Dyslexia -teaching systems

[GreenKitty]

I am searching out systems for teaching a child with dyslexia

Barton

Orton-gillingham

Project Read

Wilson.

 

If you have used one of these systems can you tell me if it worked or was worth it?

Are their any other systems that 'may' work and cost a bit less?

 

Has anyone tried Alphabetic phonics?

 

Other ideas and input welcome!

[Sixmeadows]

(which is an Orton Gillingham based program) and we are seeing some great results. It is easy to teach. I think it is expensive, but cheaper than going with a tutor. I have nothing negative to say about the program itself.

 

We will be starting level 4 next week. Ds is 11.

 

Cheri

[Mandamom]

Orton Gillinham methods and Wilson Reading. We use Explode the Code and some of the other books at Educators Publishing, Inc for additional work.

 

For math we use Math-U-See and for writing Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)

[siloam]

I love the look of Barton, but can't get past the cost! Thus I use Spell to Write and Read, which is another program to use OG methods.

 

Heather

[LizzyBee]

I am on a couple of yahoo groups related to teaching reading, creative learners, etc., because I am pretty sure my 7 yo is dyslexic although she hasn't been diagnosed yet.

 

Barton is very highly spoken of by the ladies in these yahoo groups. While other cheaper programs may work as well, the support for Barton seems to be unparalled. Each level includes a training DVD, so the user does not have to go to a training seminar to learn how to use the program. Susan Barton answers her emails and will spend time talking on the phone to assist her customers.

 

I did the student screening test and my dd is not ready to start the program. It appears that she has auditory memory issues that need to be remediated first. But this program is at the top of our list when she's ready.

 

BTW, I've been watching ebay to find Level 1, and the program has a very high resale value.

[Laurie4b]

I've been trained with Wilson and do pro-bono tutoring using it. Wilson and Barton are both types of the Orton-Gillingham approach. I don't think it would be feasible to do old-style Orton-Gillingham without training. I took 70 hours of training to do the Wilson and this was after grad school in special ed. I have also used Reading Reflex.

 

Reading Reflex is a good (and cheap place) place to start. I haven't used ABCDarian, but from what I've read, it follows a similar approach, but gives more structure. For many children, once they get some of the phonemic awareness stuff in place, and work with Reading Reflex on the sound-symbol relationships, there will be a clear "leap" into "getting it" and they will take off within about 3 months. This needs to be accompanied by fluency reading. Once a child can read regular short vowel words, including nonsense words like grun, spag, frung, etc. with automaticity, and is at about a 4th grade comprehension level, you can use the REWARDS intermediate program by Sopris West (publ). REWARDS is scripted, so as a teacher, you know that you're "doing it right."

[Guest frustrated]

Wilson has levels that appear to split after into 2 goupings - level 1 - 6 and level 7 - 12. Does anyone know if these levels correlate to grade level reading? (DRA? etc...)

[Quiver0f10]

We just started Barton's this week and I really appreciate the DVDs and how easy the manual is to understand and teach.

[Perry]

I recommend ABeCeDarian. It's inexpensive, very easy to use, it works well, and you'll find lots of support at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/abecedarian/

[cillakat]

Barton and Wilson are both O-G programs. So is Recipe for Reading. So is Horizonsreading.com

 

Honestly, it doesn't matter which one you choose. The evidence indicates that any of them work (there are tons) as long as

 

1)the teacher is trained and doing the program properly (imo it doesn't have to be a professional...you can learn to 'properly' do it)

 

2)the program is administered at sufficient intensity (45-60 min daily direct instruction of the encoding/decoding component and another 15-30 min of guided shared reading to improve fluency)

 

3)the program is administered for sufficient duration.....ie don't get them to grade level, but past grade level. it typically takes 2-3 years. could be less depending on age, frequency and how quickly the child is 'getting' it.

 

I am now acting as my child's Wilson teacher.....we were using a $90/hr professional who was highly recommended, very experienced in all things O-G and LD/dyslexia. But at the end of the day her personal (negative) feelings about homeschooling were undermining what should have been her professional integrity and we were given bad information at every turn of the road.

 

Sally Shaywitz' book _Overcoming Dyslexia_ lays out very clearly what constitutes a successful evidence based program. Just make an outline and go for it with one of the 'off the shelf' programs.

 

it'll basically look like this:

1)right program being taught correctly

2)5 days a week. 45-60 min direct instruction *right* phonics program *and* 15-30 minutes right kind of fluency practice on appropriate text.

3)till complete mastery is reached (1 year? 2? 3?)

4)set goals for weekly *increases* in words correct per minute 1st grade-3.00, 2nd grade-2.00, 3rd grade-1.5, 4th grade - 1.10, 5th grade - .80, 6th grade - .65. again those are the *increases* you're looking for when assessing words correct per minute (wcpm). dont' base judgements on 1-2 weeks, but on trends over 5-6 weeks.

5)frequent regular assessment via Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) graphing progress so child has a visual of how far they've come.

 

 

Fwiw, I would prefer Barton except for the cost (moves faster). So we're doing wilson exactly as it's laid out...and will be doing it 5 days a week until she's reading any text with complete fluency.

 

 

All the best:)

Katherine