Possible "breakthough" understanding my son's read

Your child and my child seem to have similar symptoms. My child improved dramatically after vision therapy, but all his problems did not completely go away. I find he does much better early in the day and he does better if he is reading something that can be placed flat down on the table so a book marker can be used. Before vision therapy he would be rubbing his eyes by the second paragraph and badly misreading words he read with ease in paragraph one. Now on a good day he may go 8 pages before he starts asking for a break. This leads me to believe we might still be dealing with eye strain and visual tracking issues which can be very different from visual discrimination. From my own experience with a lazy eye, I could paint scenery on a tile the size of my pinky fingernail, crochet with sewing thread without a problem….but by page 5 of a book I was seeing two books merging and separating before my eyes and the letters were always moving and dancing. Teachers who like to walk back and forth along the board can put me out of commission real fast too. Anyway, I’m still searching for the answer to the sometimes mystifying problem of either outright missreading known words and or choppy oral reading with frequent misreading of little words followed by the correct word. He also very occasionally substitutes words like reading Oklahoma when it says Kansas or saying day when the book says year. Since I am very prone to do that in oral speach I am enclined to think he occasionally experiences a “brain glitch” unrelated to his visual problems. If and when you reach a point where you are relatively confident you have found your answer and a way to deal with it, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

Laura,

Absolutely get those skills automatic, not just knowing the sounds but using them. Sometimes my son who has sequencing issues will read all the sounds correctly in a word but in the wrong order. Balst for blast etc. I am convinced knowing the sounds and practicing them to get them absolutely automatic is what it takes.

Victoria is oh so right on this concept. Especially for our kids for whom so much is not automatic.

We have a lot of the same issues as you. I have used drill, drill, drill with limited success. My son’s issues are very tied up with motor so I don’t know how generic the things that have worked for us are so you might try the flash card or something like that approach first. But really that didn’t help much for us. We had testing done at the beginning of the summer that looked like he had never been taught to decode. And we have worked with him and the school has worked with him (using mostly PG) and he looks like a whole language kid.

We tried LIPS without much success this summer (long story) but after we stopped (only two weeks) I tried the vowel circle on a big therapy ball like you can get from exercise place. Suddenly he could remember the vowel circle. I also have had him do ball bouncing with hand clapping to reading lists—especially the one from PG advance code manual that has one list with short vowels and another column with an e at the end. con cone bit bite and so on. It seems to help. We have done Neuronet for some time and I am basically applying principles from it to reading. The idea is that you get it automatic by integrating it with motor—you really don’t know something until you don’t have to think about it.

One exercise we have done that you could duplicate at home is to divide a piece of paper into 25 squares. Write a vowel at a time in a box–a, e, i, o, u. Then write a word with the long vowel in it. I wrote as many variations, using PG, as I could with one syllable words. Then he says aaa, traay, eee, treee, and so on as he steps on a stool and off. Do letter names on stool and then word off. We do the same thing on the floor on all fours touching an object with one hand at a time while chanting. We do it in time to a CD the therapist made but could use a metronome instead.

Now last night my son was reading and skippng around as usual. I was discouraged and finally said to him “read the last two sentences on these pages perfectly and you can go outside.” He had one false start and did it perfectly. I was shocked. I have done the same before and it has never really worked. I asked him if it was hard for him and he told me no. We read today again and I told him to do his “magic”. And he did—only skipping one word and misreading a couple others.

What happened? Well, we’ve been doing Neuronet exercises to integrate the vestibular and visual systems following eye therapy (that didn’t impact reading very much). He had improved on the exercises but not on his reading which was discouraging. The therapist said that was because the visual-vestibular wasn’t the only thing negatively impacting his reading. So we then added the exercise I described above. I can only think that he had certain habits and didn’t even realize until I pushed him, that he was capable of more. I know it wasn’t just the pushing because, believe me, I have done that before and it is never really been successful.

Now we are off to a reading consultant today that the neurologist recommended. Almost ready to cancel after his wonderful reading this morning but thought she might have more ideas. I will post any other ideas I get.

Beth

Laura,

I think that your son and my son (almost 7 yrs) have a very similar problem with reading. Before we started with PG he could read his name and about 5 very common sight words. He knew most of the consanant sounds but didn’t have the short vowel sounds down yet. As a preschooler, he started talking later than normal, had problems using the right pronoun (me, mine, you, he she), verb tense, and had problems learning his colours. His language problems are slowly improving over time.

