Upper elementary with language processing disorder and sensory seeking.

[MSNative]

I am at a loss and hoping yall can help. What are your favorite resources for teaching upper elementary kids with language processing disorder? My ds is also sensory seeking. Would love recs for that too. We've been homeschooling him for three years but his last test scores still show him two years behind so clearly what I've been doing hasn't been working very well. If anyone has some advice I would welcome it. Feeling like I'm failing him.

Thank you for any help!

[prairiewindmomma]

My sensory kid has several sensory breaks scheduled throughout his day.  Since he can only work for a brief period of time without a break, we use the sensory stuff in between to get him ready to learn again.  We have a rebounder, a jump rope, a swing, some therabands, and a number of other things we utilize.

 

I don't have experience with language processing disorder.  

[PeterPan]

What test did you have and do you have the subtest breakdowns?  If you post them, people can help you read the tea leaves.  My ds had issues show up with the CELF, so we target those.  I can tell you the things we're doing, but they might not apply.  So I suggest you post the tests, subtests, and scores so people can help you interpret them.

 

Also, what things are you doing, and how are the weaknesses carrying over into daily life?  Is he currently receiving therapy for any of these things?  And are you currently using any therapy materials with him?  Is he receiving OT or in any sports or doing any planned, consistent activities to give that sensory input?  How is it coming out now?  You don't have to whitewash.  It's been pretty astonishing in our house.   :)

 

Also, not to touch a sore point, but is there any ID or any SLDs?  I'm just asking because everything is in context, viewing the whole person, like what suggestions might be good for that situation vs. another.  Just trying to understand the whole picture.  :)

Edited February 7, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[MSNative]

What test did you have and do you have the subtest breakdowns? If you post them, people can help you read the tea leaves. My ds had issues show up with the CELF, so we target those. I can tell you the things we're doing, but they might not apply. So I suggest you post the tests, subtests, and scores so people can help you interpret them.

 

Also, what things are you doing, and how are the weaknesses carrying over into daily life? Is he currently receiving therapy for any of these things? And are you currently using any therapy materials with him? Is he receiving OT or in any sports or doing any planned, consistent activities to give that sensory input? How is it coming out now? You don't have to whitewash. It's been pretty astonishing in our house. :)

 

Also, not to touch a sore point, but is there any ID or any SLDs? I'm just asking because everything is in context, viewing the whole person, like what suggestions might be good for that situation vs. another. Just trying to understand the whole picture. :)

what is ID or SLD? I will go grab the test results and post when I get home. We've done two rounds of testing. One was back in preschool. He was identified early with language processing disorder, sensory seeking, adhd , ocd tendencies and aspergers (back when that existed.). He doesn't have any vision or hearing problems. He decodes really well. He just doesn't understand what he is reading.

 

We have been using some curriculum that I got from pro-Ed that seem to target his problems. Lots of word games and then some books that just deal with language and speech activities.

Edited February 7, 2016 by MSNative

[PeterPan]

Yes, ID is intellectual disability.  SLD=specific learning disability.  So that would be dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, etc.

 

Yes, my ds was in the odd, odd, odd position of being dyslexic and then basically hyperlexic with his reading!  I put him into Barton because of his dyslexia, and we got into it and realized he literally could not UNDERSTAND what he was decoding!  So he'd read a sentence like "A frog sat on a log" and not understand it.  He couldn't draw a picture of it or say what to draw or answer a question about it or ANYTHING.  We finally had to stop Barton in level 4, because it was just this huge impass.

 

I'd be interested to know what you're using from ProEd, definitely.  I got their morphology kit.  Really though, what we're really liking right now are materials from Super Duper.  We're using the Grammar Processing program, and that has been super good for him.  It will have you read a sentence and he touches a picture to match.  The language builds slowly and the pictures really make them work.  Technically, my ds' low scores in the sentence comprehension portion of the CELF5 are considered a meta-linguistics and EF issue.  So like when you ask the neuropsych and SLPs why those scores are low, they say executive function.  And you're like REALLY??  But it's a noticing the bits issue, whether it's noticing the bits of body language or the bits of speech or whatever.

 

So when we do that grammar processing program, I read the sentences FAST, very lifelike, and I don't make it easy with intonation.  I want him to listen HARD to notice those bits.  I also try to do other things where he notices bits, because anything meta like that (self-awareness, linguistic bits, bits in hidden pictures, bits in rhymes, whatever) is all building that skill.

