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Has anyone had experience with this therapy or heard anything about it?

 

www.nild.org

 

The school that we have been considering for the fall has a NILD Discovery program with two certified therapists/teachers who do intervention with children who qualify. I only know what I have read on their website and would like some personal reviews if anyone knows anything.

 

We just found out that the NILD program costs an additional $2000 over the cost of the private school tuition. it seems promising, but that is a lot more money than we anticipated. Actually, we didn't know there was an extra cost, which we are also a little annoyed about, because we discussed this NILD program with the principal during our school visit and told her our kids have some learning challenges, and she even showed us a list of extra fees the school charges for uniforms, field trips, etc, but did not tell us the intervention services cost extra.

 

 

 

 

 

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I think that NILD is something our SLP had mentioned.  If it is, I think it's probably a lot of generally good stuff, so then it's a question of whether the generally good stuff is particularly the stuff your specific child needs.  Therapy, as you know, is always more effective when it's what your dc actually needs.  

 

Did you ask how many hours of therapy they'd be doing each week?  They're saying intervention, but I'm thinking it's probably more like working memory, mid-line, really general kinds of things.  I don't know.  I never looked them up because the SLP was trying to pawn it on us as some option INSTEAD of full psych evals.  Like when your school says they "do evals" and that you don't need the ps evals for an IEP because they will "do evals" do you think maybe this is what they meant?  

 

There's an undercurrent in some christian circles that going with alternative practitioners like this who are non-regulated, non-licensed, and not psychologists is somehow biblically better than going to an actual psychologist and getting an actual label.  Chew on that.  This book on autism Too Wise to be Mistaken, Too Good to be Unkind: Christian Parents Contend with Autism  for instance, endorsed by Ted Tripp, btw, takes this viewpoint.  To the author, going to a neurodevelopmentalist (who of course is unlicensed, un-anythinged, an unregulated profession and field) who does a lot of the same therapies an OT, VT, doc would do (sort of an eclectic approach) is preferable somehow to using licensed OT, psychologist, and VT docs.  Use the licensed professionals, you're sinning.  Use the unlicensed, especially avoiding the psychologist, and BAM you have found the christian way.

 

I LIKE the integration of therapies and the way they pull things together.  I DON'T like the baloney.

 

It does sound like maybe they sucked you in one way, not really disclosing what they do.  That has to make you ask what ELSE they're not disclosing.  You may have some serious redefining going on here, where you use a term and know what it means and they use the same term and mean something else is going to happen.  Might be time to get really stinking specific.  What therapies, how many hours per week, what is the training of the person, what is the qualification, can I see the resume, what workshops did they go to, where is their licensure...  That way you don't think you're getting licensed OT and you're actually getting someone of this other unregulated variant who has maybe some useful training but not the qualifications you THOUGHT you were going to be getting.

 

Further, that gets ugly when you realize they've decided that's the christian way to approach LDs.  Remember, these systems are simplistic and good for general problems.  So if your problem is general, typical, and average, your issues are going to be more readily treatable by the generally useful kinds of helps.  Once you say my ds has this really, really complex situation, then that's different.  

 

I don't know.  Like I said, our SLP I think was encouraging us toward NILD.  It was the we don't want anything to do with psychs because we hate labels approach.  Happy for you.  And the question is what's left if you decide that ISN'T your approach.  Sounds like that's their approach and there isn't anything left.  Think how confident they can be of their ability to solve things in their self-selecting market where kids with a certain level of treatable issues show up, get relatively/generally useful interventions, and improve.  Woo-woo, our system works!  But that doesn't mean they can treat the hardest, most complex cases.  That's like when some chiro helps one person with his nutritional approach and thinks he can solve anyone/anything with a computer bar and bottles of vits.  

 

Whatever, just a little rant.  I'm sorry they're flustering you.  I'm sorry they weren't upfront.  I would encourage you NOT to buy into simplistic answers or wishful thinking.  I would encourage you to find out EXACTLY what therapies the people will be attempting to provide and in what quantities and then determine if those therapies are the most useful things your dc can be doing right now.  And then I'd be asking what happens if you go to this cs, enroll, but DON'T use their NILD and instead go through the ps and get an IEP for the disability scholarship.  Then you have the funding to make your own therapy options, and you'll have a LOT more than $2K a year in therapy.

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Thanks, Elizabeth. I've been reading through the links on the NILD website, and they say good things about being based on O-G principles, recommended by the International Dyslexia Association, being a therapy rather than tutoring approach, etc., but nowhere does it describe what they actually DO. The NILD person from the school says she can meet with us next week and sent us an email with some basic information. They would assess (the website does mention WISC and Woodcock-Johnson, but I don't know what else is involved), and if they thought the student(s) would benefit, they would pull them out of class for 90 minutes twice a week. And they would have homework. A parent has to attend some sessions to learn what to do at home. "It is a long term process usually requiring three to five years." How do they know when the therapy has been successful, I wonder. The website says they "gain mastery over cognitive vulnerabilities" and learn to use their cognitive strengths. The only actual therapy I see mentioned on the website (and which the principal also mentioned) is rhythmic writing. The principal described it as a process of writing the figure eight in a pattern and then increasing difficulty by adding simultaneous activities. So they would do the rhythmic writing while doing math facts, for example.

 

It could be amazing! Or we could sink $8000 ($2000 each for grades 5-8) into it and come to a place in the end that might not look different than it would without the therapy. I mean, how do you measure whether the goals are being achieved if it is a 3-5 year process. If you don't see progress, I imagine that we would just be told that it is a very long haul and we just need to keep at it. If I knew it would work, I think I'd be totally on board. But if it is a prescribed program that is identical for every child no matter their particular issues (not sure this is the case, but it seems to be a kind of therapy system, so I suspect that there is a regular path of progression), it might not target the things that my kids need to be working on. Or maybe it would be awesome! Sigh.

 

I just find it interesting that no one seems to know about this. I mean, I searched the LC board and found there were a couple of time that people asked about it and got NO answers. Which makes me wonder if it is maybe some fringe thing that is outside the norm.

 

I really think that the principal just didn't think to mention the cost. She was going over a lot of stuff with us pretty quickly. DH found the student handbook online, and the costs are outlined there, so it's no secret. I'm just annoyed, because knowing the cost would have made a difference about our thinking over the past couple of weeks since our school visit. We've been busy with a vacation and filling out all the application forms, etc., but we've mainly been thinking and praying about things. Our thinking and praying would have been different if we had had all the info. Oh, and I was excited that they offer O-G tutoring, but their handbook says that Reading Rx (not sure if that is an actual program or just what they've decided to call it) is an extra $1000 over tuition.

