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Reading intervention...does this sound, in any way, right?


Ghee
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I posted about this on another thread, but more as a vent along with the OP. I want everyone's take on this:

 

We are 1/2 way through evals with my 8 year old. This is the child who isn't reading, can't do simple math, can't remember what you talked about in your lesson 5 minutes ago...

 

The NP has finished the academic part of the eval. His findings were sort of heartbreaking. He recommended OT and Speech (which is good, I had asked for those for years in PS and couldn't get them to do the evals to start services.) The bad part of that is that our insurance has a $2500 per person deductible...we have only paid $30 toward his deductible, so we have to pay out of pocket $2470 before the insurance will pay their 90%. Oh, and that's THIS calendar year...start all over in January *yea!* His IQ is very low right now, on tests. The NP said he isn't sure if it's genuinely low or if it's that he has needed, and been denied, so much help. So he wants him to do a year of OT and Speech before he retests his IQ. I thought that was wise.

 

Anyway, the NP also wanted us to take him to this place for reading intervention. My radar started pinging when he said "It's kind of like that place...I can't remember the name, but they do reading and math intervention. Only these people aren't franchised so it's cheaper." He went on to say that he'd seen "great results" with them and they were "very affordable". Well, I called them and I was underwhelmed with what I heard. They don't do any formal testing to find out WHY a child can't read (they don't test for dyslexia or anything else) The "eval" is to see what their reading level is. $50 to tell me his reading level? I can tell you his reading level, it's less than Kindergarten. Then they just start having them read stuff on their level and gradually try to up the levels, dropping back if it overwhelms the kid. Well, fabulous, but isn't that what I've been doing at home with library books? And, isn't that basically what schools do with the STAR test and then they have the kids start checking out books on that level, and as they test better they up the levels? He did that for 2 years and it didn't work. I'm just not sure I want to pay someone else $25 an hour, for an indeterminate amount of time (if there is no real testing, when do they decide they've progressed as much as they will?), to do the same thing we've been doing with no results. Especially not when I'm already in for $2500 of expenses (and it's $3200 if we do VT, because my insurance says they'll pay 100% of the VT, but the girl in the dr's billing dept says I misunderstood and I need to buy $700 worth of time up front...) I'm really frustrated and I feel like this reading thing is snake oil....but then, am I just feeling like a cash cow? I want to know if anyone else would take their non-reading, almost 9 years old, child to this place?

 

FWIW, I know a family who homeschooled 10 children. Two of their children had learning disabilities, several of the grown children now offer reading tutoring...they would use Abeka readers and start him at "his level". They'd be local (I'd have to drive a two hour round trip to this reading center that the NP recomended, and I'm driving a 4 hour roundtrip to the OT and Speech already...) and probably charge me $10 an hour vs $25. They'd also be working 1 on 1 with him for an hour in a private room, he'd be in a large room with other kids working on other things at the center. I'm wondering if the local tutor would be an acceptable stopgap right now? I'd really like to get the OT and Speech well under way before adding the reading thing (if we add it.) My gut feeling is that he is most likely SPD, possibly ADHD, and OT should help a lot with that. Also, I've looked up MERLD and he seems to fit a lot of what I've seen. I'm going to discuss that with the SLP, wouldn't that also translate into reading difficulties? As far as trying to verbally teach them to read? So I'm just not sure I want to wade into what could be a lengthy, expensive, and possibly pointless venture with this reading center at the moment? I know the NP may be frustrated with me over this (we will see him again next month to continue behavioral evals...), but I've only got so much funding, KWIM? WWYD?

 

ETA: We have not had the OT and Speech evals yet. Those are next week. The NP had to call our family dr and have him write the referral for insurance purposes. So that took about a week....then we had a wait to get in for the evals (well, and the dr's office referred us to a place that also sent my radar pinging (they wouldn't tell me what they did in evals or what services they offered if specific diagnosis were confirmed...so I found this other place, which has been very open and helpful, then went back and got the Dr to refer us to them, which added a week of waiting...this has not been fun or easy.)