 

But my ds doesn't technically have an expressive or receptive language delay diagnosis.  He has apraxia, ADHD + ASD, 3 SLDs, SPD, but not technically a language delay.  For him the comprehension issues are considered EF, which is whacky but there you go.

 

There's also Magnatalk, which has magnets and pictures and worksheets they do.  We're finally doing that.  It hits prepositions, classifying, phonological processing, adjectives, all sorts of skills.  The kits build in difficulty and of course you can adapt up/down somewhat.  So we had issues where my ds wasn't understanding instructions in every day life (put the toy on the table), and it turned out he really wasn't understanding prepositions.  He was having issues with behavior, and we realized it was because he was weak on questions.  

 

There are the ABLLS and VB-MAPP to go through all those language skills.  People just assume, the kid is verbal, why bother.  Well I find as I work with him that there are these funky HOLES.  Like we started a GEMS unit and he couldn't sort buttons by color!  It was like oh my goodness, this is weird.  So we stopped and spent days on that.  Then we worked on other sorting.  Sorting is a life skill, and those tests can break it down a lot more (class, feature, function, blah blah).  I haven't gotten either of them done yet, sigh, so I really don't have that analysis of where those holes are.  The test then becomes the list of things to treat too, from what I can tell.  The Super Duper materials are fine and good and worthwhile, but they're not EVERYTHING he needs.  That's on my list too, to get something like that and find those holes.  

 

There's a website with tracking pages for the ABLLS, and it lists a lot of the skills.  Someone else dealing with the mix (Jenn, who used to post here on the boards) had an SLP use the game Pickles to Pickles to hit a lot of those skills.  It's what, $20 or $30, and it has tons of pictures that you can use to hit those skills.  I started with my ds, trying to do those ABLLS classifying skills from that tracking pages site, and he could do some of the steps easily and locked down on others.  

 

So to me, when you're seeing those issues, the real question is not so much what program or game, but how do I identify what the holes are?  Kwim?  That to me is the real question.  I think all the things we're doing are GOOD.  We're clearly making progress.  But I'd like to get that thorough list so I can say ok, these are the holes, and fill them in.  

 

Super Duper actually has 3 volumes in that grammar processing program.  They also have a way to sort by category/use, so you can search for all the programs they've tagged for ASD.  That would be informative to you.  Then you can look at the samples and say yes, he needs this.

 

For my ds, when we stopped Barton and started doing that Super Duper Grammar Processing program, within a few months he just spontaneously, on his own, started trying to read things.  Previously he could decode but he couldn't UNDERSTAND.  For us, that program has been part of it.  Right now Staples has some good pricing on Super Duper materials, so definitely look there.  They also do a big 40% off sale in the fall.  

 

Ok, you asked about sensory.  What are you doing for that?

 

Back to language.  How was his vocabulary?  That's why I was saying, when you get those breakdowns and post them, people can help you read the tea leaves.  My ds listens to a TON of audiobooks.  He averages 3 hours a day.  It's just constantly, constantly on, almost like a stim with him.  If we're not doing something together and he's just playing and doing this thing, it's going to be on.  And that makes his *vocabulary* really high.  But if someone has a low vocabulary score, that's also going to be an issue you have to address.  Then it's going to be what is good for that,kwim?  But you don't need vocab work if that score is IQ-appropriate.  So it's back to the scores and interpreting them.

[Crimson Wife]

Y Really though, what we're really liking right now are materials from Super Duper.  We're using the Grammar Processing program, and that has been super good for him.  It will have you read a sentence and he touches a picture to match.  The language builds slowly and the pictures really make them work.  Technically, my ds' low scores in the sentence comprehension portion of the CELF5 are considered a meta-linguistics and EF issue.  So like when you ask the neuropsych and SLPs why those scores are low, they say executive function.  And you're like REALLY??  But it's a noticing the bits issue, whether it's noticing the bits of body language or the bits of speech or whatever.

 

Is it this program? http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=TPX27704&s=the-grammar-processing-program#.VreDkeaNbYE

 

I'm not sure whether the later portions of the book would be appropriate for my DD (I'd have to give it a try) but it looks like a great resource to have on my shelf as a (fingers crossed) future SLP.

