Help not making progress advice-suggestions

[bdjjmj]

I dont know what to do or what to change. My DS is 8, he is intellectually disabeled with a latest Full scale IQ of 43, he has verbal apraxia and delays labled signifigant in expressive and receptive language and fine motor skills.He also has some sensory issues which are more minor. He generally functions cognitivley/self help skills like a 3 year old. Having said that school is a depressing prospect for us both right now, neither of us enjoy it which is not what I pictured or wanted!!

He has no intrest in learning much of anything sit down, he will focus for maybe 15mins and then zones out/looks around/is not focused. He can not answer comprehension questions only simple questions about concrete things like "What is that? or Where is the pig? I feel like I am torturing him, as he hates when I say time for schoolwork and is clearly not getting most of it.

 

We live in Maine and are required to teach seven subjects and have a certified teacher portfolio review at the end of the year. The subjects are Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, PE, Fine Arts. I feel like trying to teach him health, social studies, science, fine arts is a waste of time when he cant grasp the basics and I am trying to teach him lessons in these "waste" subjects which stresses me out. In public school would a child of his IQ be learning about cultures around the world??

 

For curriculum We currently are using

Reading: Hooked on phonics and bearly reading (We are working on CVC words he now recognizes all upper case letter and knows all the phonetic sounds and recognizes about 18 of the lowercase but he cant consistently sound anything out beyond words that end in /at/. He cant seem to retain any sight words. and most recently in learning lowercase letters he is confusing b,d,p and h,n,r is that normal?)

Math: worksheets from PreK & K workbooks (working on recognizing written numbers, it has taken 6 months to recognize 4 written numbers. He can rote count to 50 but still is incosistent on one to one correspondence even on small numbers up to 10)

Writing: HWOT (he cannot write anything on his own yet, he can only trace very simple shapes)

Social Studies: Christian Light Education K

Science:Abeka enjoying Gods world K

Health Abeka K

 

I guess I just need suggestions is it me or is the state expecting to much?

 

Should he be learning faster or is this the expected rate for a child with his IQ?

 

Do I keep forcing him to do lessons or am I doing more harm then good? I dont want him to hate learning or me?

 

Any program ro curriculum suggestions. It seems all the curriculum moves way to fast

 

Sorry to whine but it has been a rough couple of months!!!

[MomatHWTK]

I think you should contact your state or local school district's special needs facilitator (not sure what the title would be) and ask them what is required for children with special needs.

 

I don't have a lot of experience, but IMO, a child at that level may only be able to answer in very concrete ways. As far as teaching, I would probably focus on sharing the information with the child and not necessarily asking for a great deal of feedback. If his self-care skills are around age 3, ask yourself, what kind of comprehension questions would you ask a 3 y.o. KWIM? But again, I have very limited experience and mine is with someone with an IQ in the 60's.

 

If you have to satisfy official state requirements, then I really think you need to get solid answers from them as to how that applies in situations like yours. I know it is hard and stressful. Both you and your DS should be able to enjoy your time together, working toward giving him the best education you can but not toward impossible goals. :grouphug:

[Ottakee]

I have one that has tested in that range for IQ.

 

I agree with checking with your special ed department for an appropriate program for someone like him but still be within the law for homeschooling. I can tell you there here in Michigan his Health might be working on washing his hands, toileting, brushing his teeth, etc. Science might be different textures, some nature stuff, etc. Geography might be learning his way around the school, recognizing key places in the community, finding the rest rooms, reading key signs like danger, stop, walk, etc. Basically it would be a FUNCTIONAL program. Math would likely be basics of counting, maybe some time and money, etc.

 

For reading, check out the I See Sam books. They move VERY slowly and keep the confusing b,d,p,q far apart in instruction, etc. www.3rsplus.com or www.iseesam.com or google for the 1st 2 sets to print out for free. It took my daugher WEEKS, yes WEEKS to get through the 1st book which consisted of 3 words. I thought we would never ever ever make progress. The farther we got into the program the easier it got.......weird but true. SHe can now read at a 4th grade level which is above what was ever expected and a very functional level.

 

We did put her into public school at 7th grade as they had a good program and she LOVES it there.

[LostSurprise]

We don't have an IQ test here but my son is placed at age 4-5 developmentally. Your son does not seem unusual for his developmental age.

 

Focus problems: perhaps less book work and learning in short (5-10minute) doses? Physical activity (mini tramp, race running, housework) intermixed with small, hands-on lessons?

 

My son just started reading this year. He's 8. He's still in a CVC pattern. Before this year he couldn't focus enough to do this. He couldn't remember any sight words.

 

I would recommend less sheets, and more hands-on work. Math should involve objects. My guy loves cuisenaire rods. Putting things in sets, splitting things up, classifying shapes/sizes/thickness into piles, counting on an abacus. There's a lot of manipulative math you can do.

 

We also enjoyed Explode the Code, at least the early ones. It reinforced his knowledge of letters and sounds and made him feel good about himself. Build up that confidence and work slowly but surely with base skills. Don't focus on grade.

 

Good luck.

