AAR vs Barton?

[summerreading]

I'm currently using AAR with my (newly) 9 year old and while he is advancing in reading, I'm a little frustrated with it. It feels like it moves too fast for him like there is not enough material for each new topic and not enough review. Is it fully OG and is it sufficient for a dyslexic student? We are at the end of AAR 1 and I am trying to decide if we should switch to Barton and start all over or continue on with AAR and find things to supplement. I suspect dyslexia but I'm starting with getting his eye checked this week (he rubs them and says they hurt). 

Can anyone who has used both explain the main difference between them? One plus for Barton would be that my dyslexic husband never had any remediation and we could use it with him. If you have any input on using with an adult, I'd love to hear about that too.

 

[PeterPan]

Well I used AAS 1-6 with dd after her VT years ago, and I used Barton with despite owning so much AAS. I used AAR pre with him, and it was not adequate to address the depth of his misunderstandings and disability. I think for kids for whom AAR is adequate, it's adequate. I think you already know it's not enough so just move on. Barton has enough material to spend 2-3 hours for every lesson covered. Every topic is going to have every nuance addressed from every angle. If you need more, it's your more.

The other thing you might do is call and talk it through with Barton. Does he pass the pre-test? If he does, just call and talk it through with her. She has post-tests for every level and she would send them to you and help you place.

What often happens with Barton is the hyper-detailed instruction is essential through maybe level 4, then people jump. Ds took off reading around that 4/5 level. I have Barton 5 and did some with him I think. We bought all the games from Spelling Success for all the levels. Now granted he's his own bird. I'm just saying this doesn't have to be some huge, huge decision. Right now you need more, and Barton will give you that more. I haven't seen AAR enough to compare them, but it should get you there. 

And yes, get his eyes checked, oh my, poor thing. You can have dyslexia *and* eye problems. If your eye appt is with a dev. optom or someone who will screen convergence, tracking, etc., then that gives you some wiggle room. Like maybe use this time to run the pretest, get his glasses or whatever he needs. If he has significant, significant effect, then I would want the full eval to check his visual processing (memory, etc.). He should pass a CTOPP even with vision problems, or put another way his vision shouldn't be affecting his phonological processing and his ability to do different tasks aloud (deletion, etc.). So separate out what part is vision and what is still a problem even when you aren't using vision.

[4KookieKids]

Just another plug for checking both. When evaluated at 6, my dd has both vision problems (scoring under the 1st %ile in most areas) as well as phonological problems (scoring under the  9th %ile).

[summerreading]

47 minutes ago, 4KookieKids said:

Just another plug for checking both. When evaluated at 6, my dd has both vision problems (scoring under the 1st %ile in most areas) as well as phonological problems (scoring under the  9th %ile).

 

14 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Well I used AAS 1-6 with dd after her VT years ago, and I used Barton with despite owning so much AAS. I used AAR pre with him, and it was not adequate to address the depth of his misunderstandings and disability. I think for kids for whom AAR is adequate, it's adequate. I think you already know it's not enough so just move on. Barton has enough material to spend 2-3 hours for every lesson covered. Every topic is going to have every nuance addressed from every angle. If you need more, it's your more.

The other thing you might do is call and talk it through with Barton. Does he pass the pre-test? If he does, just call and talk it through with her. She has post-tests for every level and she would send them to you and help you place.

What often happens with Barton is the hyper-detailed instruction is essential through maybe level 4, then people jump. Ds took off reading around that 4/5 level. I have Barton 5 and did some with him I think. We bought all the games from Spelling Success for all the levels. Now granted he's his own bird. I'm just saying this doesn't have to be some huge, huge decision. Right now you need more, and Barton will give you that more. I haven't seen AAR enough to compare them, but it should get you there. 

And yes, get his eyes checked, oh my, poor thing. You can have dyslexia *and* eye problems. If your eye appt is with a dev. optom or someone who will screen convergence, tracking, etc., then that gives you some wiggle room. Like maybe use this time to run the pretest, get his glasses or whatever he needs. If he has significant, significant effect, then I would want the full eval to check his visual processing (memory, etc.). He should pass a CTOPP even with vision problems, or put another way his vision shouldn't be affecting his phonological processing and his ability to do different tasks aloud (deletion, etc.). So separate out what part is vision and what is still a problem even when you aren't using vision.

 

Yes, thank both. We are going to a developmental eye doctor. My middle one had tracking issues and is profoundly dyslexic at the same time. I'm soooo hoping this one will just need glasses! a weekly VT bill is just not what I need right now but it is what it is.

I think you are right Peter Pan, AAR is good who it is good for. My middle son is not advancing as I would like him to currently using Nessy after a long stint with a reading tutor. So most likely I think we are going to get Barton anyway. Good thing for that good resale value.  ?

[PeterPan]

Well good! Keep us posted on how it goes! Since you've been down this road, at least you already know you have an eye doc you like, etc. That's a big hurdle just finding someone you feel confident in. Will they do the full eval and check visual processing and the works at this appt or just screen?

If you already have the family history, yeah go for Barton. It's really going to step up your game and eliminate the need for tutors. And yes, your resale value will be great. It will actually be cheaper than AAR, which I don't think people realize. It's so expensive upfront, but the resale value is strong. 

Little tip... When you buy your Barton stuff get an extra set of the tiles so you can sell a set with the level when you sell it off. Your use of the tiles will be cumulative, but the next person buying the kit wants a set too. That will help resale value. You can only buy those extra tiles if you buy directly. Or, conversely, if you're going to buy used, make sure it has the set of tiles. 

[summerreading]

21 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Well good! Keep us posted on how it goes! Since you've been down this road, at least you already know you have an eye doc you like, etc. That's a big hurdle just finding someone you feel confident in. Will they do the full eval and check visual processing and the works at this appt or just screen?

If you already have the family history, yeah go for Barton. It's really going to step up your game and eliminate the need for tutors. And yes, your resale value will be great. It will actually be cheaper than AAR, which I don't think people realize. It's so expensive upfront, but the resale value is strong. 

Little tip... When you buy your Barton stuff get an extra set of the tiles so you can sell a set with the level when you sell it off. Your use of the tiles will be cumulative, but the next person buying the kit wants a set too. That will help resale value. You can only buy those extra tiles if you buy directly. Or, conversely, if you're going to buy used, make sure it has the set of tiles. 

 

The VT doc usually checks visual processing b/c all my kids still do reversals. I'm so confused by this because isn't that aspect caused by the dyslexia? I'm kind of skeptical about her testing for this. The right/left exercises were torture for my middle son and very little progress was made. He still reverses the usual culprits: b,d, p, q but usually fixes it right away. 

Thanks for the tip for the extra tiles. 

[PeterPan]

Have these dc had OT evals or been checked or midline issues, retained reflexes, etc.? No, dyslexia does not cause reversals. They're an OT issue that happens to be common and overlap. My dd had reversals for a long time without dyslexia and my ds does not have significant reversals even with dyslexia. They're an OT issue.

I guess I'm confused what this optometrist is doing and why he hasn't referred you for an OT eval. He should be screening convergence, tracking, focusing, etc. For tracking, he might have something like the Visagraph, which is infrared goggles to track eye movements while they read. Or they have this bar they have the dc look through to check how their eyes converge. For visual processing, ours had an actual visual processing test, a standardized tool with subsections.

What r/l exercises?? These were from the doc? Honestly, quality varies. You should have had a referral for OT. Now some eye docs will do OT type stuff, but it's more do they do enough to do it well. If they don't, they should be referring off.