 

[PeterPan]

Is it this program? http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=TPX27704&s=the-grammar-processing-program#.VreDkeaNbYE

 

I'm not sure whether the later portions of the book would be appropriate for my DD (I'd have to give it a try) but it looks like a great resource to have on my shelf as a (fingers crossed) future SLP.

 

Yes, that's the book we're currently using.  Then there's another set (The Processing Program) that has 2 volumes.  That's what I want to do next.  The materials are deceptively simple.  I use it both receptively (I read, he touches the picture) and expressively (he has to follow the pattern and tell me what to touch).  He finds that expressive step, where HE has to give the instructions, challenging and fatiguing.  That's when you start to see the holes and breakdowns, because he'll use other odd, funky expressions to avoid using an adjective + noun construction.  Or he won't have caught onto the details or patterns.

 

Remember too, this approach is building up their working memory, because they're needing to listen, notice lots of details, and then remember all of them and motor plan or speak.  So to me, I don't mind that it was easy at the beginning.  Like with your dd, I thought oh yeah, maybe it's a waste, maybe only the 2nd half will be worthwhile.  But when he had to do it actively, it was harder.  And you're building that plus the working memory and EF/attention.  

 

Within a couple months I started noticing him initiating reading.  My dd is now commenting that he seems able to relay more complex thoughts with more pieces.  Like he might have a story he's telling her (from a movie, from something he did) and it has more components.  And you think how for these tasks, by the latter part of the book he really is having to hold 6 details and use his speech.  So it carries right over to be able to hold those thoughts and use speech irl, kwim?  So I wouldn't feel badly about some of it being simple.  I would find more sophisticated ways to use it and think that it might be stretching OTHER things as well.

 

We've been working on asking questions very agressively since about Thanksgiving.  And I'm talking like action stops, ask the question or you don't get what you want and NOTHING happens and you must comply.  It was just super hard for him, even with prompts.  Now, come to think of it, we haven't been bringing any of that process into our Super Duper materials.  That's an interesting point.  If I were being creative, there would be a way, absolutely.  That would be fun.  Oh, duh, you could do the Magnatalk playing it that way!  Like you could roll a die that has who, what, where, why, when, whatever, and then have to form that kind of question and place/move your magnets.  That could be fun.

 

Anyways, my point is, the work we do DIRECTLY IMPROVES speech, communication, and therefore behavior.  My ds actually had somewhat of a seemingly normal, reciprocal conversation this morning!  And it wasn't about his obsession but about something that might have been interesting to the listener), football!  How wild is that!  But to have that kind of conversation, you have to be able to ask a question.  So we've worked for months on this, and now he can.  And we're using it to teach problem solving when he's aggressive and improve behavior.

 

So I don't know.  The Grammar Processing program is sort of stealth.  Like you get these subtle improvements and you're like WOW, where did that come from?  It's very careful on basics like pronouns.  If you don't get pronouns, you CANNOT UNDERSTAND SENTENCES.  That was a sneaky little thing at the beginning where I thought oh, he won't need that, and yet it really made him think.  And the way they use them (discriminating 3rd person singular and plural, etc.), the kids really have to listen HARD and up their meta-linguistics game to notice, notice, notice whether the sentence said he/she/it/they...  And everything spirals, so they might have to notice, 3, 4,5, 6 details even to select the correct picture.  That's some SERIOUS noticing!  That's working memory and the meta-level both.  

 

For us it's maybe 10 minutes a day, pain free, and it has been valuable enough that I'm planning/hoping to get the other books to keep going.  I like what it has done for him on that meta level to notice lots of little bits.  Is it appropriate for *every* situation?  Obviously not.  I mean, that's why they have VB-MAPP and ABLLS.  But that's like saying AAR/AAS is no good because Barton is so much better.  They're best for their best situations.  The instruction in the Grammar Processing program is enough that my ds seems to get things and connect.  It seems to be working for us.  But obviously for someone else it could be like wow, our problems were way more severe, needed a lot slower pace, and that wasn't going to get us there.  

 

 

MagneTalk Match-up Adventures Kit (includes Barrier Game Board Stand)  Here's the link for Magnetalk.  There are several kits available, and they increase in complexity.  