 

I don't know about their opinions about neuropsychology, but when we mentioned ADHD, she said that they like to offer parents a lot of advice on things like diet, etc. that affect behavior. She went off on a little tangent about how the position that we hold our neck affects the function of attention, so that is something that they work on. I kind of let that blow by me, but maybe it's an indication that they are actively seeking answers outside traditional medical intervention for learning and behavior issues. Maybe they would not think our NP reports hold much water. Not sure, although they did say they wanted to see them.

 

I'm second guessing now. I may have to revisit the idea of the other Christian school (School B). That school does get IEPs for the students who need them, which is both a plus and a negative. If I can get services through School A without going through the whole IEP thing, then yay! I've been counting that as a plus. I did ask School A whether they would work with us to get an IEP in place by the end of eighth grade, so that my kids would have one for high school (the school only goes through 8th), and she kind of agreed but seemed really hesitant, like it is something they just don't really do and would want to avoid. I don't want to head to high school, wherever that may be, without an IEP in hand, so I've been a little nervous about that.

 

Maybe going to School B that gives IEPs and offers more traditional tutoring is going to be a better choice after all. If we come to the end of next school year and need to make a different schooling choice (back to homeschooling, transfer to PS, switch to a different private school, whatever), at least we would have an IEP in place and be able to access those scholarship funds, opening up more options.

 

School A won't cooperate with the IEP process. Maybe I shouldn't say that. Maybe under the law they would have to. But their handbook does say that they can ask a student to leave if they find they can't meet their classroom expectations, so I'm guessing if we insisted on getting IEPs after enrolling that they would just say they couldn't and ask us to withdraw. They don't use any federal funding and take pride on being untethered to the requirements at the public schools ("We do better, because we exceed their standards.") So I don't think they want to be part of any public school processes.

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Oh, the principal of School A said that some students have gone to places like the Brain Balance Center and a dyslexia center on the other side of the city for additional help with issues, so they are not saying they can help with everything. Maybe they can't help with the issues that my kids have. Of course, the other school might not be able to either, but they don't charge all those extra fees for something that doesn't show progress for years on end. I'm feeling a little jaded at the moment. I was hoping for something good, but now I'm less certain.

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NILD has been in existence since the early 1970s and has been incorporated as a 501c(3) since 1982. The founders of NILD had a strong belief that stimulating the cognitive processes through intensive, targeted intervention could have a profound effect on a student's academic function. The believed, long before most educators, that it was possible to help students with LDs improve their cognitive function. The theoretical foundations of NILD lie in the work of well known theorists and educators such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Feuerstein, Orton, Gillingham, and Hagen. They continue to follow neuroscience research to understand the basis for why the techniques they employ improve function.

 

Altogether, there are over 20 techniques that form the repertoire of tools an NILD educational therapist uses in NILD therapy. They are chosen to impact perception, cognitive, emotion, and academics, so there are visual and auditory tasks, tasks that build working memory and academic skills, and an approach to therapy that recognizes emotional needs and helps the student become more competent in language and reasoning. Rhythmic writing is one of the 5 core techniques which every student encounters in therapy . Other techniques are chosen on the basis of a student's individual profile. The therapy plan is individually crafted for each student based on initial and ongoing evaluation and is NOT a scripted program. The initial evaluation includes a basic cognitive assessment (usually WISC), academic achievement testing (usually the WJ Ach), assessment of reading, and other informal assessment tools. If a student comes in with a full neuropsych evaluation, information from that evaluation will be incorporated in the therapist's planning. Ongoing evaluation includes adjustments to the lesson plans based on the student's responses during therapy sessions (usually 80 minutes twice/week) and year end academic assessment with the WJ Ach.

 

One reason the program is not described in complete detail on the website is because it is considered to be a proprietary method that requires significant training in the method to implement with fidelity. Because it is not a scripted program, it is required that those entering the training have at minimum a bachelor's degree in education or a related field. To become fully certified requires three levels of training (master's level courses), hundreds of hours of experience, and references. Continuing certification is dependent upon fulfilling professional development requirements. Many, but not all, NILD therapists have advanced degrees. Some have PhDs in a related field. The organization is continuing to increase the professionalism within NILD by going through the accreditation process with IDA to get their training programs recognized as fulfilling IDA's practice standards for teachers of reading as well as developing master's degree programs in exceptional student education with an NILD focus, and encouraging NILD therapists to complete advanced degree programs. They also regularly sponsor conferences and webinars with key speakers in school neuropsychology, cognitive, emotional and academic development, etc.

 

I'm sure there are cultural differences between organizations. Each school or clinic with a Discovery Program will be somewhat different in policies, who does the evaluations, etc. Sometimes private schools use the public school process for the initial evaluation- especially if they have a good relationship with the school district. Other times, they have a private psychologist who knows the NILD program to whom they regularly refer parents for getting the full initial evaluation done. Others refer out just the WISC while doing the WJ Ach in house with an educator who is trained to administer the test.

 

Disclaimer: I have Level I NILD training (but am not yet very experienced) and am a current NILD member.

 

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Oh, and I was excited that they offer O-G tutoring, but their handbook says that Reading Rx (not sure if that is an actual program or just what they've decided to call it) is an extra $1000 over tuition.

 

 

 

In addition to the main NILD therapy, NILD has several other programs, one of which is Reading Rx, which is especially for students whose primary need is in the area of reading. NILD's approach is a multi-sensory, balanced literacy approach with strong Orton-Gillingham influence. I have not done Reading Rx training, but I believe there would be some major differences in the implementation in comparison to Barton or Wilson.

 

I'm really sorry you didn't have the information about the fees for these interventions from the very beginning of your investigations. We all know that money is important and it certainly doesn't grow on trees! It probably slipped the principal's mind to mention it and since you weren't talking with the person in charge of the Discovery Program, there are probably details that person would be able to provide that might not be on the tip of the principal's tongue, especially during a wide ranging introductory conversation about the school.

 

And, yes, it is not uncommon for students to receive other therapies outside of the NILD program. NILD especially addresses cognitive and academic function. There is some overlap with work that an OT or SLP might do, but students who need a more comprehensive OT, PT, or Speech therapy program will need to see those professionals.

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So Marie, when they're telling Storygirl "cognitive function" is there something concrete she can translate that as?  They mean working memory and midline issues, visual processing, auditory processing?  What kind of student, what set of diagnoses, would be their typical or primary target market?  Under what circumstances would the NILD therapist's services be complete and under what circumstances would they refer?  And is this primarily a way of creating a more multi-disciplinary therapist who can function in a school environment?  Is this something where an NILD therapist also practices privately and she could compare practices, approaches, and qualifications?  How would she gauge qualifications and quality of the offered services?  She'd look up their level within the national organization?