Edited by Ghee
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Especially not when I'm already in for $2500 of expenses (and it's $3200 if we do VT, because my insurance says they'll pay 100% of the VT, but the girl in the dr's billing dept says I misunderstood and I need to buy $700 worth of time up front...) I'm really frustrated and I feel like this reading thing is snake oil....but then, am I just feeling like a cash cow? I want to know if anyone else would take their non-reading, almost 9 years old, child to this place?

 

No, personally I would not, based on what you've described.

 

I just want to comment on this slightly confusing point above about VT - who is offering to do that? I would only do VT at the office of a COVD optometrist, and NOT one requiring a lump of cash up front. Some will give a discount for paying up front but still allow monthly or even visit-by-visit payments. The developmental vision evaluation is a separate amount altogether - prices vary by region. I repeat, I would not see anyone for VT who wasn't working for a COVD optometrist.

 

I'd get the speech (make sure they are including language processing) and OT evals and then see what they find. At home, I would use materials designed for dyslexics, just in case.

 

that's my two cents :grouphug:

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I have a DD9 that is dyslexic, dysgraphic, and ADHD. Her reading, writing and spelling were atrocious! After starting Explode the Code with her this year and Sequential Spelling, she has already made leaps and bounds. She LOVES the ETC work. She is even doing extra lessons for fun! She doesn't feel like it is work at all. Hope that helps. :)

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One other thing to consider is that it will be overwhelming for him to try and do all those therapies at once. I would pick one or two at most and go with those - maybe OT and VT first. Reading would be last IMO. Then by the time you get to the reading, you may know better which you want (if any - since there's lots of programs you can do at home too).

 

However, FWIW, having kids read "at their level" just like at school is probably not the same as what they would be doing. It's more likely along the lines of "controlled text" readers, like "I See Sam" or High Noon Books (or many of the various programs have controlled text within the program). I personally wish I had known to move to things like that earlier instead of spending so much time on early readers.

 

I only have :grouphug: as far as the cost. Our insurance has paid for nothing (not even after a deductible).

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No, personally I would not, based on what you've described.

 

I just want to comment on this slightly confusing point above about VT - who is offering to do that? I would only do VT at the office of a COVD optometrist, and NOT one requiring a lump of cash up front. Some will give a discount for paying up front but still allow monthly or even visit-by-visit payments. The developmental vision evaluation is a separate amount altogether - prices vary by region. I repeat, I would not see anyone for VT who wasn't working for a COVD optometrist.

 

I'd get the speech (make sure they are including language processing) and OT evals and then see what they find. At home, I would use materials designed for dyslexics, just in case.

 

that's my two cents :grouphug:

 

Sorry, that may have not been written all that well :tongue_smilie: We did see a COVD doctor and she did the exams. She recommended that he have VT, but she wanted us to visit the NP first because she wasn't sure if he was having trouble answering age appropriate questions because of learning disablities or if it was solely because of his eyes. I was great with that, because I'd been having a really hard time finding an NP on my own. Anyway, the money part came in because I had spoken to my insurance prior to visiting the COVD dr and they told me that if his eye problems were medical they'd cover all treatment, including therapy, 100% with no cap on how much they'd pay out. Then, when I was talking to the girl who does the billing for the COVD dr, she said "No, you misunderstood. Insurance won't pay for this." So I had to pay the entire exam fee that day and then she was telling me that VT sessions run $80 (I think) but you can buy them in blocks of 10 for $700.... So I don't HAVE to pay the $700 up front, I can pay $80 a pop at each session.....but I don't understand why I'd have to pay anything if my insurance says they will cover all of it. What really confuses me is that this is the same girl I spoke to when setting up the appointments for the exams and she asked me to describe my son's problems and then told me "Well, the exam is $80, but if the dr decides it's a medical problem you'd only owe the $40 copay..." So, even she told me insurance covers medical but now she's acting like she didn't. I don't really know what to do, I can call insurance but I don't have his exact diagnosis because I didn't get any paperwork. So I'm not sure what to tell the insurance to see if it is, indeed, considered medical. And if I can't get a statement from the insurance saying "Yes, this is 100% covered under this policy" then I don't know how to get her to understand that she needs to bill my insurance and not make me pay at the time of service..

 

I would say that maybe they mean I should pay and then they reimburse me, but that's not what either of them told me. I have BCBS and I don't even know that they WILL reimburse me...