We started at the beginning with PG in January and I could see improvement right away. When he got the idea that letters are pictures of sounds and that he could blend these sounds to form words, he could start to read. With a little practice, he could easily master the word building, phoneme manipulation, and spelling exercises. When we started with the advanced code, he really started to struggle. When he is reading, he mixes up th, ch, and sh in words. He still has problems with b/d, h/n, and short vowel sounds. He struggles mostly with the first letter (sound picture) in each word. It seemed that he would randomly go through a bunch of sounds until he hit the right one or until I gave him that sound. When I started paying more attention to this I noticed that this sound naming wasn’t random but often a letter further down in the word or a consistent sound substitution. He also has to sound out almost all short, common words even when they have ocurred in the previous sentence (instead of being able to recognize or remember them).

I just tested my son with the PG tests and he scored perfectly on the blending, segmenting, and auditory processing tests and got 31 out of 50 on the code knowledge test. I’m coming to the conclusion that his reading problem is not due to poor phonemic awareness. It occurred to me that when he is given the sounds orally as in the word building exercies, spelling exercies, and in the blending, segmenting, and aud. processing tests, he could work with the sounds and manage the tasks. But when he reads, he has to come up with the sounds, and this is where he struggles. I think that his problem is not a visual one but arises from the same source as his spoken language problems.

I’ve stopped giving my son new sounds (for now) from the advanced code. We practice daily in two half hour sessions and I am using the error correction tips from PG. I also guide with my finger as he reads because he also has problems keeping his place. I’m hoping that it will come, eventually, but I’m getting worried about how he will do in school without my help.

I would also like to hear from anyone with suggestions because I don’t know what else to do.

Brenda

My son had trouble keeping his place and with small words. The Developmental Optomotrist said that these was tracking issues, to be more specific saccadic eye movement and pursuit eye movement.

There are two schools of thought on tracking issues.

1. Jerome Rosner beleives that the best exercise for tracking issues is reading. He says that these issues resolve themselves as long as the child reads.

2. Now this view is the view of my son’s Developmental Optomotrist. She believes that if a child does not resolve tracking issues by the age of 7 they need vision therapy or glasses.

I think severity plays a role here. My son is 8 and we opted to go for the glasses and see if it would just resolve on its own. My son was a late reader and I equated late reading with late tracking. Someone else on here said that glasses weaken the eyes and cause dependence. I have a friend whose child had amazing results from these glasses related to focusing not tracking. Her child took off like a rocket in school and was taken off his IEP in first grade.

My son is much better after much practice reading. He doesn’t use the glasses, he rarely loses his place and is much better at the small words. So for now I am going with Rosner but I am keeping an eye on this.

Also my son has visual perception issues which are separate from tracking issues. I do visual perception exercises for him for Rosner’s book. Not sure if it has really helped but he has gotten much better at the exercises which were very difficult for him when we started out.

Beth,
Thanks for all those great suggestions! I’ve been using a book called “Developing your Child for Success” which has a large variety of exercises (vision, vestibular, etc…) and many are done with a metronome – which I think is really good for slow processing.

But please share any information you learn from the reading consultant! :-)

Wow! Your son does sound very similar to mine –- but younger.
What kind of spoken language problems does your son have? Has he received any remediation for speech or reading?

Linda,
I’ve heard this is a good book, but haven’t seen it yet. What is your opinion about it?

My son is 10 and going in to the 5th grade. He has been diagonosed a being dyslectic….which is much broader than I ever realized. He is a very creative and visual learner. He was not reversing letters…….yet constantly getting simple words incorrect..ie. “the” for “a” and “a” for “the”. He also was substituting words (in context) when reading. His has great struggles with fluency. We found a local tutor that has been working with him on Davis method……….this involves a special technique of focusing with the mind eye. He has made great inprovements this summer. If you are interested, I will forward more information to you.

Good luck

Laura,
Yes, you have hit upon the problem, he needs to practice reading to develop his fluidity. Also, make sure that when he sees the vowels in the small words he doesn’t automatically say the long vowel sounds, remember the letter names have been drilled into his head. Review Reading Reflex with him and then let him read aloud and error correct. I am asuming that you have used the error corrections that are included in RR. Just use the stories to error correct not for comprehension. I would not recommend that you use another program, it may confuse him. After all, when we learn a skill, lets say tennis, after learning it, we have to practice it to become better, this is the same with reading. Give him a rest with programs and just let him read books that he has interest in.

When I first got it I thought that it was a little simplistic and that it did not take the sensory integration issues so many of these kids have into consideration. I also have the other book you mentioned Developing Your Child For Success which really seems to be more of a sensory integration program. I plan on trying it after I finish Rosners program and Interactive Metronome.

I decided to start with Rosner because he had a plan that involves using exercises to improve visual perception that is rather simple and specific. I like it because it takes a very systematic approach toward developing a very specific skill.
My son has to use rubberbands to make specific shapes on a geoboard. Then I turn the shape 1/4 turn and he has to draw the shape which is now on a different place but is still the same shape. The shapes gradually increase in difficulty. We do 5 per day which takes about 1/2 hour.