 

Honestly, the service our SLP was recommending to us would have assessed ds online, like via skype or something.  I just thought that was so preposterous (living in an urban area with access to almost anything) that I was immediately off-put.

 

Storygirl--I think there's a lot of talking past each other in a new relationship, where you use terms and they use terms, and it takes a while to figure out if they mean the same things as you do when you use terms.  This school offering you NILD might or might not be a great fit.  It's clearly a different service/set-up from what you *thought* you wanted.  And choice is GREAT!  But now you know you just have to slow down and sort through that choice and not let it be emotional.  It can just be rational.  Can you meet the NILD therapists there and ask them flat-up your questions?  What services and therapies do you feel he needs access to right now?  What of those could they provide? You can tell a lot about people when you see their therapy room and meet them and let them explain their approach.  Does the NILD website have info on certification or training levels to help you compare your options?  Is there an NILD therapist available who is NOT associated with the school so you can contact them and compare offerings?

 

I do not think you're reading this incorrectly when you start to connect the dots on this little tacit thing of we do NILD, we don't do psych labels, by high school they just blend in.  As long as that works for their demographic, for the kids they're putting into the program, that's AWESOME.  There's probably a whole swath of kids for whom that could be perfectly adequate.  Remember, ADHD kids along will have some reading glitches, even without a reading disorder label.  Those kids will have OT quirks and this and that.  There are lots of kids who will benefit from this.  The question is whether your dc, with significantly more labels (NLD, DCD, SLDs out the wazoo, etc.) is part of that demographic.  I'll write you privately about Brain Balance.

 

I know when I meet someone who has these kind of comprehensive approaches, I have this emotional response like YES, they get it, they can make it GO AWAY.  Then I have to buckle down and go yeah, but maybe an OT exists for a reason, maybe Barton exists for a reason, maybe some kids need something more specific.  So it's definitely going to be good for somebody.  I just know there are no magical cures, no wishful thinking, not for complex situations.  I've got 3 psychs saying my ds is complex.  I try not to get caught up in emotions but to be really specific.  

 

I keep saying this, because you know it's true.  You fight to get that IEP this year, and you will have access to a $10K disability scholarship to get all the services you're needing.  Well that's not true.  Actual OG therapy will run you $65 an hour, which is $10K a year when done 5 days a week.  But I'm just really questioning why a place is willing to discourage a mom with a complex situation from getting complete therapy, funded by the state with the providers you choose, when you could have that.  NILD may be GREAT, but is it completely what he needs or is it more appropriate for certain situations than others?  

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OhElizabeth, NILD is not a panacea and NILD does not claim to be one-stop shopping for every kind of therapy a kid might need. It is true, in the academic and cognitive areas, that NILD is broader than, say, a method that addresses only reading skills or only working memory. But for a kid who needs traditional OT, PT, and/or Speech, this will be in addition to NILD educational therapy. NILD educational therapy was initially developed with the needs of the general "LD" population in mind- those that now get labels of ADHD and SLD- kids who are of at least average intelligence but have difficulty succeeding in school because of their neurological glitches. More and more, NILD therapists are also working with students on the autism spectrum, but I would guess typically those students who are able to function in a general ed classroom. Those therapists with more experience and who are fully trained are more likely to take on students who have greater challenges.

 

NILD, through various tasks, does address working memory, processing speed, visual and auditory processing, oral language, written language, and math related functions. But it also addresses some of what gets labeled executive function as well as basic reasoning tasks (ie comparison/contrast). The type of interaction between the therapist and student is referred to as mediated learning. You can google Reuven Feuerstein, cognitive functions, and mediated learning to get a better idea. Feuerstein's book Beyond Smarter: Mediated Learning and the Brain's Capacity for Change introduces these concepts in greater detail.

 

You can check out what NILD training covers by going to the Training section of the NILD website. If you look under the information for each of the three levels, the syllabus for the class is posted.

 

As for assessment, this is the first I've heard of an NILD therapist recommending doing it online, though I have heard of online assessment and educational therapy/remediation. You most certainly can choose to use your own provider. Assessment for NILD is for program planning purposes, not for diagnosis- which the purpose of assessment for any educational therapy or remediation program. If you have had a recent assessment for diagnostic purposes that includes the standardized tests needed for the NILD program, no further standardized assessment should be needed. 

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Thanks Marie for explaining all that!  I've been enjoying Tools of the Mind so now I will need to add Feuerstein's book to my list.

 

So is the NILD therapy done as pull-outs or integrated into the academics?  Would Storygirl's dc be missing out on school instruction or activities to receive this intervention or would it be after school?  Might be something for her to figure out.  So then anything the dc would typically need an OT, PT, or ST for, the NILD intervention will NOT be making happen?  That's pretty concrete.  

 

For my ds, so many things are valuable that we have to triage.  I can't do everything at once, mercy.  Cognitive is good, but we need prosody work and OT and so many things.  But if a person has *time* to accomplish cognitive interventions seamlessly in school *and* do the extra therapies the dc needs (OT/PT, ST, whatever), that can be a good tool.  

 

I'm almost positive this NILD is what our SLP was suggesting we do, so that must mean she's had positive feedback.  

 

When the website says their training methods are accredited by the IDA, what exactly does that mean?

 

Just as a total rabbit trail, I think there's always the assumption that the dc is *ready* to handle the interventions of the therapist.  For instance, I'm seeing these fancy 8's going in both directions.  That's nice, but you back up and realize they have retained primitive reflexes and that some of these more typically useful skills are not even within reach.  So the cs is saying go to Brain Balance, but I'm hearing some really floozy things back channel about BB, and they aren't using RMT, the OT standard (from what I can tell) for reflex integration.  So if you've got a child who needs more foundation before they're ready to DO the good things in NILD, the NILD training doesn't give them the skill to back up--that requires an OT.  And the cs answer to that was a place that isn't adequate.  So it just brings you back to that whole question of whether they have the training to handle a particular person's problems.  And even within labels it can vary.  I know a boy with ASD who isn't low tone and didn't have retained primitive reflexes.  I didn't think that was probable, but there you go.  So you just have this spread of expression, and some kids have to back up a lot further in the process before the steps become do-able.  It's why I'm so cautious, because I know from working with my ds that not everyone and every program can back up that much.

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Ok, I'll be a little ornery here.  What is your take on the sort of flourishing statements on the NILD site like:  Following NILD Educational Therapy® treatment few, if any, adjustments or modifications need to be made in the studentsĂ¢â‚¬â„¢ academic programs.

 

This seems to imply that if you put your dyslexic, multiple label, struggling student in, they'll come out not needing an IEP for disabilities.  

