11yr old dyslexic( Need advice)

[look4hiddentreasures]

My oldest daughter has dyslexia and right now reads at a 2nd/3rd grade level and I just don't know what else to do to help her. I wish we could afford a tutor but we just can't at this time but I have to do something:-(

 

We have tried almost all phonic programs including Sound Reading which is suppose to be geared toward dyslexics bit it did not help. She also struggles with Math and is not on grade level with that either... She is such a brilliant young lady but I know this frustrates her and she struggles with it a lot. And I just want to able to help her and it feels like nothing works:-( I feel so helpless:-( Any advice would be so treasured! Thank you!

[Heathermomster]

Has your child been seen by a NP to determine any underlying learning issues? If not, your DD would greatly benefit from an assessment.

 

Verify that her eyes have no tracking or binocular vision issues with a COVD vision therapist. Assuming no visual or audio processing problems, consider the following:

 

Pursue multisensory and explicit reading instruction. Look at Barton or hire a tutor.

 

Ensure that your DD listens to audio looks and read alouds. We use Learning Ally, but there are numerous online audio download services. At 11yo, my son used freerice.com for about 40 minutes per week.

 

Teach her to type. Take a look at voice to text software. Look at using story webs and other visual note taking concepts. Use videos and hands on activities to supplement learning. The publisher AGS produces quality science texts.

 

For math, DS responds well to rods based instruction. The book How the Brain Learns Mathematics benefited us as well as a couple of books by Ronit Bird. Kathy Richardson is recommended many times for math too.

 

Can't think of anything else at the moment. Blessings..

[KinderSafari]

If you haven't researched "vision tracking" I strongly encourage it - it can't hurt!

 

We were thinking one of our kids was dyslexic as well for years. Even though we enrolled that child in the school part-time to get help, they said they wouldn't test or help children until at least 3rd grade if they were really behind by then, because most children get caught up by then. We kept trying and researching until we found out he had vision tracking problems. He could track things fine enough, but he could not SUSTAIN his tracking and his eyes would quickly jump around if he was trying to focus on something and his words would get all mixed up. After a few months of us working with him with some exercises we found online, he was doing much better. A year and a half later, he was all caught up to grade level for reading.

[RPDwifey2819]

If you haven't researched "vision tracking" I strongly encourage it - it can't hurt!

 

We were thinking one of our kids was dyslexic as well for years. Even though we enrolled that child in the school part-time to get help, they said they wouldn't test or help children until at least 3rd grade if they were really behind by then, because most children get caught up by then. We kept trying and researching until we found out he had vision tracking problems. He could track things fine enough, but he could not SUSTAIN his tracking and his eyes would quickly jump around if he was trying to focus on something and his words would get all mixed up. After a few months of us working with him with some exercises we found online, he was doing much better. A year and a half later, he was all caught up to grade level for reading.

 

Do you mind sharing what VT program you found on line to use with your DS? My DS has tracking and sustaining issues (dx'ed by a developmental optomitrist) but cannot afford the $3500 therapy :(

[Lecka]

There is a program Rewards that is aimed at kids her age and reading level who need to work on multi syllable words.

 

You could also see if she has weak foundational skills Barton would help with.

 

The other suggestions are good, too.

 

Did sound foundations cover phonic awareness? I am not familiar with it.

If so -- I think the other things mentioned or focusing on multi syllable words and fluency.

[RamonaQ]

You may also want to look at phonemic awareness and do some work around that. LIPS or some of the early work in Reading Reflex where you segment words by sounds, using a block to represent each sound (so for example....F-I-SH, you would represent by 3 blocks).

 

Have her read along with audio for 40 min-1 hr each day. This alone I attribute to a dramatic increase in fluency for my son.

[kimcarrots]

Well I am going to out on a limb and say .... wait. Keep reading together, researching together what she loves, chatting, museums - whatever is her passion (and yours).

 

I just wrote a thread last week about my 13 year old son blossoming. Last year he couldn't read a Bob Book but this year he is reading novels and getting his math correct and writing amazing things. He needed to mature and from what I hear from others - that happens around 12...13...14.

 

I like to take the path of try a little, step back, try again, refocus. So we did do phonics, he would balk, we would do something else. He reads by memorization. Can she talk about her process of reading? Does she "hear" the different sounds (my son can't and this used to bother me - not anymore). Can you support her in finding ways that work for her to enjoy books? (My son LOVES books on tape and us reading to him.) Does she have other interests and passions she can pursue with a bit of time spent on phonics/reading?

 

I hope this helps, I know when you are in the "thick of it" watching your kids struggle, it's hard for both of you. I just wanted to offer another way of thinking about it.

 

Good luck and please keep us updated!

 

Best,

 

Kimberly

[Lecka]

http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/

 

I think this will be the right link... this is a website I like. It gives information about different reading skills.

 

If you looked at it (or something similar) and could say -- she has trouble with decoding, or no, she has trouble with fluency ---- that might be helpful in deciding what to do.

 

Do you know what was wrong with the Sound Reading she did? My son had trouble with one computer program I think b/c it was not multisensory and he needed that to learn some things. Another computer program went too fast for him. I didn't realize that at the time -- but if you have an idea what is going on, that could help.

[MomatHWTK]

There are several sets of flashcards at Sparklebox that use the "sound button" technique. There are also some eye tracking printables. I used word searches to help oldest DS with eye tracking (he hated them but it helped).

