Where do I go from Here? Dyslexia possibly

[dajiherndez]

Ok so here is our situation. My daughter is 10 years old. She will be 11 next month. A couple years after starting official school we noticed she was not progressing very well in English reading. Was progressing better in spanish. So we started using Wilson in 3rd grade. She did well with it and seemed to progress. In the 4th grade we continued to do phonics and fluency practice with OMR.

 

At this point when we go through the cards on Wilson she knows all of the basic sounds, welded sounds, vowels sounds (although she still has a little trouble when the short vowel in used in a word but usually self corrects) ect. She knows how and when to split up a word. Can sound out just about anything when it is just an isolated word but seems to get fustrated when reading a book. I tested her in Wilson with the diagnosted test about 10 weeks ago and she got up to the 8th subset could have gone on but got tired of reading.

 

Here is what she is still doing while reading a book

1. Still reverses b and d.

2. Is still pretty slow.

3. Has trouble with sight words a, the, was, when, then, and what. She switches them.

4.Guesses at words instead of sounding them out (she only does this when reading a book not when we are working with individual words)

5. Gets fustrated with herself for not reading more fluent.

 

She is currently working on reading Charlotte's Web ( I think this is at 4.9g grade level). She does ok with it but there are words that she does not know but when she is reading independently I have her sound out the words as best as she can. If she can get them great if not she marks them with a highlighter and goes on then we read together the words she missed and the chapter. We practice reading together and fluency.

 

 

 

My question is if she knows all of the rules ect. do I still keep working with Wilson or do I just keep working on fluency and do reviews lesson every once and awhile? Let me know what you think.

 

By the way she has never been officially tested.

[wapiti]

In addition to considering dyslexia, I'd probably rule out vision issues first, by visiting a covd optometrist. Vision is more than 20/20 acuity - it includes the eyes working together properly.

 

http://www.covd.org/Home/AboutVisionLearning/SymptomsChecklist/tabid/114/Default.aspx

 

http://www.childrensvision.com/reading.htm

 

just my usual PSA :)

[Dobela]

In addition to considering dyslexia, I'd probably rule out vision issues first, by visiting a covd optometrist. Vision is more than 20/20 acuity - it includes the eyes working together properly.

 

http://www.covd.org/Home/AboutVisionLearning/SymptomsChecklist/tabid/114/Default.aspx

 

http://www.childrensvision.com/reading.htm

 

just my usual PSA :)

:iagree:I agree and usually give the same PSA. I highly recommend an eval by a covd optometrist. Regular opthamologists and optometrists completely missed my son's vision issues.

[PeterPan]

I agree with the recommendation to get her eyes checked. My dd never could sound out words till we did vision therapy (VT). But like the others said, you need a developmental optometrist; a regular one won't do.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[dajiherndez]

Before we started Wilson we had her evaluated for vision therapy and she was not a candidate. We had thought about having her tested but can't afford the cost. As someone already mentioned it doesn't really matter to us if she is diagnosed or not just want to help her succeed.

 

Her writing in not bad and spelling is good.

[RamonaQ]

I would just have her doing A LOT of reading each day (1 hour). Reading out-loud to you and reading aloud with audiobooks. I might look into drilling those tiny sight words on some sort of flash type program (lots of those on the iPhone/iPad), but this really could be a result of slow retrieval.

[dajiherndez]

I would just have her doing A LOT of reading each day (1 hour). Reading out-loud to you and reading aloud with audiobooks. I might look into drilling those tiny sight words on some sort of flash type program (lots of those on the iPhone/iPad), but this really could be a result of slow retrieval.

Does slow retrieval ever get better?

[RamonaQ]

My understanding is that it will improve with age, to a certain extent.

[myboyluvsdinos]

I would work on her fluency using passages that are shorter and easier.

 

There are different fluency programs out there -- I happen to use Barton because it comes with the program. But the idea is to read a passage several times to build up their speed. Reading a chapter book once isn't the way to build fluency. Usually fluency programs have the child read a short passage (one that takes 1-2 minutes to read), then read it again and try to beat your speed each time.

 

Depending on her needs, you might want to find a sight word list, (here's the Fry list that I like: http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/Fry-1000-Instant-Words.html)

 

Then write the words on index cards and review a few each day until she can instantly read them. Becoming automatic with sight words can really help, as well.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Carolyn

[TAKlinda]

Use dot patterns for letter reversals and highlighters with decoding word lists for reading fluency.

[dajiherndez]

Can you tell me more about these dot patterns? Is there a web site. I have never heard of this before. Also if you don't mind to expand on the highlighters I would epreciate it. I am new to all of this.

[rafiki]

.

[wapiti]

Can you tell me more about these dot patterns? Is there a web site. I have never heard of this before. Also if you don't mind to expand on the highlighters I would epreciate it. I am new to all of this.

 

I'm guessing the PP means the dotted letter stamps available at teaching stores, such as these http://www.learningresources.com/product/teachers/shop+by+category/teacher+resources/stamps/lowercase+alphabet+tracing+stamps.do

[ElizabethB]

Did she get taught with sight words in English?

 

That can exacerbate any dyslexic tendencies. I would work on some nonsense words and mix in nonsense words with phonetic practice of the sight words and related words that follow their pattern. (But don't just teach word family or she will start to guess from word family, teach hat man cap van vap etc.)

 

Here is how to teach all but 2 of the Dolch sight words phonetically:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

I would also add in some nonsense word work with my phonics concentration game:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

 

Also, the things that have been most helpful for my students diagnosed with dyslexia are spelling, nonsense words, and syllables. Have her do the syllable division exercises on my how to tutor page and I would start working with the syllabary and then the 2+ syllable words in Webster's Speller. I would start with the 1824 uppercase version and then switch to the 1908 Webster when after a few months. I like the uppercase because it prevents guessing from word shape. I also like just working on words in isolation until the phonics is over-learned enough to reduce guessing when reading sentences and stories. The 1908 has stories and is lowercase. The grade level progression of the 1908 Speller stories is very motivation for my students, but I do not switch to it until they have reduced their guessing.

[dajiherndez]

Thanks ladies! I have begun to work on fluency with a number of different ways.

 

Also my DD did not learn to read with sight words. Actually she learned to read in Spanish first which is done by syllabus and then we switched to English. Maybe we started English to soon. I think maybe she needed more practice in Spanish.

 

 

I am going to begin to work with her on all these things mentioned.

 

Thanks agian and any more suggestions are welcomed!

[ElizabethB]

Thanks ladies! I have begun to work on fluency with a number of different ways.

 

Also my DD did not learn to read with sight words. Actually she learned to read in Spanish first which is done by syllabus and then we switched to English. Maybe we started English to soon. I think maybe she needed more practice in Spanish.

 

 

I am going to begin to work with her on all these things mentioned.

 

Thanks agian and any more suggestions are welcomed!

 

Yes, I would over-learn the Spanish and then move on to English.

 

You can also teach English with syllables, if she learned Spanish with syllables, the comparison makes things clearer.

 

Here is how I taught Webster's Speller with syllables to my son for K. (I also taught my daughter with it, but did not keep detailed records of her progress, I kept track of my son so people could see how the syllables and the Speller worked.)

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208407

[dajiherndez]

Thank you so much I am going to check that out!!