 

Also, would you like to discuss the extent of what you think NILD therapies can assist in or contrast them with other popular cognitive therapies like PACE/Learning RX, NeuroNet, Cogmed, etc.?

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I'm not going to be able to reply more deeply right now or for the next few days because I'm about to get rolling for big family events.

 

Just these notes: NILD is done 1:1 in a pull out fashion. Yes, students do miss se instruction, but that's also the case when students have other therapies in a school setting- though I do know school based OT, PT, and Speech sometimes go into the classroom, too.

 

I have no personal experience with the other methods you mentioned- just Some mild opinions based on limited information which I won't post.

 

With any individual child, the final endpoint of function will vary. With the original target population, most students exit therapy in about 3 years, some a little longer, some a little shorter. NILD does not claim to "cure" these disabilities, but many, many students become able to function in the classroom with few or no accommodations.

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Thanks Marie, that's very interesting!

 

Now a little rant for Storygirl, which honestly may or may not apply, but you know how I am with my rants.  :)

 

*****

If you look at the NILD provider list for our state, you'll see that about half are private providers, and the rest are christian schools.  There is NO non-religious or even catholic school offering this.  You have to remember a fundamental thesis underlying the cs movement, which is that ADHD does NOT EXIST, that it is a SIN problem.  

 

Here's a book, replete with errors, to get you clued in.  The Truth about ADHD: Genuine Hope and Biblical Answers

 

So first acknowledge that the cs is not labeling your dc because they say it doesn't exist.

 

Then acknowledge that their fundamental working tenant is that your dc is BROKEN.  Not created in the image of God with a beautiful, whole, complete function that has both strengths and weaknesses.  Nope, they segregate everything.  The kid has cognitive disabilities that obviously explain his school problems.  The kid has sin problems that explain his behavioral problems.  On and on.  Not that you're a complete package, but you're BROKEN.

 

I'm not saying NILD *requires* them to view the dc this way.  I doubt it's specifically in the NILD materials and I doubt there's anything wrong with NILD at all.  I'm saying NILD is their EXCUSE for viewing kids in a broken fashion instead of whole.  When the NILD website says we do this cognitive therapy and you no longer need a label, they MEAN it.  The cs may very well mean that they think your ADHD label is crap, that your dc is a mixture of brokenness and sin, and by gum you really better get on board with it and start fixing it and forcing him to shape up.

 

I know that sounds ugly, but I've corresponded with the author of that book.  That IS what he means and it IS the dominant thought coming out of some christian universities that were probably the universities that trained those teachers and it IS an undercurrent in some christian circles.

 

I hope it's not in yours, if that's not the way you want to be treated.  I just think the result of that is UGLY, when you tell a kid for 10+ years that he's just broken and sinful and that if he wanted to do better he would do better.  I get tired of meeting kids who aren't diagnosed or who have to HIDE their labels because of this attitude in the christian community.  Maybe it's not happening at that cs.  But I'm just saying it's on the NILD website, it's in the christian community, and it MIGHT be at this cs.  You really want to slow down and know how they define terms and what they mean.  It's easy to assume you're all thinking the same way, and you may not be.

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Wow, you guys have been busy discussing this while I was offline this morning!

 

Marie, thank you so much for your detailed description. They should put a simple explanation like this on their website, because I find that the website trumpets their success without explaining much at all about the process. And, yes, I figured that this was because they do not want to share their proprietary methods with others. That's understandable from the perspective of running their organization, but it is not very helpful for a parent who is trying to figure out what exactly they are offering to do with a child. I'm going to read over your description carefully several times, because it is so helpful.

 

Elizabeth, thank you for participating in this discussion. You bring up many good questions that I might not have thought to ask. The NILD therapist is willing to meet with us sometime next week, so unless we decide before then that it is not something we want to pursue, I will go to the meeting armed with a lot of good questions for them.

 

Here's what I'm feeling right now. All of the benefits that are described on the website and that Marie describes in her post above would be AWESOME for my son. Of course I have a great desire for him to be helped to OVERCOME his disabilities so that he can function in a classroom without accommodations (which is what the website suggests is possible). And the same for DD10, who also has learning challenges. But. That's not going to happen. On their website, they say they will have a speaker at an upcoming conference who "overcame autism." So that is what NILD thinks can happen. I am by no means an expert on autism -- and I don't technically have any children diagnosed with ASD, but DS has NVLD, which is perhaps on the autism spectrum -- but I think that any approach which suggests that it can cure my son's NVLD or other spectrum issues should be considered with a little skepticism on my part. I don't expect his disability to be cured. In fact, what I've read suggests that the problems associated with NVLD get worse as the person ages. Our NP said he will probably have a more difficult time with academics at the high school level. I'm expected to get a dyslexia diagnosis for DD10 in a couple of weeks. I don't expect that anything will ever cure her of that, either.

 

Now, I do believe in the benefits of therapy. And I can see that the NILD therapy sounds like it would address many of DS's issues. And maybe doing NILD during the middle school years will make his high school years easier. I'm not discounting that possibility. That's what I would hope for. That's why we would consider entering him into the program. But Elizabeth has a good point -- would it be better to spend our money on something that would target his issues more specifically. If we are doing the NILD Discovery program in a committed way (requiring $$$, time pulled out of his regular classes, time for homework-based therapy) plus needing to add other therapies on top of it, because it won't address his OT needs (for example), I'm just wondering if it's going to be the best choice for him.

 

Here's another thing. The process takes three to five years to produce results. I have a couple of issues with that. First, we need some things that will help with his current needs RIGHT NOW (just got his standardized test scores this morning, and let's just say that it's not pretty). He needs to have tutoring and support that will help him now with his current class work. Because this school trumpets the NILD Discovery program as what they do for intervention, I'm now questioning whether they will be willing and able to give him the support he needs right now in the classroom.

 

I'm nervous I will lose this long post, so I'm going to post it and then do part two.

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Also about the 3-5 year process: There is a huge difference in the cognitive development of a third grader versus an eighth grader just due to the normal processes of maturity. How can NILD prove that their methods are what made the difference? (I'm not saying that they can't prove it; I'm just wondering). Also, if we don't see improvement happening over the course of the first months or school year, I'm positive that they would tell us to stick with it, because it is a long process. It takes a lot of faith in that process to commit a lot of money to something that isn't showing results for years. Especially when the NEED is NOW.

 

Now, I'm guessing that they would say that everyone responds differently but that most people show improvements along the way. It's not like there are no differences and then suddenly four years later everything is copacetic. I would hope that the therapy would have some more immediate results. But since it is not meant to work that way, and we do need something that will have an impact sooner, it makes me question whether this is the right approach.

