Reading trouble, again - VT appt made

[momsuz123]

I feel like we are going backwards. She got stuck today on the word "the". She has known that word for 1 1/2 years. UGH. She skips words, all the time. She loses her spot, a lot. Poor thing gets so frustrated, so easily. I am doing a good job of staying calm in front of her, but boy, it is hard. She replaces words for other words a lot. What are your thoughts? I did make an appointment for next Monday for part 1 of the vision test, part 2 is on Thursday and parent meeting is the following Monday.

Oh, she hates copywork. Loses her spot all the time. Breaks down into tears.

Help, please.

[Lecka]

My son is often confusing "he" and "the" and "had" -- he confuses all 3 of them. He still makes mistakes with "and." He gets them right sometimes but he does miss either "the" or "and" probably every times he reads, at least once. But he is doing well! He is getting better!

 

It is okay! I mean, it is not good, but it is not gloom.

 

My son would not recognize his name in print when he was not expecting to see it -- it would be his name, and he would be sitting and taking a while to sound it out.

 

Some things I think just take time.

[momsuz123]

My son is often confusing "he" and "the" and "had" -- he confuses all 3 of them. He still makes mistakes with "and." He gets them right sometimes but he does miss either "the" or "and" probably every times he reads, at least once. But he is doing well! He is getting better!

 

It is okay! I mean, it is not good, but it is not gloom.

 

My son would not recognize his name in print when he was not expecting to see it -- it would be his name, and he would be sitting and taking a while to sound it out.

 

Some things I think just take time.

 

I know, it was just weird because she can spell the word "the" no problem. She has known that word for well over 1 year. But today, it was like in that one sentence she didn't recognize it all. In other sentences prior to and after she did. She just sat there with her finger under the word trying to figure it out.

[Ottakee]

On thing that might help (ok, 2 things)

 

1. A notched card where you can show the word left to right as she sounds it out. You can just move the card along and when she misses a word, go back and show her the word, sound by sound.

 

2. Use a marker/bookmark ABOVE the line she is reading. I know the standard it to hold it below the line she is reading but putting it above allows for easier tracking at the end of a line to the next line.

 

If you haven't looked at them, the I See Sam books are very good at working on these issues. http://www.3rsplus.com

[momsuz123]

On thing that might help (ok, 2 things)

 

1. A notched card where you can show the word left to right as she sounds it out. You can just move the card along and when she misses a word, go back and show her the word, sound by sound.

 

2. Use a marker/bookmark ABOVE the line she is reading. I know the standard it to hold it below the line she is reading but putting it above allows for easier tracking at the end of a line to the next line.

 

If you haven't looked at them, the I See Sam books are very good at working on these issues. www.3rsplus.com

 

Thanks, I will try that (I've tried covering up below, but she thinks that is "for babies"). I will try and push her past that - maybe model doing it myself.

[momsuz123]

So, VT appt is made. It will take 2 days to do tests. Reading specialist that evaluated my dd also called and after reading SLP eval, she wants to see dd 1x/week (originally she was going to do 1x/month because she is so busy - but she really feels the more we can "throw" at dd, and the sooner, the better) She strongly feels VT is a good thing to look into. She wants to teach me a few ways to help dd also - I am always open to new ideas. She said that dd threw her a few curve balls too, as she did to SLP. DD has a strong vocabulary, but at times really stumbles/ freezes when asked a question.

I feel like we are on the right path, it may be a very long path as I have been warned, but it is the right one. I am anxious to meet her new SLP who is coming to OUR HOUSE this week, and then the VT appt.

 

Thanks all for the encouragement. Some people just don't "get it" - and you all do. :grouphug:

[PeterPan]

Well congrats on making the appointment! I know it seems like forever, but it won't be. And the progress won't take forever. I'll bet by the end of the summer you're singing a new tune. Just think on that and be patient.

 

You know, it's just me, but depending on what results you get with the VT, I would consider waiting a month or two for the reading therapy. I know some people are really antsy or raring to go or whatever, but I just think there's a lot of changes happening and that a lot that is hard now will get dramatically better. If the eyes are removed, let some of that get better and THEN jump in with the tutoring with both feet. Ask your VT doc and see what they say about where she's at. She's young though, and I wouldn't hesitate a bit on that. VT is short, and the more you just focus on it and let it work, the better.