 

Party Game - Pickles to Penguins - Quick Thinking Card Game  This is the game I mentioned.  It has tons of pictures you can use for class/feature/whatever, and just lots of potential to be played lots of ways.  I was looking at some ABA picture kits, and they were crazy expensive.  This has a broad variety of pictures for an affordable price.  Obviously that's for that middle of the road student who maybe needs *some* help but not the most, most methodical careful level of help.  But since picture boxes are like $50 a box on amazon (the ones I was looking at), this is a crazy deal.  Broad variety too, like things in the house, food, sports, things for school, things that are alive, blah blah.  Definitely enough variety to do your classifying work with some students.  And then of course you have just the normal games they *intend* for you to play, hehe.  

 

Back to the op a minute.  You see why I keep saying the most valuable thing is to know that list of skills you're trying to hit, where the holes are.  Because you can take that list and work on it with ANYTHING.  But without that list, you're just shooting in the dark.

[kbutton]

Crimson Wife, the other series actually has three levels (2 in one book), and they are hard to find on the website. The fact that one book has two levels is confusing too. Here is level 1: http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=TPX27701&s=the-processing-program--level-1--revised&lid=41E46A95#.Vred7_krIdU

 

Staples link for the whole set: http://www.staples.com/Super-Duper-Processing-Program-Levels-1-2-and-3-Combo/product_308326 

 

We are planning to get these for some CAPD work depending on how much they get to this kind of stuff in speech therapy (younger son, not my ASD son in this case).

 

For the sensory seeking (my ASD kiddo is a seeker/avoider), we found OT to be very helpful. He was also very tactile defensive if approached from the side or behind, and a brushing protocol (two weeks maybe) helped a lot with that. It made him very emotional in the middle of the treatment, and then something just clicked in his brain for the last couple of days, and he's done SO MUCH BETTER since. I have also found with my younger son (no ASD but has motor issues), that work on retained primitive reflexes helped toned down what was starting to become some sensory issues (he had not had notable issues until recently). His sensory seeking seemed to be tied directly to the areas where motor stuff was giving him trouble. The person to tackle retained reflexes will vary by geography and specialty. They are all but ignored here except at places like Brain Balance. We worked on them in vision therapy. Both kids had VT for different reasons at different times, but the results were dramatic.

[Gisele Marie]

I second (or third :)) the Super Duper program mentioned.  We used several books from their catalogue for processing delays.  VERY helpful!  Our DD is also a sensory seeker and my husband built a platform swing that we hung in our garage.  She eventually learned to swing on her own to self regulate.  OT and the Brain Balance were also very helpful.  Bless you!

Edited February 7, 2016 by Gisele Marie

[MSNative]

Yes, ID is intellectual disability. SLD=specific learning disability. So that would be dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, etc.

 

Yes, my ds was in the odd, odd, odd position of being dyslexic and then basically hyperlexic with his reading! I put him into Barton because of his dyslexia, and we got into it and realized he literally could not UNDERSTAND what he was decoding! So he'd read a sentence like "A frog sat on a log" and not understand it. He couldn't draw a picture of it or say what to draw or answer a question about it or ANYTHING. We finally had to stop Barton in level 4, because it was just this huge impass.

 

I'd be interested to know what you're using from ProEd, definitely. I got their morphology kit. Really though, what we're really liking right now are materials from Super Duper. We're using the Grammar Processing program, and that has been super good for him. It will have you read a sentence and he touches a picture to match. The language builds slowly and the pictures really make them work. Technically, my ds' low scores in the sentence comprehension portion of the CELF5 are considered a meta-linguistics and EF issue. So like when you ask the neuropsych and SLPs why those scores are low, they say executive function. And you're like REALLY?? But it's a noticing the bits issue, whether it's noticing the bits of body language or the bits of speech or whatever.

 

So when we do that grammar processing program, I read the sentences FAST, very lifelike, and I don't make it easy with intonation. I want him to listen HARD to notice those bits. I also try to do other things where he notices bits, because anything meta like that (self-awareness, linguistic bits, bits in hidden pictures, bits in rhymes, whatever) is all building that skill.

 

But my ds doesn't technically have an expressive or receptive language delay diagnosis. He has apraxia, ADHD + ASD, 3 SLDs, SPD, but not technically a language delay. For him the comprehension issues are considered EF, which is whacky but there you go.

 

There's also Magnatalk, which has magnets and pictures and worksheets they do. We're finally doing that. It hits prepositions, classifying, phonological processing, adjectives, all sorts of skills. The kits build in difficulty and of course you can adapt up/down somewhat. So we had issues where my ds wasn't understanding instructions in every day life (put the toy on the table), and it turned out he really wasn't understanding prepositions. He was having issues with behavior, and we realized it was because he was weak on questions.