 

The other problem is that if we committed to this for the long haul, from fifth through eighth grade, DS would then age out of this school and have to go to high school somewhere. And he would have no IEP in place (unless I somehow forced the school to do something they normally don't). Based on the website's assertions that students are able to function in a mainstream classroom without accommodations after completing the program, I suspect the school believes that they are fixing the students and that there will not be a need for an IEP.

 

DS is going to need an IEP for high school. I have no doubt about it. I would not expect that going through the NILD program would prevent him from needing it. I suspect the same for DD10.

 

Elizabeth, I'm not sure what they would say about whether they acknowledge ADHD or not or whether they consider special needs kids to be broken in the way you describe. But it wouldn't surprise me. I mentioned in a previous post that the principal responded with some spiel about neck position when I mentioned the ADHD. Neck position is SO not the cause of ADHD and attention issues that I just didn't even acknowledge what she was saying. But maybe that is an indication that they think the attention issues can be fixed by a simple posture adjustment and diet modifications. Meaning, they don't think ADHD is a true brain difference but is mainly behavioral. I know some Christians reject psychology. We don't personally. You're right that it is something that we should consider, and that we should ask some questions to understand what they think learning challenges are caused by.

 

I was happy to hear that they have O-G trained teachers, but one of them is the NILD Discovery teacher, and the other one is the first grade classroom teacher. It sounds now (from what I've read in their school handbook and on the NILD website, not from what they've said) that in order to get reading help for DD10, we'd have to pay that extra $1000 for Reading Rx. Which is NILD's version of an O-G program. Not necessarily a bad thing. It would cost us much more than that to get private tutoring. BUT Christian School B (the one that does IEPs) would have a reading specialist from the public school do reading intervention with DD at no additional cost. I need to talk to our neighbor, because they helped her daughter in this way, to see what help they really offered. I suspect DD10 will need some intensive help of some kind, maybe more than either school can provide, but that's a whole new thread.

 

Honestly the price of NILD intervention at School A is just something that is a drawback. It's not a deal breaker. But to spend that kind of money, we're going to think it over carefully first to decide if it is the best option. And since we have two kids with different learning challenges, we're looking at double the cost and have twice as many issues to think through.

 

One thing about the 90 minute sessions. These would occur during the school day, twice a week. So they would pull DS out of his class. The principal says they work it so that it is during non-instructional time. But that would be art, gym, recess, music, maybe computer class, right? My goodness, those are things that he needs. He loves art and music but doesn't get to do as much of them at home. He needs recess and gym class more than the average kid does, not less. So sure, he would be getting the therapy during the school day, which means we don't have to add something to our already crazy after school schedule. But that comes at a cost, because he would be missing some other things that would be beneficial to him during class time.

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Elizabeth, I looked at your links to those two books. :ack2:  So according to one of them, DS's ADHD is a spiritual heart issue with no medical basis. All I need to do is parent him biblically to solve his issues. So it's essentially my fault for not parenting him well enough. :banghead:  There is definitely a bias in the Christian community about these things, and you are right that I need to watch out for that. I want to believe that I can put my kids in Christian school and count on them to reinforce what we are teaching at home, and these books illustrate that not all Christians view special needs and psych issues in the same way. It's good advice to make sure we understand the philosophy behind the school's choices for intervention.

 

 

 

 

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I keep saying this, because you know it's true.  You fight to get that IEP this year, and you will have access to a $10K disability scholarship to get all the services you're needing.  Well that's not true.  Actual OG therapy will run you $65 an hour, which is $10K a year when done 5 days a week.  But I'm just really questioning why a place is willing to discourage a mom with a complex situation from getting complete therapy, funded by the state with the providers you choose, when you could have that.  NILD may be GREAT, but is it completely what he needs or is it more appropriate for certain situations than others?  

 

Well, I think you are probably right about the IEP. He's going to need it. And after seeing DD's standardized test scores, which we received this morning, I think a school would be hardpressed to say that she doesn't need an IEP as well, and not just a 504. Having the IEP will open up opportunities for both of them. I highly suspect that we will find that a traditional classroom is not going to be enough for either of them in the long run. We will either need to find outside help or specialized schools. I'm thinking of this next year as a first step, seeing how they can do in a classroom, or how they struggle and need something different. Coming out of this kind of trial year of school with IEPs in hand would be a good idea.

 

Which points toward public school (not enthused about that choice after our visit) or Christian school B. We actually liked Christian School B a lot but have been leaning toward Christian School A (with the NILD program) for a couple of reasons. Each school has pros and cons, of course.

 

The principal of the NILD related school is out of town for the next week, so we have that window of time to pray and think and talk to the NILD instructor and maybe start the applications for School B as a back up.

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Story, you have more choices.  I also want to encourage you to consider getting those IEP evals going NOW, right now.  Like make the formal written request, put the date on it, turn it in, get the clock going.  That way you can get your IEPs done, done, done before the Nov. application window for the scholarship.  That way you'll have disability funding.  This is getting absolutely absurd.  No matter what school your children go to, so long as it's not the public school, you can take advantage of that disability scholarship.  So whether you pick cs A, cs B, another private school (there are more), or what, you can STILL use the scholarship.  

 

It took me 6 months to get ours done because we got bogged down in double processes.  Yours will be straightforward and done in 90 days.  You won't be happy for that 90 days, but you're going to be REALLY HAPPY when you have that scholarship.  I don't see a rational for NOT going for the scholarship, not when you've decided against the ps.  

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I'm sorry you're getting blindsided about this. I know someone who did NILD--a 2e dyslexic who was a victim of gross educational neglect (and pretty much unparented for 13 years). It was beneficial for her, but she probably did NOT have underlying issues like retained primitive reflexes and such. Just lots of neglect. She's still dyslexic, but it does not hold her back.

 

I think I would be MORE concerned about the school's viewpoint on disabilities than whether or not they have NILD. Then I would prioritize based on whether my child had a sufficient foundation to succeed with NILD. I would also really consider starting the IEP process. If you go with a provider that offers customized options, you can potentially get an aid or tutor who would work with him at a private school. I am not sure of all the ins and outs, but I understand that to be the case. It probably depends a lot on what the school would allow. 

 

I think the folks that set up the scholarships will also help you find out more about the individual providers. I can PM you about that.

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I am going to state this more strongly. I would not put my child in a school that believed that ADHD and other such stuff was bunk and that they had a sin problem. My church is by and large over that, but there are a few people that are like that, and they make my skin crawl. They would probably take a semi-soft line rather than a hard one, but they drive me nuts. Our pastor has stated from the pulpit that he thinks meds for brain issues are legitimate. He is kind, compassionate man who has seen a lot. I focus on that.

