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low cognitive; word families or lindamood?

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

This is about the 7 year old boy in my post below about word families.

Partial WISC III results: VIQ 78 PIQ 89; 11 point difference

Lack of English proficiency pulled down his VIQ. He is not proficient in his first language either (Malaysian). Auditory processing 72; Visual processing 104. He enjoyed nonverbal tasks where he used his hands.

He also sees the Speech and Language therapist for vocabulary. He’s not making good progress there either.

He sees me for reading. He has finally learned his alphabets after 4 months (30 minutes 3 x a week) through looking at flash cards that has letters with picture clues and by making him write on the air while saying the name, picture and the sound. I also make him draw the picture clue ebcause he’s good at drawing. He cannot blend.

Now that I have received the partial WISC results, I’m thinking about what reading program to use with him. Should he even be with me or should he be in ESL? We have a separate ESL department. Given that his auditory processing is very low, should I use Lindamood? Given that he is a visual learner, should I use word families and make him “memorize” words? I don’t like this, but maybe that’s the only way for him to learn??? Thanks for your help!!!!

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/13/2003 - 4:19 PM

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I am a Title 1 remedial reading teacher, who is ESL certified.

Yes, this student needs to be in ESL. Also, Reading Reflex may help him.
The book costs under $20 and everything needed is included in the book.
Pages to cut out and cut apart - even stories are included. He will enjoy “manipulating” the letters as he learns sounds and putting those
sounds into words. Excellent program.

BE

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/13/2003 - 10:55 PM

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I’ve done it with 65’s who have poor P.A. The P.A. testing is really what guides us to this end. Some 65’s have good P.A. and can do whole word just fine…just can’t memorize so well and takes lots of repetitions. Then, there are others who don’t know that the spoken word “Boat” has three sounds—can’t segment & blend. Those are the ones that make no progress at all with whole word, I feel, though not a lot of research to support. I’ve done LmB with good results, except slower pace than LD’s.

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/14/2003 - 12:56 AM

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Yes, he’s got poor phonological awareness too when I tested him on this. Okay, I’ll do Lindamood with a lot of modifications with the language load. Thanks!

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/14/2003 - 3:16 AM

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This kid needs to be tested in both langauges and with an interpreter present…He is learning TWO LANGUAGES!!! Do you realize that he is assimilating two different languages, their structure, grammar, vocabulary..HE DOES NOT HAVE A LOW IQ… He has a language difference and it may not be a disorder..

He needs to be serviced by an SLP who is familiar with the Malayasian language and if the SLP is not proficient in this language then she needs to find an interpreter to assist her in treating him.

One of my last practicums as an SLP is working with culturally diverse people… I have to use an interpreter and modify my assessments…otherwise they would be incorrect…

Sorry to come down so hard on you but this is something that is being crammed down my throat as an SLP, especially here in California with the cultural diversity throughout the State…The University that I attend the SLP program is nationally known for their culturally diverse program. We have SLP’s in training who are vietnamese, chinese, hearing impaired, hispanic, columbian, japanese, black, white, etc…

I am grateful for the diversity of this program because other universities require that you pass an hearing test if you are to attend their program…I wouldn’t have been able to pursue this dream otherwise…

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/14/2003 - 3:32 AM

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It’s doubly tough for kids who have LD issues *and* have to deal with two languages (and the teachers too, ferreting out what to do when is tough!) Current consensus is teach systematically, multisensory — a la Lindamood.
Though I mihgt toss in a few word families if we needed to get to something with *meaning* for morale purposes.

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/14/2003 - 4:41 PM

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There are lots of kids around here learning two and three languages who do not show language or reading delays. I note that in the original post it was stated that the child is *also* not fluent in his first language. This is what flags a real problem. I would of course check how and when and under what conditions this testing was done, as far as possible, and keep an open mind about his potential for improvement. But a child who is functioning poolrly in his home language definitely needs some kind of extra help. Yes, lots of second-language learners have been unfairly marked down on IQ, and yes, this is very damaging. But be careful not to swing the pendulum too far and refuse to admit that a second-language learner *may* sometimes (the usual 2 to 5 percent, same as any other population) have a low IQ.

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/14/2003 - 4:52 PM

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I always teach a strong phonics sound-symbol program *and* use phonic analysis to teach high-frequency words in parallel *and* teach handwriting. The phonics makes the high-frequency words easy to differentiate even if the kid doesn’t know all the vowel rules yet. If I get a kid early enough, we never have the and-the-or or the of-for-from confusions so typical in kids first taught by memorization. I don’t present anything as a total “sight” word, ever; we always track left to right and use all the phonic clues we know. The high-frequency words allow the kid to get something out of reading, be motivated to read, and to develop fluency by reading stories from the beginning. The handwriting teaches left-to-right tracking, differentiates those words even better, and if I get a kid early enough avoids the b-d-p-q confusion. It also reinforces the phonic analysis and starts to teach spelling. It is not hard to teach a multiple-strand program like this; a good phonics-based program, a good high-frequency pre-primer, lots of file cards, and a whiteboard and markers and you’re ready to go. It is the attitude and approach of teaching reading as a logical process and phonics as a tool to unlock meaning, and taking time to do it right, that makes it work.

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/15/2003 - 1:42 AM

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I understand what you are saying but at times kids are earmarked as having a low IQ when underlying it is a langauge disorder as most IQ tests are language based and are biased towards english speakers…

That is why I suggested having him tested in both langauges to see where the disorder is and which language he is stronger in.

At this point in time labeling this child has having a low IQ is inappropriate IMHO.. My own daughter had a VIQ of 70 when she was 6 years old…She is not MR, she is HI, ADHD and had a language based disorder..

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/19/2003 - 1:15 AM

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I am new to this post and was just wondering, Pattim, how you raised your daughters IQ so high or was she simply misdiagnosed. I have a similar problem with my 9 year old son being labled with being a “slow learner” due to low IQ scores. He was later diagonised with a fairly severe langauge disability. I never believed the IQ scores . Even his teacher did not believe it. Just curious as to what specifically you did to raise her scores.

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