Joyful Journeys Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I've been reading nonstop for a couple of days. I've seen mentioned a few times that if you suspect dyslexia, stop having the child read out loud until they have begun remediation. Is that correct? Up until now we've been using Reading Lessons Through Literature (og based) so we do 10-20 words a week going over phonograms and spelling rules. She reads 2-3 stories from the Elson readers. I let her read whatever she wants otherwise. She's often not willing anyway, but at bedtime she may choose a bible story, Frog and Toad (her fave) or something else she knows well. She's going to be screened at a local private school for kids with LDs in early Jan and meanwhile I'll be going through the steps to get a full eval later. She's seen a covd doc who recommends therapy for 12 weeks for convergence insufficiency. So, no more reading for now? Of course I'll keep up read alouds I do and audiobooks. TIA ladies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Well if you haven't treated the vision problem, I would only have her read what is *comfortable* until you get the vision issues corrected. My dd hit a wall with her reading, which is part of what drove us to VT. She's a phenomenal reader, but the convergence issues were making it hard to handle the smaller fonts that come with higher reading levels. So until you get the VT, I would provide her with larger print books and just take it easy. If she has visual memory issues (because of the convergence glitching things up), then working on things that require visual memory is going to be crunchy anyway. My dd had HUGE leaps after VT. In fact, unless she has had phonological processing issues (issues with rhyming, hearing sounds in words, syllabication, etc.), I would probably wait and see if the VT resolves everything. That's fine to get the CTOPP or whatever through the school. I'm just saying a lot of what you're seeing *might* be explained by the vision problem. No matter what, I'd give her access to great audiobooks. They will cover over what she's not taking in effectively other ways. Edited December 12, 2015 by OhElizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Journeys Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 They don't have any openings until the new year, so we planned to start then. Still figuring out how to pay for it..sigh. It's funny, I put her reader on the tv...a huge screen and she almost does worse? I'm getting mixed signals so idk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 You might think about making your appointment for full evaluations with a neuropsychologist now instead of waiting until after the appointment at the school. If it is anything like the two dyslexia private schools we have visited, the school will only do a screening to tell you if there are warning signs present; they will not diagnose. For a diagnosis, you would need the NP evaluations. Usually there are waiting lists for NP exams -- often three or four months to wait for the appointment. I would think it would be better to go ahead and get on the waiting list. I would also ask questions about what screening process the school uses, and I would be cautious. In our case, DD10 went through this kind of screening at one school, where they told us that she "passed," meaning she showed nothing to be concerned about. I argued with them (politely). A year later DD was diagnosed with dyslexia by a NP. Now, after a move, we are going through the admissions process for DD to go to a different dyslexia school, and we are thrilled with the opportunities she may have there. So I'm not saying that the schools don't know what they are up to, or that you shouldn't do the screening. I'm just saying that a NP exam would be more definitive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 If you put it on a tv, you just changed the distance she's focusing at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Journeys Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 Story girl, thanks for that perspective! I have to get a referral from her ped too before the np will see her, so I'm hoping to get that done before Christmas to keep things moving. It does make sense to get an appointment with the wait time. OhElizabeth, the distance changes yes but the size too? We can zoom in so it's very large. I'm sorry I don't really understand vision things at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) She sounds like she's having significant effects from the convergence insufficiency. Personally, I'd just give her audiobooks until she has enough VT under her belt that she resumes reading naturally on her own. The CI has affected her track, her depth perception, her visual memory, and more. When you say (in another thread) that she used to have double vision and it went away, what that sometimes means is the brain found a workaround. Not so much that the problem is *gone* but a work around. So, for instance, before VT my dd did not have true depth perception. Her brain was actually calculating it out! So when they finally got to depth perception in the exercises and worked on it, things got really hairy as the brain tried to figure out whether it should hold onto the old things it had sort of rigged for itself or whether it should interpret and think the new way, kwim? So to me, you've got a complex set of compensations going on. When that is going on, none of the visual processing that *should* be occurring is occurring. It's why it doesn't MATTER if you force her to read or not, because her brain is wasting so much energy in the messed up processes! She's young. It's ok to give her floods of audiobooks for the next 1-3 months until the VT kicks in. Really. My ds is ear-reading In the Heart of the Sea right now. Apparently it's really good. It's the true story of the Essex, the inspiration for Moby Dick. That's WAY above what he could actually decode and read for himself!! If you pursue audiobooks for a few months while your therapies come together, the world will not end. I would want those vision problems fixed and for her to be able to read comfortably on her own. Well anyways, it's good that you're getting therapy soon! I'm all for evals and therapies. I just think it's ok to wait on stuff requiring vision when you know she has serious vision problems interfering with her ability to process and learn that way. I think you're going to be SHOCKED how much improves by getting the vision fixed. Edited December 12, 2015 by OhElizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Journeys Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Oh yes, she can comprehend way above her level. Her auditory skills amaze me. We're reading a Wrinkle in Time and she making connections with imagery and such that I don't even put together! And oh wow, that is downright amazing about her compensation. That was just about a year ago that she would say that she saw two of her tablet in the car or something else about an arms length away. We just saw a regular doc who brushed it off "one eye is just a little lazy, make sure she takes breaks if she is tired" and sent us on our way. I told her to always tell me if it got worse and after a while she said it stopped altogether. Totally fascinating how the brain works, I'm happy to be on a path to fixing this! Edited December 12, 2015 by Joyful Journeys 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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