 

What materials are recommended for dyslexics? And who would determine that they are or aren't dyselxic? The NP said nothing about what his specific issue might be, only "Tell them (the reading center) he's got a reading disability." I assumed the NP would do actual testing to determine WHAT the disabilities were...but then for things like SPD he said an OT would make that determination, and he wants to evaluate him further for behavioral issues... I asked him about ADHD and he said he didn't feel comfortable diagnosing that, only if the other therapists voiced that same opinion would he re-evaluate for it. I'm a little :001_huh: because I gave him 5 pages of behavioral issues from birth to present day and got zip in the way of a concrete diagnosis, just the recommendation for therapies. He says it doesn't matter what the REASON is that he's like this (whether it's low iq or adhd, or whatever...) only that he'd recommend the same course of action for any of them so he wants him to have the therapy for a year and then re-evaluate and determine a diagnosis then. I'm fine with a year of therapy, and I agree that it will hopefully remediate some of his problems and possibly reduce what we are looking at overall, but I'd think things like dyslexia and ADHD would be fairly concrete and wouldn't change with therapy. Then again, I'm no NP ;)

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I wouldn't go to that center. I would trust my gut.

 

Can you change your insurance? We also have a high deductible because we don't use a lot of services and I think of it as the thing that will keep us from bankruptcy in an emergency. But if I used services regularly I would definitely go for higher premiums and lower deductibles. I would call and check premiums for lower deductibles and see if the new higher premium is offset by having the therapy covered sooner.

 

:grouphug:

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One other thing to consider is that it will be overwhelming for him to try and do all those therapies at once. I would pick one or two at most and go with those - maybe OT and VT first. Reading would be last IMO. Then by the time you get to the reading, you may know better which you want (if any - since there's lots of programs you can do at home too).

 

However, FWIW, having kids read "at their level" just like at school is probably not the same as what they would be doing. It's more likely along the lines of "controlled text" readers, like "I See Sam" or High Noon Books (or many of the various programs have controlled text within the program). I personally wish I had known to move to things like that earlier instead of spending so much time on early readers.

 

I only have :grouphug: as far as the cost. Our insurance has paid for nothing (not even after a deductible).

 

Thanks. I agree that the reading center is last on my hit list. I do worry about overwhelming him. He *has to have* the OT, I think the Speech is pretty necesssary too (this is not only for problems with actual speech, but the NP wants him seen for language processing disorders), I'm torn on the VT. On the one hand, this is what what I was told "He is amblyopic, he has astigmatism in one eye, he is near sighted in the eye with astigmatism, and far sighted in the other eye." The COVD recommended glasses with prisms, VT, and maybe patching. So it all sounds fairly important. OTOH, OT and Speech are at the same center on the same day. We will have to travle 2 hrs there and 2 hours back. VT is in a town that is an hour away, we'd have to do that another day. So that is 2 days given over almost entirely to travel and therapy. I'm wondering how much people can withstand..

 

FWIW, I've put our house up for sale and, when it sells, we will be moving to the town where the NP and OT/SLPs are located. There are also universities and children's hospitals in that city. Where we are now (2 hours away) there is NOTHING (not even an OT or SLP, the nearest is an hour away and they were very disappointing...that's why I found this other office and requested a new referral.) With his mulititude of issues, I want to be close to the best we can find.

 

