anyone have a good EF link for me?

 

Yllek, want a good laugh? My dd is here with me reading this and saw your post above. She said "Oh, you mean you're organized in your brain, but you can't get your house organized?" :lol:

 

How perceptive. :)

[rafiki]

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[PeterPan]

Michele, I think you need to let go of this guilt. Your work with him remediated your middler to the point where, AT THIS TIME, he's not statistically different enough to need accommodations. But if you read Wapiti's posts, her dc dropped even on IQ testing (the WISC) by a whole standard deviation (which you wouldn't expect) over the course of several years. A few years from now, say as he approaches junior high or high school, you may retest and realize he now qualifies for those accommodations. He may be just strong enough now to mask what is going on.

 

You've brought things up to par for the moment, but the question is whether they'll stay that way, as the subjects and requirements get harder. The testing that NP did was a snapshot.

[PeterPan]

Heck, you think I know what that means? :lol:

 

Here's a link. Scroll down to find the OOD subtype.

http://www.ocslha.com/Ferre.htm

 

That OOD description is my ds in a nutshell. He's much better than he was in many of the areas, but this is clearly where he "lives" in his natural state.

 

Our SLP thinks ds has an expressive language processing disorder and has often linked certain EF behaviors with his processing: self-regulation, organization, planning, sequencing, etc. She has even once told me that visual spatial memory can get scrambled with language processing disorders (ds is constantly misplacing things). But ds has other behaviors that indicate strong executive function in other respects.

 

Well that's the funny thing. The OT swore dd would turn out to be ADD with a np eval, that she wouldn't be a good planner or organizer, blah blah. Well the fact is she's EXTREMELY good at certain executive functions. This child has her Christmas stuff done well in advance, has TYPED lists of her things for camp and has already started packing, etc. So while there are illogical things in the way she thinks, trouble with self-regular, forgetting to follow through, etc., etc., the fact is she is very good at some EF stuff. And that makes sense, what you're saying, that it could be EF as it intersects with certain areas and not others.

[SonshineMama]

I'm not sure why the link isn't working. I saved it if you want to pm me your email address I'll send it to you.

 

Here are two other good ones on EF -

http://www.schoolbehavior.com/disorders/executive-dysfunction/overview-of-executive-dysfunction/

 

http://www.klis.com/chandler/pamphlet/executive%20functioning/Executive%20Functioning.htm

 

 

Adding to some other comments in this thread. We have done a lot on our own to get to this point. I just felt we hit a wall where I didn't know what else to try or how to help them without some outside insight.

 

Some things that were beneficial:

 

Wii -

During the school week only Wii Fit, Outdoor Adventure, and DDR are allowed. All help with coordination and timing. All use mats or balance boards.

 

Nintendo DS -

During the school week I only allowed Flash Focus (which has many of the same games that our VT's office provided on software) and Brain Age 1 & 2.

 

For Visual/Spatial/Sequencing -

Logic Links and Noodlers Puzzle Box

Set (the card game and online version)

Books - I Spy, Optical Illusions, Magic Eye, Where's Waldo, etc.

 

Individualized Sports -

Martial Arts

Swimming

oldest ds also runs regularly and startedl weight training this past fall

 

Misc. Life Savers -

Can't say enough about the Gymnic 66 Balls. Each of my boys have thier own.

We also use gum, lifesavers, variety of food textures (fruit leather, crunchy granola bars), straws, sports caps, and keep supplies of fidgets everywhere.

 

We use some of these - great summary . . . awesome to know that VT uses flash focus type games.

 

AFA the rhythm discussion - tap dancing and brain gym seem to be REALLY improving my ds lack of rhythm. I assistant teach in his tap class and it's been fascinating to see how sometimes he's ahead/behind and other times he's RIGHT with the class even the same song - - meaning when they practice the same thing over and over, he sometimes is on time and sometimes off. . . same song, same dance, sometimes he hears it sometimes he doesn't. We are starting to add "clap to the rhythm" to our brain gym routine just to see if it helps at all.

[merry gardens]

Michele, I think you need to let go of this guilt. Your work with him remediated your middler to the point where, AT THIS TIME, he's not statistically different enough to need accommodations. But if you read Wapiti's posts, her dc dropped even on IQ testing (the WISC) by a whole standard deviation (which you wouldn't expect) over the course of several years. A few years from now, say as he approaches junior high or high school, you may retest and realize he now qualifies for those accommodations. He may be just strong enough now to mask what is going on.

 

You've brought things up to par for the moment, but the question is whether they'll stay that way, as the subjects and requirements get harder. The testing that NP did was a snapshot.

:iagree:

This is one of the many reasons why I haven't pursued having my son formally diagnosed. A very well respected expert told me that with all that I am doing, my son even may not qualify for accomodations in the future. A formal diagnosis of dyslexia at age 9 won't neccesarily help get accomodation in high school or college unless the problems continued to show up on testing closer to that time. That's what I was told anyway.

 

Michele, I go back and forth on wishing I'd had my son's problems better documented with lots of testing before we started everything that we've done. The thing I wish most is that I had someone telling me, "Good job--look how far he's come!" If you had seen the neuropsych first before you did everything that you've don, he'd probably be telling you that about your middle son. Instead, you heard he's gifted. While I'm sure you are thrilled to learn that your son is gifted, I sense that you might be going through a period of "Gifted? Huh? What about all that other stuff? :001_huh:"

[peacefully]

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