OVERWHELMED!!

It is not appropriate for the school to discuss and offer “compensatory” strategies only. If your son has reading and spelling difficulties then these issues need to be addressed by a qualified professional (not a teacher’s aide!) on a regular basis. The programm of choice is typically the Orton Gillingham method. Programs based on this program include Wilson Reading System and Project Read. i would recommend visiting the site of the International Dyslexia Association and reading the abc’s of dyslexia. Also consider visiting the site for the Greenwood School in Putney, VT and reading their articles. Do not accept the offer of books on tape as a solution. The problem needs to be addressed directly. If they don’t have someone trained instruct your son then it’s time they trained someone. Good luck!

What has the kiddo learned? By “academic” scores — are those skills, or skills and knowledge? (THis is pretty critical as far as figuring out just how he can handle what kind of classroom settings).

Do you have the subtest scores for the IQ test? How were, say, the information and vocabulary scores?

CHeck out the self-contained setting carefully — in most cases, it’s *NOT* the route to going it alone and being successful. IF it’s the same one his brother was in, and it worked for him, that’s a very good sign. But what works for Kid A sometimes doesn’t work at all for Kid B. If the skills are a big problem, I’d want to know how they were going to be addressed in the SC class.

It might help to make some basic priorities — like, catching up on content knowledge (if there are gaps in that) or making it possible to keep developing that content knowledge despite his skills deficits, so that he can have choices & options later, or building the reading/writing skills that may be the one thing holding him back (don’t know from one paragraph posting ;)). (In many self-contained settings, the kids just get so far behind in both skills and knowledge that getting back into the swing of things even with all kinds of accommodations is next to impossible.) Would the taped textbooks / tape recorder be used in regular or sped classes?

to answer some of the questions that were posed to me by your posts….our son is lacking in skills/knowledge which is apparent in day to day schoolwork..which is why we were so persistent in having him tested appropriately. the tapes/recorders that were mentioned are for “self-contained” classroom to assist him in developing a bit more responsiblity to enable him to be mainstreamed later. I realize self contained classrooms are not by any means the ideal situation, but frankly, his skills are so far behind, putting him in regular class with any/all assistance will not help - his selfesteem at this point is so low, confidence is gone…..and since his subtests ALL show 30+points discrepancy, I don’t even know where to begin interms of specificis on IEP…I just dont want to walk into meeting and sign a paper that puts him in selfcontained class–-I want to have specific items for use on day to day basis. THANKS again for input

It is hard to make positive sorts of recommendations without having some information about what sort of a learner he is- the subtest scores would help there - that is why Sue asked. My guess- since your son is a fourth grader? is that most of your goals should focus on the development of basic skills in a multisensory way- the OG recommendation from Fran was a good one- and that reading and basic math skills should be the focus for the time being. Once he has a start on those- because with these scores you have a kiddo who is reading fat cat sat books and has difficulty with simple subtraction- you can start to think about making him more independant in a regular class. One thing you want to be very careful of: make yourself aware of the sort of instruction he has had for in reading and math the last few years so that it isn’t repeated- you already know it doesn’t work and more of the same in a more intense manner isn’t likely to change that. Good luck.

Robin

I’d be most concerned with getting his confidence back so I’d really, really want to know what that S-C class was like. I can imagine (fantasize :)) a nurturing, supportive teacher who’d guide him to independent learning. Knowing his learning strengths is a key to that — what does he do well with (in school or out)?

I sent you an e-mail, and had another thought. The tape recording of lectures, etc. would help in the regular classroom, if he has problems taking notes, keeping up, etc. but if he is put in a special ed classroom, it wouldn’t be needed. You need an Ortin-Gillingham based program, and when he gets a good foundation, he could probably be back in the regular classroom with accommodations and modification like the tape recorder, an aide to help him in the classroom for so many hours a day, etc. But first you have to get that good foundation and get him caught up.