I have been visiting this board for many years. Some of you may remember me as I posted infrequently about 2 years ago desperately seeking answers for my severely learning disabled son. At the time I received so many ideas and support from this board, I thought someone might now benefit from my story. My ds is now 9 years old and in 5th grade this year. The nightmare began when he was in 1st grade and the teachers noticed he was not able to learn like the rest of his classmates. The school evaluated him and told me he was at the bottom 1% of kids with severe learning disabilities and although his IQ was probably within normal range, because of his learning disabilities his IQ was testing low because he was not learning anything. And if we did not do something quickly, his IQ would continue to fall.
My ds was in Grade 2 by this time and he was crying every morning before school, hiding under the covers refusing to get up. He would have the school call me home from work saying he was sick at least once a month. He would say how stupid he was through his tears. He was only 7 years old and he hated everything about his life.
I was desperate. I took Orton Gillingham training, but that didn’t work for him. I put him through FastForWord without results. The dyslexia schools wouldn’t admit him because they didn’t feel they could teach him due to the severity of his problems. He went for eye exams, doing eye exercises and wearing glasses because they said he had no peripheral vision. (Yet, while playing hockey he could see a puck come up from behind him). I finally found a tutor that was willing to help him. After a year and a half of very expensive tutoring my son was finally beginning to read but he was still falling further and further behind in every subject area. Finally by grade 3 the teacher had him sitting in the corner colouring while his classmates received their instruction. They felt he just was not capable of anything else. I had bought so many programs that were suggested on this board, but I was not able to get through to him. Nothing was working.
As a last resort I tried Audiblox as recommended by Mary MN from this board. It has been a god-send for us. Within 3 weeks of beginning the program for an hour a day 4 days per week, ds was able to do his timed multiplication tables where previously he had failed. The teacher told me he was cheating because he was not capable of such work. Another 3 weeks later ds was able to pass his spelling tests each week with 10/10 and we only had to study for a few minutes. Previously it had taken all week and he would still get most wrong.
We have been doing AB for 84 weeks now and ds is working out of the same textbooks as his classmates, handing in the same assignments and he was moved off the modified program in Science at the end of Grade 4 on to the regular program and received a “C”! He also received 8/10 on his Electricity test at the end of the year. He has been in Grade 5 for a week now and he comes home every day telling me what they did in school and how much he LOVES school. He tells me “ Mom, you were right, I am smart”! AB has taken us a long time, but I clearly remember where we started from, and no parent should have to hear what the “experts” were telling me. My son was slow and unteachable, and no amount of teaching/tutoring was ever likely to help. He was going to fall further and further behind. That kind of heartbreak and hopelessness about ones own child is devastating. The fact that ds is where he is in 84 weeks is a MIRACLE.
I’m hoping this post may help other children who are as desperate as we were.
WendyBC
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Wendy,
How wonderful! I think it is great you shared your story! What an enccouragement to us all!
One question, did they feel your son had problems in the visual processsing area? Would you consider posting his IQ subtest scores so we could see his weak areas in order to know what profile AB would help?
Janis
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
I’m so tired of the melt downs with homework. Maybe Audiblox would help. Thanks for posting your results.
Three cheers! And may I note . . .
Those three dirty little four-letter words that everyone is afraid of, TIME and HARD WORK. You kept trying and when you found something that helped you kept at it. Congratulations, and I hope others learn from your example — no overnight miracle cures, but with time and hard work you can move a lot of mountains.
Wendy, I have been considering Audiblox
as the next step in our long remediation process. We are just finishing IM. I think you just convinced me!
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Janis,
Only the Developmental Optomistrist thought his peripheral vision was lacking, so we did the vision therapy and glasses, but on the IQ subtests he scored fine in these areas. My son’s biggest weakness was in the auditory area - he was not able to process spoken directions at all. His language and vocabulary was very far behind his peers. He did not know the names of objects. When trying to explain things to me he would get very frustrated as he could never find the right words. Lots of umms, umms, as he spoke. After about 10 months on Audiblox we hit a brick wall and were no longer making progress. I had a telephone interview with the people at AB and we decided he had a language/auditory problem (big time!) and put him on the language aspect of AB. Well, within 3 weeks my son started making great progress again. His language/vocabulary is coming along so well that he now uses “big” words when talking to me now. He impresses himself now! He still has some trouble with umms in his sentences, but he is improving all the time. He can now follow multistep directions which makes life in the classroom so much easier.
As for posting his subtest scores, I’d prefer not to, but as my son was the bottom 1% in terms of LD severity, I think any child with LD’s would probably benefit. The people at AB would be very helpful in determining which child would benefit.
Wendy
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Wendy,
Thank you so much. I appreciate the information. When you mention him now being able to follow multi-step directions, do you feel that he had auditory memory problems prior to the training? I think that is one of my child’s major problems. But it is funny that the people on here before that have recommended AB emphasized that it was better for kids with visual perceptual problems and I got the apparently mistaken idea that it was not great for language/auditory problems. It is certainly one of the more reasonably priced programs, and I respect them for that at the very least!
Janis
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Hi Janis,
Yes, an auditory memory problem was my son’s BIGGEST weakness. I tried to increase his digit span by reading sets of numbers to him every day - which did not yield results. I also tried Earobics but it only frustrated him. There was a game on FastForWord that he could not move forward on which dealt with auditory memory. I bought workbooks and did the exercises with him… no results. He could not cope in the classroom due to this deficit. Even at home I had to break directions down one by one for him. Although his visual perception wasn’t great, it was deemed a strength for him and it was suggested as a manner in which to teach him, because it was the only relative strength he had.
AB worked great for his language problem and it was so simple to do that aspect of the program and as I mentioned, it’s the only thing that has worked for him. I did move on to the customized program of AB when we started with the language aspect because we stopped making gains due to his language issues. Once we did that we really started to make progress again.
Wendy
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Wendy,
When you speak of the customized program of AB, does that mean the materials were in addition to the original AB kit?
Janis
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Janis,
The language aspect can be done at home for no additional cost to the original program (they explain how to do this in their book “The Right to Read”). We moved on to a customized program because we had been doing AB for 10 months and had stopped making gains. On the telephone interview to AB they cited language issues as the reason for this and recommended starting the language portion, which we did, but they also customized ds program at that time so that he could get a jump start and move forward again. Which he did. The customized program does cost extra, but is only recommended in severe cases - which ds definitely was. I would think in most cases the regular program combined with the language aspect (if need be) is enough without the added cost of the customized program.
Wendy
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Wendy,
Thank you so much for this invaluable input! A parent or teacher recommendation for a product means so much more than the ads for a product! At least now I’d know what to ask for: the regular kit plus the language component.
Janis
Re: Audiblox Results (long)
Janis,
The language component is included in the regular program, so you don’t need to request it separately. Only the customized program - if needed, would be extra.
Wendy
Wonderful!, thanks for sharing. HOpe you and your son continue to flourish.