My son tested at the Kindergarten level when we started. After about 7 weeks he is doing the 1st grade level shapes. He has gotten better at visualizing the shapes and visually problem solving the approach needed to make the shape. The other thing is that my son actually likes to do this. He was very proud the other day when I showed him the shapes he had difficulty with in the beginning and the ones he is working on now. He said, “Wow, I have gotten good at this.” My son has definitely improved with a very specific skill. It is hard to say how this has or will help him with other visual spacial areas.

I plan on introducing a few things he has had difficulty with in the past like that 100 piece puzzle that is left unfinished in my guest room. I am waiting until he gets a little further along. We will be working on the tangram puzzles that he had difficulty with. I am looking forward to see if these exercises will help him to better visualize the wall clock. Lastly and this is the big one, I am eager to see if he will find the math worksheets easier.

I will let you know.

Well, basically what I got from her was that PG was not multi sensory enough to address my son’s problems. Frankly, I had already concluded that which is why I had tried LIPS this summer. She is proposing a modified Orton gul. approach integrating several different programs. Don’t know real specifics right now—she is going to design a program for him. Now one thing she was talking about an approach where you say e, then egg, and then crack an egg. Sounds pretty wild to me. Guess the idea is to make the sound memorable.

She is proposing to train me to work with him so if I learn anything that could easily be applied by someone else, I will pass it along.

Beth

my child is now nearly 6 years old. she knows her alphabets. but she can’t master her sounds. she has learned that b is for bat, ball.
only from the small computer that she plays on. she becomes extremely upset when i try to sit her down to do reading. sing spell read and write hasn’t worked either. any other suggestions? saome days she doesn’t even want to do any school work that requires writing. i’ve considered unschooling her and teach her the every day needs to survive in the world, such as living skills.
thanks for any suggestion!!

Me personally….I would hold off on “unschooling.” Mostly because your daughter is so young. I recommend you try “Reading Reflex” with your daughter. You can find the book at most book stores and glance through it to see what you think. I think that’s a good place to start!

My son does not enjoy reading or writing either, but I do try to make it fun and we come up with “rewards” for hard work and small accomplishments.

Hey, don’t give up on her yet!!!!!! She’s still awfully young - lots of kids at this age are still struggling with exactly the same stuff. Yes, teach that life skill stuff — it’s important too — but reading opens so many doors. Many the scholarly genius and author didn’t read until late.

6 is a great age to start reading reflex. Don’t give up on her reading. Reading is the key to so much of what a child needs.

Can someone please explain to me what PG is? Thanks.

Interestingly, my son has a harder time with long vowels. He has a tendency to start with the short vowel sound and when it doesn’t make sense, then he’ll try it with the long vowel.

This was particularly noticable in the current word list we’re working on. The words are mostly two syllable and many of the vowels “say their name” (ex: defend, beside, devote, nomad, promote, provide). It has taken him three days to finally “get this.” Also, I was a little suprised by how I went over the vocabulary describing the meaning and then using each word in a sentence, and on the second day it was as if my son had never heard these words before! He could not remember anything I said! Even my daughter was surprised. Fortunately, today he could define some of them. But I worry that he’ll just forget if I don’t go over it again soon.

Unfortunately, my son really isn’t interested in reading any type of book. And if I don’t “encourage” (or “force”) him to read at least a few pages every day, he’ll forget how to read.

Beth,
In order for a child to learn how to read, you have to teach him how to blend, segment, and knowledge of the code, how is this way going to teach him anything but sight words? All kids who have problems reading are ready to accept reading instruction at a different time. What problem is your son having? Where is he stuck?

PG means Phono-Graphix. a decoding/spelling strategy program that many have had great success. A program that I have used for the past five years. Just go up to search and search for my name or PG and you will learn all about it. If you want, email me personally and I will explain it.

Shay,

My son can blend and segment perfectly if he knows the code. We have used PG for 2 1/2 years with limited success. My son can read, which is a great accomplishment, but not at grade level. He is about a year behind, which is what he was a year ago too. We have not closed that gap. He has not been able to achieve automaticity in the code. He has had an intensive, tutoring from us, and PG in school.

Beth

Short vowel for first try and long vowel if that doesn’t work *is* actually an effective first decoding rule. Later you can learn to identify which kind of syllable is likely to have which kind of vowel — a good rough rule of thumb is that one consonant before the next vowel usually means long sound, two consonants before next vowel usually means short sound (this explains the doubling consonanant rule so we have hope - hoping but hop - hopping with double p)
Exgtensive reading practice is vital to get this all down automatically.