 

There are the ABLLS and VB-MAPP to go through all those language skills. People just assume, the kid is verbal, why bother. Well I find as I work with him that there are these funky HOLES. Like we started a GEMS unit and he couldn't sort buttons by color! It was like oh my goodness, this is weird. So we stopped and spent days on that. Then we worked on other sorting. Sorting is a life skill, and those tests can break it down a lot more (class, feature, function, blah blah). I haven't gotten either of them done yet, sigh, so I really don't have that analysis of where those holes are. The test then becomes the list of things to treat too, from what I can tell. The Super Duper materials are fine and good and worthwhile, but they're not EVERYTHING he needs. That's on my list too, to get something like that and find those holes.

 

There's a website with tracking pages for the ABLLS, and it lists a lot of the skills. Someone else dealing with the mix (Jenn, who used to post here on the boards) had an SLP use the game Pickles to Pickles to hit a lot of those skills. It's what, $20 or $30, and it has tons of pictures that you can use to hit those skills. I started with my ds, trying to do those ABLLS classifying skills from that tracking pages site, and he could do some of the steps easily and locked down on others.

 

So to me, when you're seeing those issues, the real question is not so much what program or game, but how do I identify what the holes are? Kwim? That to me is the real question. I think all the things we're doing are GOOD. We're clearly making progress. But I'd like to get that thorough list so I can say ok, these are the holes, and fill them in.

 

Super Duper actually has 3 volumes in that grammar processing program. They also have a way to sort by category/use, so you can search for all the programs they've tagged for ASD. That would be informative to you. Then you can look at the samples and say yes, he needs this.

 

For my ds, when we stopped Barton and started doing that Super Duper Grammar Processing program, within a few months he just spontaneously, on his own, started trying to read things. Previously he could decode but he couldn't UNDERSTAND. For us, that program has been part of it. Right now Staples has some good pricing on Super Duper materials, so definitely look there. They also do a big 40% off sale in the fall.

 

Ok, you asked about sensory. What are you doing for that?

 

Back to language. How was his vocabulary? That's why I was saying, when you get those breakdowns and post them, people can help you read the tea leaves. My ds listens to a TON of audiobooks. He averages 3 hours a day. It's just constantly, constantly on, almost like a stim with him. If we're not doing something together and he's just playing and doing this thing, it's going to be on. And that makes his *vocabulary* really high. But if someone has a low vocabulary score, that's also going to be an issue you have to address. Then it's going to be what is good for that,kwim? But you don't need vocab work if that score is IQ-appropriate. So it's back to the scores and interpreting them.

I am reading this and looking up your suggestions and will definitely give you a better, more thought out reply. But I just wanted to quickly say that I am almost in tears. No one I've spoken with has understood what my son is like but it sounds like yours is so similar. Thank you. I've felt kinda all alone and without good guidance.

[MSNative]

I got these from Pro-Ed after his latest test scores came back. Our favorite is the April Showers game. It is great. It forces him to really look at pictures and try to figure out what is going on. The speech activities book is good. It's like FIAR but with activities focused on language skills. The other two have been less successful. They are just workbooks and kind of dry. But still I think they have been useful.

 

APRIL SHOWERS SEMANTICS GAME

31600 HELP 1

37631 SPEECH ACTIVITIES GRADES

31658 NO GLAM LANGUAGE ELEMENTARY

 

Sensory seeking- best thing we've done is give him a hammock that he can totally cocoon in. He wraps up and can even hang face down. Loves it. I also have given him fidgets. Oh he also likes these exercise bands that I have. He will wrap them around his head or waist or around the legs of his chair so he can play with them while he works.

[MSNative]

Yes, that's the book we're currently using. Then there's another set (The Processing Program) that has 2 volumes. That's what I want to do next. The materials are deceptively simple. I use it both receptively (I read, he touches the picture) and expressively (he has to follow the pattern and tell me what to touch). He finds that expressive step, where HE has to give the instructions, challenging and fatiguing. That's when you start to see the holes and breakdowns, because he'll use other odd, funky expressions to avoid using an adjective + noun construction. Or he won't have caught onto the details or patterns.

