Lindamood-Bell V & V

I am a PACE provider, and I got interested in V&V for a child who had a lot of comprehension difficulties. I bought the V&V kit, read it and implemented the program with no difficulty. I have since used it several times with good results in each situation. If you are up to it, I think you could work with your son yourself.I was doing it for 20 minutes three times per week. Good luck!

You also can go for the training yourself. Call Lindamood and ask when the training is going to be offerred near you. I think it is just one day for V & V and it would be cheaper than the rates you are quoting.

Also, the centers are the most expensive places to get therapy. A private tutor would be likely to be just as good and more flexible.

Beth

They feel protective of their reputation, so they’re hesitant to recommend that anybody “underqualified” do it. This is fine if you’ve got the bucks but obviously there’s a lot you can do with what you’d save doing it yourself!

V/V is not as tough to learn to do as the other LMB programs, but you do have to commit the time and mental energy.

Have you used this program with older (11 year old) NLD children? My son has the typical inferential comprehension problems of an NLD child… still on grade level, but YEARS behind his decoding level, and dropping each year.

I have wondered whether V&V might be appropriate, but then I heard Sue Thompson say that she had been completely unsuccessful with this with middle school aged NLD kids. (though she did say it was probably worthwhile with early elementary kids)

I was wondering what your experience had been.

Karen

Thanks for your messages. I’d be happy to take the training, but my son refuses to work with me on anything. Does anyone have a clue about the best way to find a good V&V tutor in the DC area? Thanks.

I looked and looked for a Lindamood trained person two years ago without any luck. Now I suddenly have two of them!!! Of course, both of them have been trained since I looked so maybe it has become more popular. Ask everyone you know, call the local chapter of International Dyslexia Association (someone trained in one program may be trained in another).

One of the individuals I have found is an audiologist and the other a speech and language therapist so another idea is to try and tap into those networks. Also, one of the individuals teaches at a pilot Lindamood program at a public school (does private therapy as well) so maybe you could see if anything like that exists in your area. Finally, you might try calling some of the private LD schools there and see what you can find out from them.

Beth

Last year my son worked with a speech/language pathologist who did “V&V” exercises with him. Many SLPs who are trained to teach reading know how to do it.

In my opinion, Lindamood-Bell methods can be very effective, but I am turned off by their corporate, profit-oriented marketing. Have you ever seen their slick brochures? I’ve been on their mailing lsit ever since I made one phone call asking them a few questions. They do not have a monopoly on good instruction! In fact some professionals have told me that most of their instructors are not SLPs, have less training, and can be pretty rigid at going through V&V by the book without deviating from any of the lessons, instead of modifying it to what a child really needs and that some children are very turned off by this.

In the Washington area, I would start by calling SLPs who work with children. Many SLPs who are trained in Phonographix may also know V&V. You could get a list from ReadAmerica (www.readamerica.net).

I think there is a clinic called Washington Reads with many thereapists including Cathy Hosty. There is also the Annandale Fluency Clinic which does a lot of Lindamood stuff.

Good luck!

I also happened to think that Shay, who posts on the reading bulletin board, teaches V & V with her students. I think she lives in Fairfax, VA. She also may be connected to others in the D.C. area who know the program. So you might ask the same question on that bulletin board. She doesn’t read this one.

Beth

Thanks for your suggestions. My son was tested by Kathy Hosty and received Phonographix at the Metropolitan Speech Pathology Group that she heads. I will give her a call to see if she has any suggestions for V&V tutors. My son is at a private LD school and I purchased the V&V kit for his S/L therapist, but I don’t think she has been using it intensively. I’m hoping to find someone to work with him over the summer in a fairly concentrated manner (3x/wk) on comprehension and reasoning.

Thanks. I’ll post for Shay on the Reading board.