The reading center actual told me they use a computer program for their intervention. They may use the levelled readers, but so did our PS (K uses I See Sam readers) and they didn't work at all. He can read individual words fairly well (if they are simple), but then can't read them in a sentence. It's like he can decode the word, but then when he moves to the next one he loses the first. The NP said the same thing, he said "He can read Green every time. He can sometimes read Green Hat, but it takes him a while and he can't always tell me what he read. He can't read The Green Hat On The Rug at all and tell me what it says. The more words in the sentence, they higher the likelihood that he can't read it." I was giving dyslexia as an example. It was suggested at one time, but I'm not sure it seems likely. I just meant there are so many *reasons* that a kid might not read and it looks like you'd want to know the *reason* as the method for teaching would differ. For a dsylexic especially, right? But also for other things, I would think. This reading center says they use one approach for everyone and just vary the time spent on things to give them "as long as it takes." When I asked how they'd know when they had gone as far as they could with a child she told me "When they can read". Okay, read WHAT? A reader, a book? A sentence on a computer screen? She couldn't tell me. And the thing is, read at WHAT level? Age/Grade level? Some people never read "on level". It just seemed very open ended to me, which makes me think it's "until you stop being willing to drive here and pay us." I just got a very hinky feeling from them. I do want to see what others think, though, because I know part of it is that if we are paying thousands of dollars I want to be SURE I'm getting our monies worth. We aren't JUST out his deductible and reading..DH just had shoulder surgery and had to meet HIS $2500 deductible. So it's around $5000 this year that we'll have spent on medical (not counting the premiums and all the copays to the family dr that don't count to deductible.) We are going to have to get smart about recognizing what's real and worth it. As a bonus, we start all over with a new deductible in January :lol: So, I figure we'll pay $2500 out and then get to start all over at $0. At least then we'll get the better part of the year covered. Sigh.

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What materials are recommended for dyslexics? And who would determine that they are or aren't dyselxic? The NP said nothing about what his specific issue might be, only "Tell them (the reading center) he's got a reading disability." I assumed the NP would do actual testing to determine WHAT the disabilities were...but then for things like SPD he said an OT would make that determination, and he wants to evaluate him further for behavioral issues... I asked him about ADHD and he said he didn't feel comfortable diagnosing that, only if the other therapists voiced that same opinion would he re-evaluate for it. I'm a little :001_huh: because I gave him 5 pages of behavioral issues from birth to present day and got zip in the way of a concrete diagnosis, just the recommendation for therapies. He says it doesn't matter what the REASON is that he's like this (whether it's low iq or adhd, or whatever...) only that he'd recommend the same course of action for any of them so he wants him to have the therapy for a year and then re-evaluate and determine a diagnosis then. I'm fine with a year of therapy, and I agree that it will hopefully remediate some of his problems and possibly reduce what we are looking at overall, but I'd think things like dyslexia and ADHD would be fairly concrete and wouldn't change with therapy. Then again, I'm no NP ;)

 

Reading disability is the DSM IV terminology for dyslexia. Did the NP mention working memory? I'm guessing that's another issue.

 

See if you can find an OT in your area who is certified to administer Interactive Metronome. It's been a huge help for my dd, and if it's included as part of OT, it's covered by insurance. Otherwise, it's very expensive. Therapeutic Listening Program has also been covered under the OT umbrella, and I was skeptical at first, but we've seen results.

 

I thought speech therapy would help my dd make the connection to printed language but it didn't. She needed speech therapy, and had it for six years, but it didn't really help with reading.

 

For reading, we used LiPS (http://www.ganderpublishing.com) to build phonemic awareness. There are other things, such as Literacy Leaders from http://www.epsbooks.com and a software program called Earobics that help build phonemic awareness, but LiPS is a unique program that pulls together the auditory, visual, and kinisthetic aspects of letters and phonemes, and nothing else we used was as dramatically effective as LiPS.

 

After using LiPS long enough so that dd could pass the student screening for Barton Reading and Spelling, we switched to Barton. It scripted and easier to use, but it does require that the student have a certain level of phonemic awareness before beginning. In addition, the entire first level is devoted to further developing phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words. We are currently in Level 5 of Barton (http://www.bartonreading.com) and dd is reading pretty well.

 

Barton is an Orton-Gillingham based reading program designed specifically for dyslexics, and it's scripted and easy to implement. Another popular OG based program is Wilson Reading.

 

My dd enjoys Explode the Code as a supplement.

 

For math, I suggest you look at Right Start and Math-U-See.

Edited by LizzyBee
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Four our VT, I was told (by my VT Dr's office) that my insurance would pay if it was medical - however they also told me upfront that the chances of it falling under what the insurance company considered medical were very slim.

 

Based on what the VT said about seeing the NP first - it sounds like maybe it's worth doing some of the other therapies first anyway - since she already had concerns that other areas were affecting the exam results.