[merry gardens]

I dont know what to do or what to change. My DS is 8, he is intellectually disabeled with a latest Full scale IQ of 43, he has verbal apraxia and delays labled signifigant in expressive and receptive language and fine motor skills.He also has some sensory issues which are more minor. He generally functions cognitivley/self help skills like a 3 year old. ...We live in Maine and are required to teach seven subjects and have a certified teacher portfolio review at the end of the year. The subjects are Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, PE, Fine Arts. I feel like trying to teach him health, social studies, science, fine arts is a waste of time when he cant grasp the basics and I am trying to teach him lessons in these "waste" subjects which stresses me out. In public school would a child of his IQ be learning about cultures around the world??

 

For curriculum We currently are using

Reading: Hooked on phonics and bearly reading (We are working on CVC words he now recognizes all upper case letter and knows all the phonetic sounds and recognizes about 18 of the lowercase but he cant consistently sound anything out beyond words that end in /at/. He cant seem to retain any sight words. and most recently in learning lowercase letters he is confusing b,d,p and h,n,r is that normal?)

Math: worksheets from PreK & K workbooks (working on recognizing written numbers, it has taken 6 months to recognize 4 written numbers. He can rote count to 50 but still is incosistent on one to one correspondence even on small numbers up to 10)

Writing: HWOT (he cannot write anything on his own yet, he can only trace very simple shapes)

Social Studies: Christian Light Education K

Science:Abeka enjoying Gods world K

Health Abeka K

 

I guess I just need suggestions is it me or is the state expecting to much?

 

Should he be learning faster or is this the expected rate for a child with his IQ?

 

Do I keep forcing him to do lessons or am I doing more harm then good? I dont want him to hate learning or me?

 

Any program ro curriculum suggestions. It seems all the curriculum moves way to fast

 

Sorry to whine but it has been a rough couple of months!!!

 

(((hugs)))

I agree that you should speak to someone to discover what your state expects. Perhaps contact whatever certified teacher will do your portfolio review to get her ideas.

 

I'm not going through what you're going through, but I have a child with dyslexia, another with auditory processing problems, and a three year old. I also have a large family. I've homeschooled seven children, (eight if you count my three year old). Until I encounter a child with special needs, I used to think of art projects and fluffy subjects as "not real" school work, sort of how you describe them as "a waste of time". Then I encountered a child with serious learning challenges.

 

For a child with learning disabilities, those hands-on learning activities (such as art projects, music and field trips) contribute substantially to their learning. Think of what the pre-school curriculum looks like for three year olds--it's mostly looks like art projects, singing and play, because that's how they learn. Maybe to fulfill the state requirement, "health" can involve learning things like the importance of brushing teeth, washing hands, visiting the dentist, etc. "Fine Arts" might involves things like singing, listening to music, (perhaps including classical music), watching a children's theatre performance or taking trips to an art museum--in addition to drawing, painting and other art projects. But as I mentioned, art is a great way to teach various academic subjects to children with learning disabilites. My son struggled to learn the alphabet, but he eventually learned it by building the letters out of play dough, tracing sand paper letters with his fingers, writing in corn meal or "salt boxes" etc. Rather than relying on a text book science could involve hands on activities, like rock collecting, bug or leaf collecting, building a volcano, exploring nature, planting a garden, watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, in addition to simple children's science books from the library. Does your child like to listen to stories? Read, read, read!

 

Again, (((hugs)))

[bdjjmj]

Thank you all so much for your support!! You have all made so many great suggestions and just reading this makes me feel better like we dont have to conquer the world. I have always been very cautious to contact any Dept of education people because I just want to be "left alone" if you know what I mean. But I think it might be time to at least get some guidelines if only to put my mind at ease.

 

Otakee- it is nice to hear from someone else who has homeschooled someone in the same low cognitive range, I have not found many people. It is so encouraging to hear about your daughters reading success, that is AMAZING. If my ds ever reads at a 4th grade level I will be over the moon excited for him. I will certainley check into the I see sam thanks for the suggestions!!

 

Tam- thanks for the great ideas. I think simply moving to more hands on will help I think I just needed to hear from someone else that it made sense and was OK.

 

Merry Gardens- how you explained how everyday activities could fit into the diffrent academic categories made so much sense and gave me hope because we do so many of those things but I never thought of them as "school". I think I need to get myself out of the public school/classroom mindset.

 

Thanks again to all!!

[PeterPan]

You might find the videos at this link intriguing. http://www.halo-soma...658b6eb4c8113

 

It shows ways of teaching a non-verbal dc with limited attention and limited ability to respond. The book is also quite good. It's rather $$, but maybe you can find a copy to borrow.

 

I don't know if you've pursued PROMPT for speech therapy, but it can be dramatically more effective than traditional methods. As you say, there has to be communicative intent. It's worth checking into.

 

Now I'll just say this, and it may not be true in your case, but sometimes, just sometimes, the initial diagnoses the dc get change with speech therapy. If you haven't yet done PROMPT and have only been doing traditional speech therapy, I suggest you pursue PROMPT and just see what happens. It has happened before. You find a certified PROMPT practitioner (certified if possible) through the PROMPT Institute website.