I have a 9 year old daughter who is dyslexic. I had her evaluated two years ago and the assesments states, “…puts her at risk for frustration and a possible learning disability…”. The key word is “possible”. She has been seeing a tutor for remedial instruction in decoding using the Orton Gillingham method. This was working in third grade but does NOT seem to be working anymore. She attends parochial school and is in a mainstreamed class. I am now faced with my daughter’s refusal to attend the tutoring sessions and refuses to use any of the “tricks” she is taught. She feels that using these “tricks” is like a red flag that she is “dumb”. I am currently trying to find a new tutor for her, and possibly have her assesed again. The school she attends has been very helpful and give her extra time to complete tasks, but I find that she has become more frustrated especially with writing/essay assignments. The process of finding the proper help and information has become almost impossible and very confusing for me. It has been suggested to (by another parent) that I have her assessed again and have the Department of Education possibly pay for the help she needs. I have been told that some parents even hire an attorney for this. This is really where my confusion comes in. Legal advise/help????? I would also like to find a parent support group, a place where I could meet other parents who share my frustration and share information/suggestions. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thank you!
Re: Need Guidance
You can have the public school evaluate her. They are legally required to do so if you request it in writing. However, if you want remediation from them, you have to enroll her in public school or transport her to the public school for remediation.
Perhaps your daughter also needs help with writing. A good assessment (which public schools do not always provide) can give you some insight.
I would def. get another assessment since it appears there are some new isssues.
Beth
Re: Need Guidance
First, I want to thank you for your quick response and your support. I am from New York City. I am very concerned about sending my daughter to Public School. Some of the things that I see children at her age doing, is not something that I want her exposed to. The school she currently attends, is a very small parochial school and the staff know ALL the children. It’s very difficult for a child to get lost in the shuffle or not noticed. This is the type of environment that I want her in. The school is working with me to get her the help she needs. For examples they give her extra time and if she scores low on an exam, they allow her to retest. However, they don’t have the resources to provide the necessary tutoring. I am currently looking for another tutor in hope that the change helps. Knowing that there are other parents out there that share my frustrations and pain associated with helping an LD child, is very comforting and a great place to vent. By the way, she is an only child.
Thank you
Mabel
NY city mom here...
Hi Mabel - Let me share with you what I’ve learned so far…
My dyslexic son is also in private (non-parochial) school for the reasons you have probably chosen your school as well . We just didn’t feel he’d do well in the large classes and chaotic environment of the NYC public school system. However, legally, we are entitled to services through the board of education if our children are classified as LD. Just because we’ve opted for private school doesn’t mean the government doesn’t have an obligation to provide services. Having said that, I don’t know of many private school families that get help through the board of ed. b/c the logistics of getting services that way is a nightmare. Most private school families I know get services privately, tutors, speech /language etc. But you are entitled to a board of ed. assessment of your daughter. There are also many private practitioners who can assess her, and it seems like you should have her assessed one way or the other. Furthermore, there are private LD schools that accept state funding, so if you determine she would benefit from a special school there are some places you can go and get full or partial tuition reimbursement. And yes, most people I know that have been successful in doing this have used attorneys. I am presently using an attorney to get tuition reimbursement and bus transportation for next year. You can email me directly if you want names of people I know of…. good luck. There are lots of smart mom’s on this board that can guide you.
Re: Need Guidance
I’m one of those professional teachers who hangs around.
One thing you say raises a red flag for me. You say your daughter doesn’t want to use the “tricks” she is being taught in Orton-Gillingham. Properly taught, OG or any other solid phonics/linguistics based program is absolutely, completely, totally the *opposite* of a bag of tricks. In general, kids in the school system are exposed to sight memorization or “whole-language”, and it is there in the school that they get a bag of tricks — if it starts with e and is long it says elephant (OK until you get to Grade 3 and are supposed to read energetic, elementary, …); if you don’t know the word, skip and guess from the picture; make up your own idea of how you think the sentence should end; and so on. OG and any other decent program is exactly the opposite of this — learn the sounds of English and the spelling symbols that rrepresent them, read and write consistently from left to right period, and read every word period; above all be systematic and approach reading as logic rather than mystical magic. Very rarely a “trick” may be used to help learn a particularly difficult concept, for example air-writing a letter to remember how the shape feels (This can be made unembarrassing by tracing the letter shape with a finger on the desk). But is your daughter’s tutoring program has degenerated into a series of quick tricks, then something is wroing with the program. You need to look for another better-qualified tutor.
Well, first off, we don’t give legal advice, we just give mom advice. Additionally, if you tell us where you are from, someone on the board might be somewhere close to you or know of a support group you can join.
Secondly, I don’t think that, having had her in a parochial school, the public school is going to be held responsible for her not progressing. They cannot be sued for her problems if they have not had the “opportunity” to remediate her. Besides, often you do not have to resort to suit, just letter writing and PERSISTENCE.
How are the public schools in your area? Would you consider public school?
There are moms with kids in public school, private school and home schooled on this board. We even have some exceptional professionals that frequent these boards and offer advise. (I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth!)
I agree with your friend regarding getting your daughter reassessed. Was this done at the parochial school before? In public school, they usually suggest re-evaluation about every 3 years (moms, if I’m wrong, please feel free to jump in and correct). The fact that your daughter was at risk for LD is significant. It may be that, because she’s older now, she will qualify. You need to get on your State Department of Education website to see what the criteria is in your state. In Florida, it’s 15 pts. between IQ and SS under age 11 and 23 above.
I remember when my daughter was evaluated the doctor said (circling her verbal IQ), “THIS is why she is so frustrated”. You need to work on that frustration with your daughter. Another avenue is the use of assistive technology (computer) for reading and writing assignments WHILE she is being remediated (NOT IN LIEU OF REMEDIATION). Use of a computer oftentimes helps and my daughter has been using one since 3rd grade, public school provided, though it was QUITE a battle.
Another good website is www.wrightslaw.com. Peter Wright is a renowned spec ed attorney and is coming to your local Jacksonville, Florida area in May, 2003! :-). You will gain a wealth of info just by reading his site .
Hang in there, mom, you’re in friendly territory. Feel free to ask any other questions.