Sally,
I’m also from DC and my then 10-11 year old son did V/V last summer for five weeks. He got tested again in March (they offered it for free) and he made some improvement in some areas, had a bit of regression in others and no progress on his worst area of critical thinking. Their recommendation—six more weeks of V/V three hours a day! I don’t think so. 1) It’s very expensive 2) It’s very time consuming 3) My son resented it, still resents ‘til now—says he already knew how to make pictures in his mind.

In a normal place, contacting an SLP might be a good way to find someone with V/V training as most of them do—but we’re talking about Washington. When I first sought an SLP, I made calls to well over twenty places just to try to get my son tested—every place said they had no availability but would put me on a waiting list. I am still waiting to get called back five years later. I managed through connections to finally get my son seen at a really good language place—probably the best in DC—and it is the place that sponsors the Read America clinic. I spent huge amounts of money there—two summers where my son had Fastforward 1 and 2 in addition to private therapy 3 x a week, two school years with therapy 2x a week, and one summer with therapy 3x a week. And at the end of all that, they said they had no place for him the next school year.

So last summer I had no choice really left but V/V, where at least they have availability. My son clearly needs more work, but he absolutely will not go to LMB or entertain V/V. He will still at the margin work with me, so I am considering Brainskills (which does not resemble V/V at all) combined with a writing program to help him organize his thoughts.

I dislike being so pessimistic, but I have become incredibly tired trying to find help in DC, which seems so out of reach even if you are willing to pay whatever it takes.

(P.S. I have a friend who may have the name of a V/V private tutor—I can email you separately if I can get it.)

Sally,
I’m also from DC and my then 10-11 year old son did V/V last summer for five weeks. He got tested again in March (they offered it for free) and he made some improvement in some areas, had a bit of regression in others and no progress on his worst area of critical thinking. Their recommendation—six more weeks of V/V three hours a day! I don’t think so. 1) It’s very expensive 2) It’s very time consuming 3) My son resented it, still resents ‘til now—says he already knew how to make pictures in his mind.

In a normal place, contacting an SLP might be a good way to find someone with V/V training as most of them do—but we’re talking about Washington. When I first sought an SLP, I made calls to well over twenty places just to try to get my son tested—every place said they had no availability but would put me on a waiting list. I am still waiting to get called back five years later. I managed through connections to finally get my son seen at a really good language place—probably the best in DC—and it is the place that sponsors the Read America clinic. I spent huge amounts of money there—two summers where my son had Fastforward 1 and 2 in addition to private therapy 3 x a week, two school years with therapy 2x a week, and one summer with therapy 3x a week. And at the end of all that, they said they had no place for him the next school year.

So last summer I had no choice really left but V/V, where at least they have availability. My son clearly needs more work, but he absolutely will not go to LMB or entertain V/V. He will still at the margin work with me, so I am considering Brainskills (which does not resemble V/V at all) combined with a writing program to help him organize his thoughts.

I dislike being so pessimistic, but I have become incredibly tired trying to find help in DC, which seems so out of reach even if you are willing to pay whatever it takes.

(P.S. I have a friend who may have the name of a V/V private tutor—I can email you separately if I can get it.)

Marie — sounds like you have been through the wringer getting services for your son! It seems like the demand is way higher in this town than the supply of good therapists (S/L, OT, etc.). I’ve worked with two S/L groups here in DC. The S/L person that is currently providing therapy to my son doesn’t seem to know much about the V&V program. She is the one I bought the V&V kit for. I was hoping she would incorporate it into her work with him during the school year, but I’ve seen no sign that has happened. I wish my son would work with me, it would be a lot easier, but it has proved very difficult in the past. He has a very bright part time sitter, I’m even thinking she might be able to go over the materials and work with him during the summer.
Sally

Sally, I responded on the other board. Call neuropsychologists and private schools in your area. They may have a list of individuals who tutor using LMB methods. That’s how I get many of my referrals.

The LMB people will never recommend anyone outside of their own tutors at their regional centers. They say that since they don’t evaluate any of the people who take their training courses, they don’t feel comfortable recommending them either. I’m certain it’s because they don’t want to take business away from their regional centers. C’est la vie!

Good luck. I hope you find someone.