 

My son attended school k-2 at a private Christian school. I think they probably had many views on these issues, but mostly, they just didn't service this stuff. It would've been hard to do so with a reasonable budget. They tended to attract teachers who were kind or rigid with rules (some exceptions), but who were mostly very tolerant and kind to quirky kids. But most people take their quirky kids out sooner or later. It was agonizing to leave that nice environment, esp. when my son was getting excellent grades, but we couldn't handle the behavioral fallout of his making that happen. 

 

Unless you are sure your child would be treated with utmost respect and kindness, I would sooner put my child in public school than a damaging Christian school. Equating that damage with a faith community is just not a good thing. My son struggled with long days and over-stimulation, but he was loved at his school. 

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Story, you have more choices.  I also want to encourage you to consider getting those IEP evals going NOW, right now.  Like make the formal written request, put the date on it, turn it in, get the clock going.  That way you can get your IEPs done, done, done before the Nov. application window for the scholarship.  That way you'll have disability funding.  This is getting absolutely absurd.  No matter what school your children go to, so long as it's not the public school, you can take advantage of that disability scholarship.  So whether you pick cs A, cs B, another private school (there are more), or what, you can STILL use the scholarship.  

 

I'm not from the same state so I don't know the ins and outs of the disability scholarship, but if it can be used to meet needs for students whether they are in private school or homeschool, then I see no downside to going through the IEP process to get the scholarship. You also have the legal documentation you need to establish the paper trail you'll need in the high school years.

 

On the topic of the 3-5 year process and improvement due to intervention vs. the developmental process: one thing you can look for is to compare percentile ranks on tests from year to year. If the student makes a statistically significant improvement in percentile rank, that is an important clue that change is due to intervention. Most children will either stay at the same percentile- a ranking relative to peers- or even fall off a few percentile points over the years if they don't have effective intervention. A child who jumps from the 1st %ile to the 15th %ile in one year, and continues to move up is a child who is seeing improvement due to intervention. A child who is beginning to keep up in the regular classroom with fewer supports is also a child who may be building skills that are not just due to typical development.  

 

It is good to gather as much information about specific therapies as you can, but as others are saying, it is also important to gather your impressions of the people who will implement them and the educators who will interact with your children. Attitudes towards learning difficulties/differences matter, but that is not a matter necessarily of the name of the intervention or the name of the school. Whether public school, private Christian school, or private independent school, any of them can have helpful or most unhelpful attitudes towards children who struggle with learning. You need to meet the people behind the names to see whether they will be a match for your family.

 

I know that the process of sorting out the options for intervention and educational setting can be challenging. I've been there as a parent, with far fewer options available than exist today. I hope you are able to make a decision and be at peace no matter what you decide to do.

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If people are curious, here are links to the syllabii for each of the levels 1-3 and Reading Rx training courses

 

 

Ă¢â‚¬Å½nild.org/2015-courses/syllabi/LevelI-Syllabus-NILD2015.pdf

 

Ă¢â‚¬Å½nild.org/2015-courses/syllabi/LevelII-Syllabus-NILD2015.pdf

 

Ă¢â‚¬Å½nild.org/2015-courses/syllabi/LevelIII-Syllabus-NILD2015.pdf

 

Ă¢â‚¬Å½nild.org/2015-courses/syllabi/Rx-for-Discovery-Reading-Course-Syllabus.pdf

 

They came from here.  Click the course details and then click the link for the syllabus.

Educational Therapy Training Schedule - NILD

 

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When the website says their training methods are accredited by the IDA, what exactly does that mean?

 

IDA has developed an accreditation process which is basically their seal of approval for universities and organizations that offer teacher training in multi-sensory methods for teaching written language skills to students with dyslexia. They are also in the process of preparing a certifying exam for teachers and dyslexia specialists that will be available in 2016. The accreditation process and exam are aligned with IDA's Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading which you can read about starting here. NILD has worked with IDA to align its training with IDA's standards, means there has been an outside review with an ongoing process of development for NILD's courses.   

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It's very clear that this training is a STEP UP for a cs that has no disability services at all.  They're integrating a broad variety of necessary skills (rhythmic writing, something for reading, for comprehension, for math, etc.).  I just have a very complex situation that I like to think of as norm that is, in reality, so far out of the norm that I turn fringe into fuzz.  

 

I'm curious, because I thought someone had said there was cognitive work but I'm not seeing anything really specific to cognitive in their syllabii (or I'm missing it).  They have Barclay on the reading lists.  As far as something that actual instructs them on intervening therapeutically on working memory, EF, etc., is that in the training?  Or they being taught interventions for that so the person using them could assume it's going to happen?

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Story, I'm having a blank moment here, but have you actually done the math on the cost per hour for that NILD/RRx tutoring?  If that's 33 weeks and each $1K gets you another hour of service, they're charging $30 an hour.  In our town, top level very experienced OG tutor is $65 an hour.  

 

I don't know, just something interesting to ponder. 

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 On their website, they say they will have a speaker at an upcoming conference who "overcame autism." So that is what NILD thinks can happen. I am by no means an expert on autism -- and I don't technically have any children diagnosed with ASD, but DS has NVLD, which is perhaps on the autism spectrum -- but I think that any approach which suggests that it can cure my son's NVLD or other spectrum issues should be considered with a little skepticism on my part. I don't expect his disability to be cured.

 

Research has shown that about 20% of kids with autism and an underlying average-or-above IQ will improve their functioning level with intensive early therapy enough to no longer meet the diagnostic criteria. Are they "cured"? That's highly controversial.

 

The NP at Kennedy Krieger who evaluated my little one said that she couldn't determine whether the 2011 autism diagnosis was accurate and that DD was in the 20% of "optimal responders" or if was a misdiagnosis. Not having seen DD as a toddler, the NP couldn't make that judgment call.

 

I don't know anything about NILD but if it is intensive, 1:1 therapy, it wouldn't surprise me if some kids responded well enough to no longer meet the criteria for ASD. Part of what makes it so difficult to figure out what to do as a parent is that many interventions can boast of success stories: ABA, RDI, Floortime, SonRise, etc. There haven't been the kinds of comparative studies done where kids are randomly assigned to a treatment and then followed over time to see which has the highest success rate.

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I just had my husband read this thread, and he said, "Okay I see that we should work toward the IEPs." Not that he was against it, but earlier today when I suggested that getting the IEPs might be the best way to go instead of just going with the intervention the Christian School A offers, he sighed and said it was confusing and hard to know what to do. I just wanted you all to know that taking the time to tell your thoughts on the boards makes a difference. You are helping us sort things out and think things through. Thanks!