[simplyme99]

What program have you had her on?

 

I wouldn't wait to see if things start to click. My DD was diagnosed with dyslexia in 3rd grade - she is 11 now and in 5th grade. I tried many things before getting her an O-G tutor and regret not starting it sooner.

 

Like the pp said, you could get the Barton system - it resells good enough it is only a one time investment.

 

Have you read the Sally Shaywitz book? Very useful tool.

[Greta Lea]

I'm planning to get his vision tested by the same dr. again in the very near future. I'm thinking he might need more VT now.

 

Some other things I've done is to *try* to focus on the fact that he IS making progress. He might not be jumping up grade levels, but he IS making *steady* progress!

 

My son just began 9th grade at home (always homeschooled). He works on about a 6th grade level, BUT is making steady, steady progress (I have to remind myself of this DAILY!)

 

Around the same time he did the VT, I also started using All About Spelling with him. I added repeated readings (no certain program, just read about it online and did my own thing) to the AAS.

 

I also, of course, continued to read aloud to him a LOT and had him *orally* narrate almost everything I read aloud to him. Oral narration is just as important as the reading aloud!

 

Around that age (or maybe around 12yo), he began to not want me to read aloud to him so much (thought it was "babyish"), so that's when I began utilizing audio books. The website http://www.librivox.com and the library were my main sources for audio books, although I did purchase some favorites that I knew I could resell easily or that I thought he'd listen to over and over (like SOTW audio and the Harry Potter audios).

 

Even now we are still utilizing audio books. He now reads along while listening.

 

For math we have discovered that Math U See is the program for him. BUT I have to take things at HIS pace. He *hates* using manipulatives, so I will often just demonstrate with the manipulatives as many times as needed while he watches.

 

Also, he still does better if I sit with him during math and walk/talk him through every problem (especially multi-step problems).

 

We've not done much formal science until this year. It was all just way over his head even with me reading aloud to him. We focused on nature readings/study and human body study until now. This year for 9th grade, I purchased Real Scienc 4 Kids level 1. He's doing extremely well with it, although it is still a bit of a real challenge at times.

 

HTH

[EKS]

Do you do fluency readings with her? I don't mean the kind that come with reading programs. Pick a book, preferably a chapter style book, that she can read fluently and have her read aloud to you for 20-30 minutes every single day. So if she is reading on a grade 2-3 level, then try to find a book (series work great for this) that is on a grade 1 or early 2 level. Junie B Jones is an example of the level I'm talking about, or some of the Magic Tree House books. Then after this becomes easy for her, bump up the reading level a tad. Keep doing this for at least a year. It is extremely important that the books you choose are *easy* for her to read.

 

Also, if you have not already done so, I would have her evaluated by a neuropsych as well as a developmental optometrist.

[songbirdie]

I used "Reading Reflex" with my son, who is dyslexic. It made amazing improvements in his reading and also spelling abilities. He was gravely behind in both. I got it from Sonlight, but I'm sure you can get it elsewhere. Here is a link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Reflex-Foolproof-Phono-Graphix-Teaching/dp/0684853671

 

It is a book/method used in many reading tutorial centers around the country, and the author deals specifically with dyslexic kids. I would definitely recommend using it and NOT just waiting to see what happens. If you have any questions about the method, I'll be happy to answer them.

[Lecka]

I used Reading Reflex also. I think it is good for phonemic awareness.

 

The second half of the book (going into more vowel teams and stuff: oa, ow, ea, ie, ei, oy, etc) was too much at once by far.

 

I have read that Abecedarian follows the Reading Reflex approach and that some people recommended going into Level B after Reading Reflex. I did do that.

 

But I would say to buy good quality letter tiles of some kind, b/c the little cut-out pieces of paper just didn't cut it here. Though another person said she laminated them and they worked well.

 

I used a lot of resources for phonemic awareness and learning to sound out and blend ----- it was just a hard thing to learn.

 

But if she is reading at a 2nd-3rd grade level she might be above the level of Reading Reflex. If she has a weak foundation in phonemic awareness, it could be a good thing to use. I am afraid it might seem a little babyish -- for an older child there are some programs that are designed for older children, I think High Noon is known for that (and covers the same skills I believe) and also Barton. I am sure others also.

[SailorMom]

I know I'm in the minority.... but my DS (also dyslexic) learned to read without phonics. Well - without formal phonics. We did more of a whole word approach and it worked wonderfully.

You may want to just shift gears. Some kids just don't do phonics.... I never did.

[ShelleyW]

Reading Reflex is a great place to start and it is really cheap. We struggled toward the end b/c it started to overwhelm my dd. She gained a lot from the beginning of the book though.

Barton is a solid, thorough program that WILL get her reading well. It is easy to use and eliminates the need for a tutor. It is pricey but most programs for dyslexic kids are. It is much cheaper than a tutor and resells almost for what you paid for it. Barton gets results.

 

Recipe for Reading is also a great program that is much more reasonably priced. You have to create some of the materials yourself (flashcards) but for about $150 I got all I needed to get started. It is teacher intensive in that it is not scripted or all laid out for you like Barton is but it is a fraction of the cost. Most of the O_G programs are similar so once you understand the methodolgy, you can put the program together to suit your dd's needs.