I’ve been so busy advocating for my autistic son that I am just now getting around to focusing on my other son’s learning issues. I started him in kindergarten late because his preschool teachers and I agreed that he was behind regarding academic skills. Last summer, when he was still 5, I had language and neuro-psych evaluations done. He was a year ahead in language but had visual processing issues. End result is that he comes across articulate and intelligent but has been very late in learning his ABCs. I’m sure he’ll fall into the LD/gifted catagory. He’s also kind of clumsy and way too sensitive. In other words… he’s just like his mother. My autistic son is the opposite, hyposensitive, too independent, very strong, great balance, seriously language impaired and could identify every letter of the alphabet, upper and lower case, by the time he turned 2 (didn’t call me mommy for another year). At 5 my autistic son is way ahead in the reading game (automatically decoding without having been taught the rules) but my other son (now 6 years old) is struggling. I have started doing hooked on phonics with them at home. It is so hard for my older son to see his younger, disabled brother breeze through the hooked on phonics while he keeps struggling along. The hooked on phonics looks good to me because ot not only teaches the phonics but provides the opportunity to “memorize the shape of the words” as well. I know that’s how I learned to read. It took me a long time but once I had memorized the shape of enough words I could read a lot without struggling too much. I could never remember the names of characters in books because I never got around to sounding them out, I just recognized the shape. Later, when I started taking biology classes, I had to start all over again because of the new words. I’m getting a clear picture of how both my son and myself process and remember visual information. We both have difficulty recognizing faces but once we get them into our long term memory they stay put. It seems to be the same with learning to recognize letters and words… which are two different things entirely. We have to learn the letters first, before we can connect the sound to them. Then… remembering each individual letter in a word is another challenge all together and in the right order??? So we have to slowly and painfully sound out each letter of a word, hoping we don’t forget each piece while we’re at it, until the shape itself is memorized and connected with the sound of the whole word. And then we’re expected to learn to write??? Each letter then becomes a challenge again. So how are we supposed to complete a sentence? I had to learn two important things before I could write… (1) how to use a computer (2) PATIENCE. Without either of those things, I would not be able to write this. I just hope I’m able to express what I am trying to say in a way that you can understand. Perhaps I’m just ignorant when it comes to the visual processing exercises but so much time and effort is needed for some of us to learn to read and write that these “exercises” seem like a waste of valuable time and energy to me. Memorizing the faces of American Presidents probably isn’t going to help me remember the face of my next door neighbor, let alone doing visual calisthenics. If the processing changes at all, it is incrementally over a long period of time and the the work of learning to read and write and recognize my neighbor are what will help in the long run. But maybe I’m wrong or maybe I’m right but only about people that learn the way I do for whatever the reasons are that I learn the way I do. I don’t know but I wanted to share my perspective because I know a lot of us are trying to do whatever we can for our children and need all the perspective we can get. I think the important thing to remember is that even if there isn’t a magic pill or therapy that can make everything all better, us LDers can succeed with time and effort. Some of us will never make good air traffic controllers but I know there are some good doctors and lawyers among us.
Speaking of visual processing,
breaking up your paragraphs would enable people to actually read your post.
your story makes sense to me
not because that is how I learn, but it sounds a lot like my son-never learning the names of characters in books? That is him! Oh, how frustrating that has been for me-how many times can I tell him the name without going crazy. So, please, clarify-you would have read a story about “Charlotte” and you had the shape of that word stored and when you read the shape you thought of???????-thats what Im missing-did you know it was a person and carry that concept as you continued? But you were just unable(or unwilling to take the time)to sound it out and pronounce it? or were you unable to comprehend the storyline with that chunk missing?
I strongly suspect my LD son learns like his dad. I see little things here and there that tell me this, but dad is VERY sensitive about the subject-once in awhile he will make a little concession about Blake being like him, but usually he is very defensive about any reading struggles he may have had(and Im sure it was a painful time-LD was not even acknowledged back then-you were either lazy or stupid)
But, he has certainly coped-he has a PhD. He will never read for pleasure but he got this far.
I often remind myself of that when the frustration and worry build with my son-little by little, he will find his way. Of course I still feel obligated to do what I can to help my son since there are so many programs available now that were not around when DH was young. But, you DO make a worthwhile point-we shouldnt surround them with SO many theories and programs, we take away the time,energy, or motivation they may need to find their own solution
Re: Learning to read and write (and why I am skeptical of vi
Hi Rose,
You might want to try using Phonographix with your son. It’s one of the best “at home” reading programs; very easy to do, helps facilitate quick progress, and you can get the book at almost any book store (or from Amazon). If you do a search here, you’ll find a lot of discussion about Phonographix.
