Reccomended Reading?

I have read alot of books. If I were to recommed one to start with I would read, Mel Levine’s “A Mind at a Time”

It really helped me see my son beyond the labels bestowed by the school. It also eased my mind because it gave me great insight to the idea that LD does not mean, not smart.

Search this website for the article “Understanding tests and measurements” by Pete Wright.

It explains what test scores really mean and helped me a lot.

If her area of difficulty is reading I recommend “You Don’t Have to be Dyslexic” by Joan Smith. It does not really address test scores etc., but discusses three types of dyslexia and type of remediation available. I found it very helpful.

Also, you might want to visit Pete Wright’s website, wrightslaw.com. It has tons of information about special education law, which may help you to better understand all that you can do to help your child, as well as what is considered “appropriate” for a child with learning differences.

Reading is the most common problem, and something you wnat to remediate as fast as you can.

Good resources:

“Why Johnny Can’t Read”, Rudolph Flesch: older and polemic but still covers the ground.

“Learning To Read: The Great Debate”, Jean Chall: explains the “reading wars” and gives you *factual* arguments to get more effective programs for your child.

“Why Our Children Can’t Read”, McGuiness: by author of Reading Reflex (known as RR in the jargon) and Phonographix (known as PG in the jargon): covers the methods well; tends to advertise their own programs a little too much and put down others, but otherwise excellent.

LDOnline LD In Depth — many articles on this site, but the biggie is the NIH/NICHD (government acronyms, National Institure of Health) study, I believe also titled just “Teaching Reading” or something similar. Gives execllent outline of what works in a reading program; also gives you *factual* arguments to take back to your school.

“Reading Reflex” the parent manual for Reading Reflex. Not the only; despite author’s claims, they didn’t discover fire and invent the wheel. However many people here have used this program with success; talk to Shay on Teaching Reading board for experiences.

LindaMood Bell (known as LMB, LmB in the jargon). A basic phonemic awareness program — known as PA in the jargon; ability to discriminate and work with the sounds of language, a vital skill for reading — known as LiPs is their first and best known program. Based on the best linguistic knowledge and good pedagogical methods. Now they are adding a specific reading teaching program called Seeing Stars. They also have Visualizing and Verbalizing (known as V/V in the jargon) which is a comprehension program. These methods are often taught in special centers which generally have received excellent reviews here. Some private providers also teach these programs indepently from the company. You can now buy a LiPs program from linguisystems.com, and you can buy the other manuals from the company.

All Kinds of Minds is great. To help you learn the way this IEP process works so you can better help your child, From Emotions to Advocacy by Peter Wright has been invaluable to me. This book also has a section on understanding the test scores. Good Luck.

Learning Disabilities form A to Z A parent’s Guide to Learning Disabilities from Preschool to Adulthood By Corinne Smith and Lisa Strick is a much better book for a parent new to LD. Mel Levine’s book is excellent, but I think someone new to this would find Learning Disabilities A to Z a much easier, more concise book to read.