 

So here is the thing, though. School here starts on August 12. So that is only six and a half weeks away. Six weeks!! And in that time we have to select a school, apply, get assessed and accepted, buy uniforms and supplies, and generally figure out how to get our family on a going-to-school schedule. In addition to the non-school things we have going this summer. I feel like I need to focus on choosing a school now and then request the evaluations right at the beginning of the school year. There are only so many irons I can have in the fire at one time, and if we are enrolling in school in the fall, then we need to work on that first.

 

Once the evaluation is requested, the school has 30 days to either agree to evaluate or deny the need. So if we sent our letter today, they would have until the beginning of August to reply anyway. And if we enroll in one of the private schools in the meantime, there would be two school districts involved -- the district of residence and the district that the private school is in (neither is in our town of residence). Plus the private school, so three schools coordinating the IEP, which adds a complicating factor. One of our neighbors just went through this exact thing this year, and based on what they experienced, we're anticipating that there could be some hiccups in the process. Now, my neighbor seems to have allowed the schools to tell her what to do instead of researching things for herself. And it took an entire school year to get their IEPs. I'm not wanting that to happen to us, so I'm reading the NOLO IEP book and taking notes so I can be armed and ready for battle (hopefully it won't be a battle, but best to be prepared).

 

Anyway, you guys are right. We should start the IEP process, no matter where we end up going to school this fall. I think that Christian School A would be under enthused about cooperating with the public school, though. I think they would refuse to admit us if they knew we were going to request IEPs. And if we requested the IEPs after being enrolled in the school, I think they would either ask us to withdraw, saying they are unable to meet our needs after all, or would just be really unhappy with us as a family. I don't want to set ourselves up for additional battles. So if we are pursuing the IEPs, I think School A is then out of the running for this year.

 

Now if we got IEPs this year and then applied to School A for NEXT year with IEPs already in place and scholarship service providers already arranged, things might be different. We could walk in there and maybe use the scholarship funds for outside services instead of using the funds for tuition. But they are just so interested in being removed from anything the public school requires that I think trying to work with them while getting IEPs would be troublesome.

 

kbutton, I agree that being in a Christian school with the wrong attitude toward special needs would be worse than being in public school (and we didn't feel welcome when we visited the public school, so that's saying something). I'll have to see if we can get School A to give us more of their philosophy. If they buy into the "broken child" camp, we're not buying into them.

 

Thanks for the additional information, Marie, kbutton, and Elizabeth. I'll delve into it. And thanks for your encouragement. It's been a long couple of days, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed and not be able to see all the factors clearly.

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On the topic of the 3-5 year process and improvement due to intervention vs. the developmental process: one thing you can look for is to compare percentile ranks on tests from year to year. If the student makes a statistically significant improvement in percentile rank, that is an important clue that change is due to intervention. Most children will either stay at the same percentile- a ranking relative to peers- or even fall off a few percentile points over the years if they don't have effective intervention. A child who jumps from the 1st %ile to the 15th %ile in one year, and continues to move up is a child who is seeing improvement due to intervention.

 

That is encouraging to hear. It can be so discouraging for me to see those low, low percentages year after year but every time my DD tests, she does inch closer to the cutoff for the "normal" range.

 

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It's very clear that this training is a STEP UP for a cs that has no disability services at all.  They're integrating a broad variety of necessary skills (rhythmic writing, something for reading, for comprehension, for math, etc.).  I just have a very complex situation that I like to think of as norm that is, in reality, so far out of the norm that I turn fringe into fuzz.  

 

I'm curious, because I thought someone had said there was cognitive work but I'm not seeing anything really specific to cognitive in their syllabii (or I'm missing it).  They have Barclay on the reading lists.  As far as something that actual instructs them on intervening therapeutically on working memory, EF, etc., is that in the training?  Or they being taught interventions for that so the person using them could assume it's going to happen?

 

Yes, I agree that it is good that they offer something. And they are very proud of their commitment to serving these students that they are helping. But here's the thing: the school says that they are best suited to children of average or above average IQ and that they will refuse to admit students that they don't feel will succeed there. So they have a limited pool of people enrolled in their NILD program, right? These are mostly average students who have fallen behind or are struggling and need a boost. (Especially kids who enrolled in the school from kindergarten, so they are already connected to the school before they start to struggle, since their primary aim is to serve NT kids). I can see how the kids with this profile might be helped by the NILD therapy. So then the school sees the success and maybe decides that they can extend this kind of help to new students who don't fit their average to above average profile. And they have compassion and want to help, so they admit some children who are struggling more than average with the goal of helping them, just as they helped others. Kids like mine.

 

What I'm saying is that just because they have found success with this program -- even surprising or great success, so that they are really committed to it -- it doesn't mean that it is the optimal choice for someone who has a true diagnosed learning disability. Or muliple LDs. Even if the school thinks that it it can help or wants to help, it doesn't automatically follow that they will help. I'm not knocking the NILD process, of course. I'm just speculating and thinking things through.

 

They say on their web page that they are improving cognitive issues, but I don't see that they explain that. It's a good question for the teacher next week.

Story, I'm having a blank moment here, but have you actually done the math on the cost per hour for that NILD/RRx tutoring?  If that's 33 weeks and each $1K gets you another hour of service, they're charging $30 an hour.  In our town, top level very experienced OG tutor is $65 an hour.  

 

I don't know, just something interesting to ponder. 

 

I think you are right. I haven't looked into OG tutoring here, but I'd expect it to be well above $1000 a year. That is probably a good deal.

 

Except at Christian School B we can potentially get OG tutoring as part of the IEP without an extra cost. I can't compare the two kinds of tutoring otherwise, because we don't know details. But I know the neighbor family was getting a PS interventionist to come to the private school daily to tutor her child one-on-one for about one class period. Every day. And this is before they even had their IEP finalized. So there's that. Not saying it's better. But it's an option to consider.

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That is encouraging to hear. It can be so discouraging for me to see those low, low percentages year after year but every time my DD tests, she does inch closer to the cutoff for the "normal" range.

 

 

I gave my kids standardized tests this year for the first time. I got the results today. Discouraging is right. I suspect that seeing the scores might tip the scales against Christian School A even admitting us. DD scored in the first percentile in one category (and she is not even the child that I have mainly been talking about, because DS's needs are even greater).

 

Our neighbors who go to Christian School B said that that school was initially not sure that they should admit her kids, due to low test scores. But the school admitted them and worked hard to find accommodations even before their IEP related evaluations began. It took them awhile to find what worked, but they even had an aide working with their daughter in the classroom at one point BEFORE the IEP was in place, so the school was super committed to helping. That would never happen in the public school; the PS said no extra help would be available without an IEP, so that would mean months without accommodations. But we could have help in place right at the start at the private school.