 

FWIW, the way I understand it, dyslexic is not currently the word used for medical diagnosis anyway. At home reading programs I have seen commonly recommended for struggling readers include Barton, Abecedarian, Dancing Bears among many others. It's not the label that helps you decide which program - instead you have to consider things like what specifically your child is struggling with. There are lots of suggestions out there but not a lot of clarity on what is the best path (IMO).

 

Try not to stress about figuring it all out at once or rush him into all these therapies as fast as possible- start by looking into the OT and ST evals first, spend some time searching on this board and elsewhere, and then pick one therapy to go forward with first (I have read OT first in general - but you will have to consider your specific child and therapist choices etc.).

 

ETA: just saw your reply - since OT and ST are in the same spot/at same time, I would probably go forward with those first. Plus (based on your description) I would run far away from that reading program LOL.

Edited by LaughingCat2
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Reading disability is the DSM IV terminology for dyslexia. Did the NP mention working memory? I'm guessing that's another issue.

 

See if you can find an OT in your area who is certified to administer Interactive Metronome. It's been a huge help for my dd, and if it's included as part of OT, it's covered by insurance. Otherwise, it's very expensive. Therapeutic Listening Program has also been covered under the OT umbrella, and I was skeptical at first, but we've seen results.

 

I thought speech therapy would help my dd make the connection to printed language but it didn't. She needed speech therapy, and had it for six years, but it didn't really help with reading.

 

For reading, we used LiPS (www.ganderpublishing.com) to build phonemic awareness. There are other things, such as Literacy Leaders from www.epsbooks.com and a software program called Earobics that help build phonemic awareness, but LiPS is a unique program that pulls together the auditory, visual, and kinisthetic aspects of letters and phonemes, and nothing else we used was as dramatically effective as LiPS.

 

After using LiPS long enough so that dd could pass the student screening for Barton Reading and Spelling, we switched to Barton. It scripted and easier to use, but it does require that the student have a certain level of phonemic awareness before beginning. In addition, the entire first level is devoted to further developing phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words. We are currently in Level 5 of Barton (www.bartonreading.com) and dd is reading pretty well.

 

Barton is an Orton-Gillingham based reading program designed specifically for dyslexics, and it's scripted and easy to implement. Another popular OG based program is Wilson Reading.

 

My dd enjoys Explode the Code as a supplement.

 

For math, I suggest you look at Right Start and Math-U-See.

 

Thanks. I will have to look into LiPS. I've heard of it, but not really looked at it.

 

I do have MUS Primer level. I've been waiting a bit to start it as the NP said he wants therapy to BE his school for a bit. We are reading a lot of books (out loud to him) and providing plenty of activities that work fine motor skills (coloring, manipulatives) to tie in to them. Math, I'm just trying to get him to get some sense of what numbers MEAN. He can count in order, and can recognize numbers, but if I show him, say, four rocks he can't say "four" but rather has to count each time. Or if he rolls a dice, he can't tell me automatically that the side with five dots is a five (even though I think that pattern should scream FIVE even if you don't automatically count five dots...)

 

Four our VT, I was told (by my VT Dr's office) that my insurance would pay if it was medical - however they also told me upfront that the chances of it falling under what the insurance company considered medical were very slim.

 

Based on what the VT said about seeing the NP first - it sounds like maybe it's worth doing some of the other therapies first anyway - since she already had concerns that other areas were affecting the exam results.

 

FWIW, the way I understand it, dyslexic is not currently the word used for medical diagnosis anyway. At home reading programs I have seen commonly recommended for struggling readers include Barton, Abecedarian, Dancing Bears among many others. It's not the label that helps you decide which program - instead you have to consider things like what specifically your child is struggling with. There are lots of suggestions out there but not a lot of clarity on what is the best path (IMO).

 

Try not to stress about figuring it all out at once or rush him into all these therapies as fast as possible- start by looking into the OT and ST evals first, spend some time searching on this board and elsewhere, and then pick one therapy to go forward with first (I have read OT first in general - but you will have to consider your specific child and therapist choices etc.).