 

And you know, if you *happen* to find that advice good, what you could then do is spend that time that you *would* have spent working on reading instead working on sneaky reading. And we're only doing this till her eyes are ready to do regular reading. So you go ahead and learn the phonograms (or whatever your reading tutor recommends) and start doing puzzles with her that use the letters. Or get junior scrabble. Or play puzzles daily. There are lots and lots of games that are TERRIFIC for vision. As in they use them and you're going to play money for people to play them with your kid for VT. You might as well start playing now! And you can do things like get books on modeling with playdough or polymer clay and work on that daily. I've got some that show how to make little people, teddy bears, that sort of thing. That hands-on work where they see something and feel it and move it around in their minds and visualize what they want it to turn into is super for visual processing. Or do handicrafts or take up sewing. Anything from the Timberdoodle catalog is good.

[momsuz123]

Well congrats on making the appointment! I know it seems like forever, but it won't be. And the progress won't take forever. I'll bet by the end of the summer you're singing a new tune. Just think on that and be patient.

 

You know, it's just me, but depending on what results you get with the VT, I would consider waiting a month or two for the reading therapy. I know some people are really antsy or raring to go or whatever, but I just think there's a lot of changes happening and that a lot that is hard now will get dramatically better. If the eyes are removed, let some of that get better and THEN jump in with the tutoring with both feet. Ask your VT doc and see what they say about where she's at. She's young though, and I wouldn't hesitate a bit on that. VT is short, and the more you just focus on it and let it work, the better.

 

And you know, if you *happen* to find that advice good, what you could then do is spend that time that you *would* have spent working on reading instead working on sneaky reading. And we're only doing this till her eyes are ready to do regular reading. So you go ahead and learn the phonograms (or whatever your reading tutor recommends) and start doing puzzles with her that use the letters. Or get junior scrabble. Or play puzzles daily. There are lots and lots of games that are TERRIFIC for vision. As in they use them and you're going to play money for people to play them with your kid for VT. You might as well start playing now! And you can do things like get books on modeling with playdough or polymer clay and work on that daily. I've got some that show how to make little people, teddy bears, that sort of thing. That hands-on work where they see something and feel it and move it around in their minds and visualize what they want it to turn into is super for visual processing. Or do handicrafts or take up sewing. Anything from the Timberdoodle catalog is good.

 

You are such a relief to listen to (or read from:tongue_smilie:). I am going to do all that you recommend with the games. I will consider what you are saying very much about the reading specialist. She is actually my best friend's step mom and just really concerned. She even said that she thinks teaching me a few tricks of the trade is just as important. She seemed very knowledgable about VT and based on her eval, really wants dd to get evaluated for it. So, we are all on the same page. I did a lot more games with dd today. She did do some reading to me, but she tires so easily, by page 8 of a just right level book she said she was too tired to read.

By the way, I noticed a lot about diets on here. Her's is not good, at all. She is actually iron deficient and on prescription iron for that -doctors are watching the levels slowly climb. Not a great eater either, but once you have iron deficiency, one of the sx from it is poor appetite - go figure. I will have to start looking into this end now too, I think.

[PeterPan]

Yup, when you have the fatigue and headaches from reading because the eyes aren't working right, I just don't see the need to push that. When you get her eyes working better and it doesn't hurt, she's going to pick up the books on her own most likely. At least that's a pretty common result.

 

Actually, I would say it's *more* important that she teach you, because *you* are the one with her all day. Just because you've had problems up to this point DOESN'T mean you've been a failure at teaching her and should doubt your own ability. You're just as capable as that lady of teaching your dd to read, with the right method and materials in hand. You just can't teach through physical problems; no one can.

[merry gardens]

I feel like we are going backwards. She got stuck today on the word "the". She has known that word for 1 1/2 years. UGH. She skips words, all the time. She loses her spot, a lot. Poor thing gets so frustrated, so easily. I am doing a good job of staying calm in front of her, but boy, it is hard. She replaces words for other words a lot. What are your thoughts? I did make an appointment for next Monday for part 1 of the vision test, part 2 is on Thursday and parent meeting is the following Monday.

Oh, she hates copywork. Loses her spot all the time. Breaks down into tears.

Help, please.

I'm just going to throw out the thought that if she learned "the" as a sight word, (which it is, unless you pronounce the "e" with the long "e" sound like "thee" and know digraph "th") then it makes sense that she might get thrown for a loop. As she starts programs like LiPS and heavy phonics, she focusses on the sounds of letters--and then--she encounters this "e" saying, "uh". :001_huh: Schwa is a more advanced phonics sound that her tutor likely hasn't gotten close to yet. "And it starts with a t, so why isn't there a t sound? :confused: " Perhaps she never really understood before that the t and a few other letters say something different when followed by an h.

 

Basically, vowels and digraphs can be really hard on dyslexic kiddos learning to read--and sight words can confuse matters even further for a while. She may have known the word "the" for years, but once remediation begins, she may question what she knows and stumble for a while until she's more solid on several reading concepts.