Need Help for 8 year old who can't read

[Lori in MS]

I don't know where to post so I am putting this on both boards.

I have a friend whose 8 year old son is in public school. He can't read at all. She wants to homeschool him. I am trying to help her get started, but don't know exactly how. I gave him the Barton screening. He passed section A, but failed B and C. He could clap 2 syllable words, but not 3 or 4 syllables. He would either not hear all of the syllables (he said video had 1 syllable) or he would forget the number. He clapped alligator correctly, but then said it had 3 syllables. When we put out a tile for each syllable, then he could count them and get the correct number.

In part C he had trouble distinguishing sounds (said m and n were the same, and could not distinguish i and e). He would also get the order wrong or make up a sound that I didn't say.

 

Please help me to know how to advise this family.

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[LostSurprise]

Do you have reason to believe he's dyslexic? Has he been evaluated for dyslexia?

 

Does the student know you well? Is he comfortable with you? Is he comfortable with tests? Is he a child who's always in a hurry and has trouble slowing down to evaluate things? Is reading 'too slow?' Can he follow 3-part instructions? How's his auditory memory? Does he have other physical, neurological, or behavioral diagnosis? (These are all rhetorical questions meant to show different possibilities for this student and whether Barton is the best way to evaluate him.)

 

I don't have any experience with Barton's method or dyslexia, but my son is just learning to read this year. He's 8. Barton's test would be confusing to him because his limited experience with syllables (not stressed in every school) and his working memory makes identifying similar sounds difficult, especially if he starts to hurry or he's flustered.

 

There are a lot of reasons someone has difficulty reading. I think the best thing at this stage is to get a reading evaluation. Has the school done one already? They should have (although perhaps they haven't and that's part of the problem). Make sure they have a copy of that. If not, see if he can see a reading specialist, especially if he has other symptoms (difficulty following multiple instructions, inability to sit or concentrate on a task, auditory memory problems, inability to see parts of the word or transposing, etc.).

 

I'm not really sure any of us could give better direction until he's been evaluated. There are too many directions to go in.

[merry gardens]

With the child failing 2 of 3 Barton screening sections, I'd suggest that the child be formally evaluated by a speech therapist (slp) for phonological awareness and/or language processing problems. The slp might even refer the child for further testing with an audiologist, so you might also try that. Tell the slp exactly what the child did on that screen that concerns you so she knows what to look for. At the very least, a speech evaluation like that could help start a paper trail in case a formal diagnosis of dyslexia (or some other language processing problem) is ever needed in the future. It will also help so that you know the extent of the problem and can see signs of improvement, when the people involved might otherwise feel discouraged. (knowing where he started will show you how much progress he's making!) Seek out a slp familiar with Lindamood-Bell's LiPS program, which would help with the i/e and m/n confussion. (An slp familiar with LiPS may be hard to find, but most slp's at least have training that can evaluate what you're looking at even if it's not their specialty.) Some slp's specialize in areas like this, and depending on the family's insurance, therapy might be covered. Even if you know how to remediate this yourself and the family doesn't want a slp doing the therapy, a child with that low a level of phonemic awareness may have other difficulties in the future with other areas of reading, spelling and writing, so get I'd suggest you seek formal documentation of the problem now--before you attempt remediate it.

[VinNY]

I responded on special needs board. Totally agree with merry gardens response :iagree:

[Ottakee]

While you have them figure out any other possible issues, check out www.3rsplus.com or www.iseesam.com The first 2 sets can be found free on line to print out (PDF format) if you want. These books are the ones that got my 2 girls reading. Esp. my older one--she couldn't clap syllables, do any of the word blending, rhyming, etc. when we started. She is now reading at a 5th grade level---which is very good considering she has a cognitive impairment.

 

THe books are VERY easy to use and you could work with him 1-2 times a week and his mom could do the rest at home. It only takes 15-20 minutes at a time to work on these and once he gets through the first few books it gets EASIER.........honestly, hard to believe but if you can make it through the first 5 books in the first set, the later books are EASY.

[Pen]

I also think he needs to be evaluated for what is going on. My ds similarly was not learning at 2 diff B&M schools, and I pulled him to do homeschool. What finally worked for my son as a program for reading was http://www.highnoonbooks.com, Intervention plus Sound Out Chapter Books... But that might or might not fit this other child. Maybe they could post themselves, esp. on Learning Challenges and be able to describe more specifics of what has been tried and so on.

[PeterPan]

I agree about the concern that he's not hearing sounds correctly. It can be hearing, phonological processing, or auditory processing, and those aren't all one in the same. Even though most schools don't teach phonics, that's still really, really poor phonemic awareness.

 

As far as not remembering how many syllables were in alligator after he clapped it correctly, well that's probably working memory. That's totally separate and easy to remediate. Working memory is like giving your computer more RAM; it just makes everything work better.

 

Actually, when I read what he's missing, my thought was Earobics. It's what our SLP has our ds doing, and it works on those very things. It's $99 and simple to implement at home. Check it out.

 

Btw, did the dc have any speech issues?

[pantone]

Yup, I'd agree with private evaluation. We went with a pediatric neuropsychologist who specialized in learning disabilities...found through a referral from Children's Hospital.

 

It'll probably cost a lot ($1,200 out of pocket) and insurance is LOATHE to pay for such things. However, you can easily blow through that amount of money buying remediating curricula that in the end aren't effective for whatever is going on.

[Lecka]

Maybe not the same issues, but my son did private speech regarding hearing some letters the same. He never had problems with sequencing, though.

 

He did a speech/language testing battery when he started.

 

He had articulation errors also, so he started in speech and that js when I realized he had this issue and how it was effecting his reading (or lack of reading).

[Lori in MS]

Thank you for your replies! He does have speech issues and has been in the school's speech therapy program for 2 years.

[nancyb]

That sounds a lot like my daughter. She is 7. I finally took her for an auditory processing evaluation and the audiologist referred us to a speech and language pathologist. She really struggles with phonemic awareness. Sh has very little auditory memory and trouble with speech articulation. She has had 6 sets of tubes so all of this is not too surprising.

 

We are in our third week of therapy. This is what has been suggested to us:

 

1. Earobics Step 2 (got it cheap off Ebay)

2. Working with phonogram cards (we are using Rigg's Cards with Spalding Method and will soon switch to Spell to Write and Read for spelling. I'm sure Barton would meet the need.)

3. Music lessons

4. Speech therapy

 

I've seen a little progress already. I wish I tried The Spalding Method or one similar years ago. Good luck!