 

I'm finding the bolded to be especially true. This is costing us a lot of money (we are one income, with three kids....) and I need to pretty much strike it right early in the game. I can't afford to do a bunch of hopping around and starting over with each new person, which is what it seems to be. I've only talked to the OT and Speech place, but they were so forthcoming and knowledgeable.....the first place that we were sent for OT and Speech didn't want to tell me anything or even let me see their place before I came in for the evaluation (that I was going to pay OOP for.) I'm hoping this place is as good with skills as they are nice to work with. They certainly SEEM to know a lot. They also offer ABA therapy, which the first place didn't. So, if he ends up needing that, at least it won't mean adjusting to a new place. They won't evaluate him for ABA right now, though, only if, through his other therapies, they feel he would be a candidate.

 

My biggest hurdle has been that we don't have any services IN TOWN, and most dr's just try to refer you to the closest place. They aren't always the best, though. When I went back to my Dr and told him I wanted a new referral to this other place, he told me that he hasn't been thrilled with the first place but it is closest and most of his patients won't drive more than an hour one way. He did keep the name of the place that I had found, in case other parents wanted another option, and he also said he had heard great things about the specific therapist that he sent us to there. I just wish more people here thought outside the box, so the dr's would be more forthcoming with "Well, there's other places, if you don't mind the drive." Most people here won't even go to the first, crappy, place because it isn't free. PS services are free so they just try to qualify for those and if they don't they give up. Unfortunately for our band account, I don't have a bone in my body that gives up :D

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I wouldn't go to that center. I would trust my gut.

 

Can you change your insurance? We also have a high deductible because we don't use a lot of services and I think of it as the thing that will keep us from bankruptcy in an emergency. But if I used services regularly I would definitely go for higher premiums and lower deductibles. I would call and check premiums for lower deductibles and see if the new higher premium is offset by having the therapy covered sooner.

 

:grouphug:

 

I dont' think we can change. It's the only policy offered through DH's office. Mine was so much better, but of course we lost it when I quit to homeschool...and I had to quit to homeschool to be able to take DS hither, thither, and yon to find therapy for him. I love Catch 22s ;) We looked at finding our own policy, but it is ridiculously high and not better coverage.

 

I can't quite figure this insurance out. OT1H, I have yet to find very many dr's that are "out of network", which is great (my insurance paid well but had a very narrow list of In Network.) Also, they are covering some things already.. any sick visit is covered 100% after the copay. The Neuro Psych was 100% after the copay. I'm not sure how the NP was 100%, not subject to deductible, but the OT and Speech, recommended by said NP and referred by our family Dr, are not covered without meeting the deductible. Then there's the VT. Insurance says it isn't subject to deductible, but I can't even get the dr's office to verify that, they just want me to pay OOP. I really want to tear my hair out.

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Just skimming through here, the COVD should have given you a written report, especially for that really expensive eval - yikes. That way, if you wanted, you could take that to the OT as a heads-up for that eval, and also you could potentially get a second opinion on the recommended treatment for the problems described in the report from some other COVD in your new hometown. It does sound like VT will be necessary at some point, but whether to do it concurrent with or after OT is another question. My dd did a short, intensive OT program (3 months) before VT and it made a huge difference - made the VT exercises much more bearable and she progressed much quicker. It all depends on the individual, of course.

 

I'd have another chat with the office person at the COVD and your insurance to clarify. A pain, certainly, but worth ironing out if there's any chance of coverage.

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I think you might gather more information for now. He ot or speech evaluation might give a better idea.

 

My son is one who was helped by a program like lips (he had in individualized program with a slp). He could not decode at all (he couldn't segment or blend, he had trouble linking letters to their sounds, some sounds sounded the same to him).

 

He is the kind of kid a lot of reading programs are geared toward. If your son is able to sound out but then forgets it might not be the same issue.

 

It can look the same though-- as kids who take a long time to decode can also forget previous words.

 

But if he has a different issue going on -- maybe the slp or it can tell you that.

 

The slp will likely be able to tell you how his phonemic awareness is-- that is something I think is important to find out.

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Thanks. I will have to look into LiPS. I've heard of it, but not really looked at it.

