How do you make sure your dyslexic child...

[cherylw]

has all he/she needs for academics, personal growth, and overall confidence with their "gift". How hard do you push with academics? Have you read any informative books that have helped you?

 

At this point it really doesn't seem to bother ds10 about his issues with reading. I have noticed him avoid any reading if in groups but sometimes he tries if in a small group. I haven't really discussed in very much detail with him until today about why his has a problem with reading but told him that there have been very prominate people in our history that had dyslexia. That they were very smart but just had to learn differently. I want him to be challenged but not feel like he can't do it. If something is challenging he shuts down and argues about having to do the work.

[Isabella]

It's great to tell him about the people with dyslexia that, probably because of their gift of thinking differently, have achieved great things. I think he needs to know as much about dyslexia, and the way the brain works differently as he can understand. I read somewhere that a dyslexic person's brain thinks approximately 400x quicker than the usual person because they often think in pictures, which are quicker to process. This can mean headaches, and tiredness. My dd was thrilled to hear a valid and positive reason to her headaches and tiredness. It made her feel special! My dd has always seen the positives of dyslexia, and tried to improve on the negatives. She is 15.5 now, and plans to do medicine as a career.

 

On the practical side we did a LOT of verbal learning. She couldn't read till 10, but then, somehow all the stuff we'd done in the early years kicked in, and by 11 she was a voracious reader of classics! She couldn't write well (physically it was very demanding) until about 13. It would have been very stressful to push writing, and my thought was that it would lower her self-esteem. I would just ask a tiny bit more than she felt she could do, and she very gradually improved. At one stage, it was no more than writing a few things on the shopping list as we thought of them, and writing a note to dad to ask him for some new riding boots, and putting the note on his pillow. We progressed (over a few months to writing a sentence!) But all in a non-pressure way. Meantime, we learned, read (I read), researched, discussed, debated, many subjects that were reasonably advanced. I made sure she knew that, and it helped her greatly to realize that she was on-par or above with every area except writing. It worked for us, and now, while she has a bit of trouble with spelling and time management, that's about all.

 

HTH

Edited March 3, 2012 by Isabella

[Trilliums]

If something is challenging he shuts down and argues about having to do the work.

 

 

For DS, when he did this it was generally because I was asking him to do something that was TOO much of a struggle.

 

I agree with the previous post--I saw many of the same patterns in DS. In th teen years he has developed in academic leaps and bounds. Just because they struggle when younger, it does not necessarily mean they will always be behind.

 

DS enjoyed the Guft of Dyslexia. I thought it sounded crazy, but he definitely related to the descriptions in that book.

 

I also highly recommend the YouTube video FAT city: Reading and Decoding which illustrates how hard it is for kids with letter reversal problems.

[Sunkirst]

I second "The Gift of Dyslexia." Just knowing that there was a reason was a huge relief for oth of us. Earning about people who excelled ecause of their dyslexia made an impression on my son. The focussing technique eliminated ds's headaches, and the sculpting of letters and small word really helped too.

 

We stopped all reading practice from about 9.5 years old to 10.25 years old (terrifying!). We worked on knitting and all sorts of balance/crossing the midline exercises during that time, as well as the letter sculpting. I read to him constantly, and we always had lots of books on tape.

 

We also did lots of building, both Legos and kits as well as real objects. He is truly good at these things and it did build his confidence to see how easily these things came to him.

[wapiti]

You might want to cross-post your question on the SN board.

[Shellers]

You might want to cross-post your question on the SN board.

 

:iagree:

 

My 11 year old has "severe dyslexia". He's doing some subjects several grades behind where he should be. His math is ahead one grade. My DS knows he has dyslexia and he's actually raised himself two grade levels in reading and spelling since I pulled him from school back in Nov 2011. :)

[PeterPan]

Well hopefully you're coming over to the SN board to talk more, but I just wanted to ask whether you've had him tested. There can be some other things (ADHD, vision, etc.) that look like dyslexia (or maybe are related, depending on who you talk to). If you haven't done a formal neuropsych or other psych eval, I'd do that. Then you'll have all the right labels and know how widely you need to read. There are some pretty good book lists on the SN board, another reason to head on over. :)

[cherylw]

You might want to cross-post your question on the SN board.

 

Is there a way to do that or do I just type it again?

Edited March 3, 2012 by cherylw

[wapiti]

There can be some other things (ADHD, vision, etc.) that look like dyslexia (or maybe are related, depending on who you talk to). If you haven't done a formal neuropsych or other psych eval, I'd do that. Then you'll have all the right labels and know how widely you need to read.

:iagree: you want to be sure you know what you're dealing with, because it can be very difficult to tease apart certain issues without professional help.

Is there a way to do that or do I just type it again?

 

You can copy and paste it, but yes, as far as I know, you would just start a new thread. :)