 

Elizabeth, I'm sure there are other options, as you say in another post. But Christian School B seems very promising, so we might work on that idea before broadening our search too much. We liked school B very much when we visited, so even though school A become our first choice for a bit, school B is still a strong contender. It's not really a second choice. Just a different one. We were leaning toward School A because 1) They are closer to our house; 2) They offered services without the IEP (which we have now figured out is not really a plus, but it seemed to be); and 3) We liked the idea of the NILD Discovery program before the extra costs made us dig into it further.

 

I don't dislike the idea of the NILD program now. In fact, if it were offered as part of the regular tuition, it might still tip the balance scale in favor of School A. But right now I'm liking the idea of getting the IEP and hands-on classroom help that School B offers.

 

And I'm going to try not to think too much about today's test scores. It's good to have them in hand. I'm glad we decided to test this year. But it's sad to see those results.

 

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I'm glad you could have your dh read the things you're reading.  It's a lot to try to sort through yourself.  

 

I think you're probably interpreting CS A correctly.  As you say, the more average the problem, the more likely it is to work out well in this setting.  

 

I'll take it a step further.  My ds gets 5 hours of intensive tutoring weekly, just for reading, with me.  I would think your ds would benefit from the same thing.  Around here, that's $10K.  That's 5 times a week for 33 weeks at $65 an hour.  That's the whole $10K scholarship if I weren't tutoring him myself.  

 

What methodology does the ps interventionist who comes in at CS B use?  

 

That's eyebrow raising if you think that going for an IEP would actually destroy your relationship with CS A and your ability to attend there, wow.  That means there's all sorts of undercurrent stuff going on they aren't fessing up about.

 

Ok, I'll say something.  You don't want to be where people can't handle your kid.  You don't want to be in the school where you have to HIDE the true extent of your dc's disabilities.  You want to be in the school that CAN handle it because it's pretty much how they roll there, that those things are no problem there.

 

See what confuses me is that it seems like your ds' overall profile (sensory, behavior, etc.) adds quite a bit of challenge on top of the reading disorder.  So even if the the NILD training equips them, in general, to handle the reading disorder, are they able to handle the rest?  

 

Would CS B by chance have OT through the school?  If they do, that would be EXTREMELY persuasive to me.  Dunno, just throwing that out there.  Ds has been noticeably better since we started OT.  It's hard even to quantify.  He's just better, like a little more stable, a little more there.

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I don't know if the school would provide OT, but I'm thinking yes, because the neighbor said her daughter didn't qualify for it. Which means they must offer it. Actually, the private school would not offer the OT; the public school would provide the services at the private school, if I've got it right.

 

Now DS should qualify for OT. Should. But their daughter has sensory issues and didn't qualify, because the teacher didn't see it affecting her classroom performance or behavior. So I don't know if he could actually get OT through the school. Our insurance covers it, though (up to a certain amount each calendar year), so we can find a private provider if the school can't/won't do it.

 

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Personally, being taken out of pe and recess and art and music would be an automatic NO for me.  For one thing, kids need to have opportunities to feel successful.  For another, pe and recess and such are where the social skills are being worked on and where friends are being made.  For a third thing, that would be isolating from his peers.  I like the intensity of the intervention, but unless it was something like being taken out of reading class to work on reading, I would say we can't do that intervention.  Not that it's bad, but that there is no point to school in that case. 

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:iagree:  with you, Terabith. DS loves music and crafts and computers and needs gym and recess. He needs that non-instructional time. In fact, other than interventions for his SN, that is almost what he needs the MOST from his school experience. Because when we are homeschooling, I am working on the academics with him of course, but the extras haven't been happening much, even though in some ways I think they are more of what he needs than academic school work. One of the benefits of going to school for him is that he will have structure all day long (he has too much free time at home while I'm working with others and is not able to occupy himself productively), and that he will get the art and music and computer instruction and gym classes that we haven't been able to manage at home. I think that In some ways, those things will be as much help for him as official therapy. I'd hate for him to be pulled out of those things.

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Storygirl, it's likely that only one public school will have anything to do with the IEP, and it will be your district of residence. I might be wrong, but when our son was in the Christian school, that district didn't want anything to do with evaluating him. They said it had to be our district of residence. 

 

I think it sounds very promising to consider school B that will do the IEP--if you are already okay with the tuition, then they may be very excited to accommodate tutors or whatever from the scholarship program and/or be willing to modify your son's instruction time to work with whatever you decide you want with the scholarship money. I think the scholarship money becomes available again in November, and it will be prorated for the year because it's partway through (just a detail to keep in mind). I think we received about 3/4 of the total money since we started last fall rather than during the earlier period.

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The JP does not have rolling admission but fixed admission windows.  You apply during the fall application window and funding will begin in January I think.  As Kbutton says, it will be a part-year amount and have monthly and quarterly spending caps.  That's fine though.  Money is money, lol.  You'd rather have it than not have it.

 

It's the law that specifies about the district of the school doing the initial eval and the district of residence doing the follow-up.  I KNOW it's screwy, but it's in the law.  Where I first read about it was in the scholarship law wording, where it was talking about applicants at non-public schools and who is responsible to do the IEP.  Apparently IEP applicants are to be scorned and avoided, lol.  Seriously though, it's all in the law.  If you aren't sure you're getting an accurate answer, I suggest you email the dept of ed and ask them.  It may take a week or two, but they'll get back to you with a straight answer.  Sometimes they'll shuffle it around to make sure it gets to the right person, which makes it take a while.  Nothing about the IEP process is fast, that's for sure, lol.  But I go back to my point, when it's DONE, you'll be glad you did it.  

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  • 6 years later...

Found this thread when searching for details on NILD therapy (as mentioned they are elusive!). Just wanted to let you all know that the conversation was fascinating and super helpful and you don't have to share but I'm curious what happened with your son and therapy since it's been 5+ years now! Heading down some of that road myself...  Blessings to all. 

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On 5/14/2022 at 1:06 AM, APK_101 said:

Found this thread when searching for details on NILD therapy (as mentioned they are elusive!). Just wanted to let you all know that the conversation was fascinating and super helpful and you don't have to share but I'm curious what happened with your son and therapy since it's been 5+ years now! Heading down some of that road myself...  Blessings to all. 

Ah, such a long journey it has been. DS is 18 now and completing his junior year in public high school, with an extensive IEP and a lot of support from the school, from private therapy, and from state and county disability services.

But all of that took a long time and was accomplished in stages. We actually started at the school that I called Christian school B, where he eventually got his initial IEP (but that process is a long story of its own). He got great academic intervention there, that both helped him significantly and showed the extent of his need, and was there for grades 5-7 before switching to public school for grade 8 onward.

We did not choose the school that offered NILD therapy and never used it with him, so I don't have any other personal experience with that in particular. I hope you find the information you are looking for.

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