 

I do have MUS Primer level. I've been waiting a bit to start it as the NP said he wants therapy to BE his school for a bit. We are reading a lot of books (out loud to him) and providing plenty of activities that work fine motor skills (coloring, manipulatives) to tie in to them. Math, I'm just trying to get him to get some sense of what numbers MEAN. He can count in order, and can recognize numbers, but if I show him, say, four rocks he can't say "four" but rather has to count each time. Or if he rolls a dice, he can't tell me automatically that the side with five dots is a five (even though I think that pattern should scream FIVE even if you don't automatically count five dots...)

 

You are right that not being able to recognize the number of items arranged in a pattern indicates a lack of numeracy.... knowing numbers but not having a concept of numbers. Another resource you might want to look at is Number Neighbors at http://www.mugginsmath.com.

 

If you want to do some reading and processing before you buy any new curriculum and resources, here are some of my favorites:

http://www.dys-add.com

The Mislabeled Child by Brock and Fernette Eide

Upside Down Brilliance by Linda Silverman Kreger (out of print, but keep watching Amazon for a decent price; about $40 is as cheap as you'll find it, but it's worth that much)

The Secret Life of the Dyslexic Child by Robert Frank

Right Brained Learners in a Left Brained World by Jeffrey Freed

The Everything Parents Guide to Children with Dyslexia by Abigail Marshall

 

One thing I've done is searched my library website for anything related to learning disabilities, and requested any book that got 4-5 stars on Amazon. Some books were helpful and some weren't, but the price was right.

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Having done VT and OT and SLP all at the same time (with two different kids) and driving a long way, I can tell you that while it *can* be done, it's really insane. And to do it all with one kid, all at once, is too much. You won't be able to keep up and do it well, and he'll be very tired from it. OT made my dd tired, ST makes my ds tired, and VT is tired on that day and tired everyday from homework. And to add harder schoolwork or tutoring on top of that is just too much!

 

What you do is triage. By medical they mean things like headaches. My dd was having headaches from her eyes, so VT was covered. They're not trying to screw you or give you the run-around on that one. Educational isn't the same thing as medical. I know it's just a mess, but that's probably what they're getting at.

 

What you have to do is just triage. What is his absolute worst problem right now? What would make the biggest difference in his life? Is it his speech/MERLD or the sensory or the vision problems? If vision is ONLY affecting his learning and MERLD is affecting everything every day in every way, then I'd get the speech eval first. If sensory is affecting him a lot more than vision, then I'd do that before vision. You want to get to it all, but you prioritize.

 

You're also going to have different times for getting into places. If you've found a really good OT, etc., that's awesome and worth the drive. I wish we had done our OT has once a month. The lady was not organized enough, and we spent a lot of money on sessions when we could have bought the equipment and done it ourselves with proper instruction. It's just one of those ideas to talk with them about. Sometimes you have compliance issues or whatever, but there's definitely a good chunk you can do at home when they give you a plan. In our case, we were paying $100 an hour, and part of the time was on a single line swing that cost $100. At some point it made more sense to buy the swing and do it ourselves. I made our own weighted collar, etc. Just made more $$ sense.

 

Don't try to do it all at once. VT works better on the foundation OT and whatnot will build. It's ok to stagger.

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I would not do the reading specialist, they sounds like one of those programs for struggling readers who don't have issues.

 

That being said we do OT two times a week, PT once a week, speech twice a week and general therapy once a week (and we're adding in a behavior therapist at some point and possibly another speech therapy session). It is tough we are always out and running about and DS is only in Kindergarten and his therapists are all within 5 minutes of our house. Mondays and Thursdays are our worse days (I did have times work out so I could group our therapies some), because he has 2 or 3 therapies on those days. If we get an hour of school in on Mondays and Thursdays I'd be amazed, in between running around for therapy and the whole he is exhausted by the time he is done, little else gets done. I would focus on the most important pieces first then add in more as he gets adjusted. I would likely stick with OT, Speech and VT only right now and see how he does.

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For financial reasons, I'd probably get everything lined up for the $$$ therapies and begin in January when the new deductable year begins. You're only talking about 3.5 months and with the holiday season approaching, you might not get in as many sessions as you'd like anyway.

 

I'd probably spend the interim looking at the specific test results from all the specialists and doing some research. Glad you are finally able to get the referrals you need though!