 

Remember too, this approach is building up their working memory, because they're needing to listen, notice lots of details, and then remember all of them and motor plan or speak. So to me, I don't mind that it was easy at the beginning. Like with your dd, I thought oh yeah, maybe it's a waste, maybe only the 2nd half will be worthwhile. But when he had to do it actively, it was harder. And you're building that plus the working memory and EF/attention.

 

Within a couple months I started noticing him initiating reading. My dd is now commenting that he seems able to relay more complex thoughts with more pieces. Like he might have a story he's telling her (from a movie, from something he did) and it has more components. And you think how for these tasks, by the latter part of the book he really is having to hold 6 details and use his speech. So it carries right over to be able to hold those thoughts and use speech irl, kwim? So I wouldn't feel badly about some of it being simple. I would find more sophisticated ways to use it and think that it might be stretching OTHER things as well.

 

We've been working on asking questions very agressively since about Thanksgiving. And I'm talking like action stops, ask the question or you don't get what you want and NOTHING happens and you must comply. It was just super hard for him, even with prompts. Now, come to think of it, we haven't been bringing any of that process into our Super Duper materials. That's an interesting point. If I were being creative, there would be a way, absolutely. That would be fun. Oh, duh, you could do the Magnatalk playing it that way! Like you could roll a die that has who, what, where, why, when, whatever, and then have to form that kind of question and place/move your magnets. That could be fun.

 

Anyways, my point is, the work we do DIRECTLY IMPROVES speech, communication, and therefore behavior. My ds actually had somewhat of a seemingly normal, reciprocal conversation this morning! And it wasn't about his obsession but about something that might have been interesting to the listener), football! How wild is that! But to have that kind of conversation, you have to be able to ask a question. So we've worked for months on this, and now he can. And we're using it to teach problem solving when he's aggressive and improve behavior.

 

So I don't know. The Grammar Processing program is sort of stealth. Like you get these subtle improvements and you're like WOW, where did that come from? It's very careful on basics like pronouns. If you don't get pronouns, you CANNOT UNDERSTAND SENTENCES. That was a sneaky little thing at the beginning where I thought oh, he won't need that, and yet it really made him think. And the way they use them (discriminating 3rd person singular and plural, etc.), the kids really have to listen HARD and up their meta-linguistics game to notice, notice, notice whether the sentence said he/she/it/they... And everything spirals, so they might have to notice, 3, 4,5, 6 details even to select the correct picture. That's some SERIOUS noticing! That's working memory and the meta-level both.

 

For us it's maybe 10 minutes a day, pain free, and it has been valuable enough that I'm planning/hoping to get the other books to keep going. I like what it has done for him on that meta level to notice lots of little bits. Is it appropriate for *every* situation? Obviously not. I mean, that's why they have VB-MAPP and ABLLS. But that's like saying AAR/AAS is no good because Barton is so much better. They're best for their best situations. The instruction in the Grammar Processing program is enough that my ds seems to get things and connect. It seems to be working for us. But obviously for someone else it could be like wow, our problems were way more severe, needed a lot slower pace, and that wasn't going to get us there.

 

 

MagneTalk Match-up Adventures Kit (includes Barrier Game Board Stand) Here's the link for Magnetalk. There are several kits available, and they increase in complexity.

 

Party Game - Pickles to Penguins - Quick Thinking Card Game This is the game I mentioned. It has tons of pictures you can use for class/feature/whatever, and just lots of potential to be played lots of ways. I was looking at some ABA picture kits, and they were crazy expensive. This has a broad variety of pictures for an affordable price. Obviously that's for that middle of the road student who maybe needs *some* help but not the most, most methodical careful level of help. But since picture boxes are like $50 a box on amazon (the ones I was looking at), this is a crazy deal. Broad variety too, like things in the house, food, sports, things for school, things that are alive, blah blah. Definitely enough variety to do your classifying work with some students. And then of course you have just the normal games they *intend* for you to play, hehe.

 

Back to the op a minute. You see why I keep saying the most valuable thing is to know that list of skills you're trying to hit, where the holes are. Because you can take that list and work on it with ANYTHING. But without that list, you're just shooting in the dark.

Hi! I just wanted to come back and say thank you to everyone who responded. I spent a lot of time digesting this and the tests. We are still shooting somewhat in the dark - he last official tests were over a year ago. So I scheduled some retesting to get a more clear game plan. In the meantime, we got the magnetalk products and they are great. He is learning so much with them. And it is forcing him to focus! He just had a bday and we are getting him the pickles game as one of the gifts.