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For financial reasons, I'd probably get everything lined up for the $$$ therapies and begin in January when the new deductable year begins. You're only talking about 3.5 months and with the holiday season approaching, you might not get in as many sessions as you'd like anyway.

 

This is really good advice. Adding in that deductible for only 3.5 months including the holidays is a killer.

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Thank you! The feedback is helpful. I am definately going to have to prioritize. I will talk with the OT and SLP to see what their take on waiting until after the new year would be. On the one hand, I hate to lose ANY more time. On the other hand, yeah, it would suck to have to start over with paying out in 3.5 months. They did say we could work up a payment plan, since our deductible is so high. I guess I'll just have to sit down and talk it out, then use my discretion on that one.

 

Where would one get actual TESTING to see what a child's reading disabilities ARE? I mean, you do eventually come up with something concrete, right? Or am I totally off base here? I'm fairly sure his processing scores are very low. My oldest son deals with slow processing and it made PS miserable. He's much better, now, at home. We take things slower and in smaller steps. I'm also able to help him with organization now. I didn't have to teach him to read, though. He wasn't a super fast reader, nor was he an early reader, but he didn't struggle horribly. This child is just floundering, though. The only thing I can say is that PS can't do any better than I've done. He was in PS for 3 years of preschool (through the school system) and 1.5 years of regular school, when he left he couldn't read a lick and they didn't want to give him any services. So, at least we are able to get that started :)

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Sarah -

 

I think that is exactly what this center is! It is a nonfranchised Sylvan. I know people who used Sylvan, for children with severe issues, and they gained no ground. I think it's one thing if a child just needs some extra practice, but a whole 'nother ballgame if there is a genuine learning disability. I'm not sure they distinguish between the two.

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Thank you! The feedback is helpful. I am definately going to have to prioritize. I will talk with the OT and SLP to see what their take on waiting until after the new year would be. On the one hand, I hate to lose ANY more time. On the other hand, yeah, it would suck to have to start over with paying out in 3.5 months. They did say we could work up a payment plan, since our deductible is so high. I guess I'll just have to sit down and talk it out, then use my discretion on that one.

 

Where would one get actual TESTING to see what a child's reading disabilities ARE? I mean, you do eventually come up with something concrete, right? Or am I totally off base here? I'm fairly sure his processing scores are very low. My oldest son deals with slow processing and it made PS miserable. He's much better, now, at home. We take things slower and in smaller steps. I'm also able to help him with organization now. I didn't have to teach him to read, though. He wasn't a super fast reader, nor was he an early reader, but he didn't struggle horribly. This child is just floundering, though. The only thing I can say is that PS can't do any better than I've done. He was in PS for 3 years of preschool (through the school system) and 1.5 years of regular school, when he left he couldn't read a lick and they didn't want to give him any services. So, at least we are able to get that started :)

 

Did the NP give you a detailed written report and go over it with you? After my kids were tested, the psych spent 3 hours explaining their reports to me.

 

Processing speed is one of the components of IQ, so that should definitely be in the report. My mildly dyslexic dd has slow processing speed but my more severely dyslexic dd does not.

 

There should also be subtests of reading and math skills that help pinpoint your son's strengths and weaknesses.

 

Another thing you can do for free is give your son the student screening test on http://www.bartonreading.com. It's divided into 3 parts, and each part represents a different set of skills.

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I have gotten the most information about reading from books by Wiley Blevins. He has got little pre-tests in the back. He has several books at my library -- he is a reading specialist at Scholastic.

 

So if you were looking for little pre-tests of things like nonsense words, phonemic awareness skills, a list of sight words, a list of words to see how "word attack" is ------- I think they are excellent resources.

 

They fit in well with Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz.

 

The Reading Rockets website also has a lot of specific information to target a reading problem -- they go by the "Big 5 Skills" and they are something like phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension. They have a little quiz that lets you target an area for instruction.

 

But ime all the things I just mentioned are really geared to a child who needs help with decoding and phonemic awareness -- that is a really common cause for reading problems.

 

So if those are not the problems your son has, then they might not be very helpful!

 

But if he does have a weakness with phonological processing, phonemic awareness, or decoding ---- they would be really good information.

 

The Barton website has a lot of good info, also.

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