Re: your story makes sense to me
To clarify… if I saw the shape of the name “Charlotte” I would know that was the benevolent spider. Stopping to sound out the name so I could say it out loud would not help me with comprhension. As a matter of fact, stopping to sound out the name could easily interfere with my comprehension. So it’s not laziness that keeps me from taking the time to get to know the names better, it’s a matter of priorities. Do I want to spend time deciding whether or not I really know the characters name or do I want to understand the sentence? It’s not like I’m even consious of not being able to say the name outloud unless it comes up in conversation for some reason. Keep in mind how embarassing it can be when you claim to have read a book but when are asked questions about the characters and can’t answer them. I remember that happening in front of a college class on the first day of the semester. I was younger and didn’t yet understand my challenges and I didn’t go back to the class. It was only one of many classes I dropped out of. It’s easy to lose patience with a seemingly intelligent child who appears to not be trying hard enough. Knowing as much as I do from my own experience, I am still guilty of becoming impatient with my son. Try to remember that if it’s frustrating for you to watch, it’s probably even more frustrating for him to experience. We should be grateful that our children continue to try even though the challenges are so great.
S, you are a jerk!
By the way, most of us know enough to capitalize the first word in a sentence, so you might consider withholding your criticism of other people’s writing.
thank you m
i appreciate input from anyone who has BTDT. It is next to impossible for someone who learns one way to truly understand a different method. I can give it lip service but I dont ‘get it’. And I do think I make mistakes like harping on him to cprrectly pronounce a character name without even a vague clue that Im interfering with comprehension-I think Im doing a goo thing
And I also think I am going to reread the Davis book-he inspired me thiss way when I originally read it
I can relate to Rose's style, to
Skipping over or not retaining the character’s names is something I have experienced also. I think it may have something to do with being a “global” learner. We see the entire “whole” picture, but don’t carefully examine all its itty-bitty parts. There can be advantages and disadvantages to this type of learning style.
When it comes to test taking and exams, some teachers and schools seem to focus on the recalling of rote data: dates, names, places, etc. It can be really boring to some of us who are more interested in what actually happened. The global learner needs to list all that stuff out that he normally just skims while reading and then deliberately memorize it for the test . The other (fun)scenario is when the actually content, purpose, and meat of the material is requested by theexaminer. The global learner will do extremely well analyzing and explaining . The higher level critical thinking skills are there! Unfortunately, in order to perform well and demonstrate how much he really knows, it will become necessary to make that deliberate effort to list all those details.
I think it can be a real benefit or “gift” to be this type of learner if he is able to channel himself into particular professions. My son was labeled severely dyslexic and a global learner. He is a real genius when it comes to chess and orchestrating military battlefields while playing war games. In Biology class, he would spend a brief time studying his diagram of dissection. Closing his text, he then operates quickly without error and proceeds to assists the rest of the class with dissection for the next 20 minutes. There is no way, most folks can do this. Exercises like this are very natural and fun for him. Memorizing terminology, on the other hand, is sheer torture. He has some very brilliant abilities, we just need to play catch up for all the years he was not reading and absorbing grammar and vocab. Hopefully he one day gets to the point where he is able to use his “gift”.
BTW, Rose, by hitting the enter bar twice, you can break your posts into paragraphs.:)
Agreed
I think that’s one of the biggest barriers to working with my LD daughter. Reading was a snap for me. I “don’t get” the way her brain works. Very frustrating for both of us.
Sounds liks a surgeon to me !
Like my LD daughter who loves animals. She has the computer game “Zoo Tycoon”. She creates zoos, and comes up with these really “creative” ideas re: viewing the animals. Charges admission, keeps the animals habitats conducive to good health, etc. Has to run it like a “business”. Also loves “Roller Coaster Tycoon” which is the same, except she has to “run” a theme park. My husband commented the other day that she has a more profitable and cleaner park than he can create (has to keep the rides running, enough concession booths, happy attendees, etc.)- Shows these kids can be successful if they find something they love.
We prayed she’d get a good topic for FCAT writing. She got the one about your favorite game: She used Zoo Tycoon. Gosh, she was interested, it was about animals - here’s hoping she scored at least passing!
Re: Speaking of visual processing,
I really do truly appreciate posts broken into paragraphs. They are much easier for me to read, actually to skim. I prefer to skim many posts and long posts (like mine) are skimmed more readily for information of interest when presented in shorter paragraphs. Thanks to all who paragraph.
Re: Speaking of visual processing,
And extra thanks to those who make requests in such a professional and friendly manner!
I don’t think it is appropriate to criticize spelling, grammar, or even opinions on a board like this, where most of us are here to help children struggling with the same issues.
As you can tell by the friendly, kind tone of Anitya’s post, more can be done with a positive, encouraging attitude that focuses on problem-solving through clear communication, with respect for all involved…
Re: Sounds liks a surgeon to me !
Must have asked all the kids the same—my son talked about kickball!!
I am not sure how you can write a whole essay about kickball so it does have me worried!!
Beth
Re: Learning to read and write (and why I am skeptical of vi
Dear Rose,
Thank you so much for sharing your reading experience with the list, which helps me understanding my daughter’s spelling problems. I have a 6 years and 4 month old child who reads brilliantly, but can’t spell at all. I have been wondering how she can manage to read at the level of an eight or nine year old but can’t even spell very simple words. Her school teachers also believe that she needs some individual help with spelling. As I can see now, she simply sees the whole word, but not the letters within. Her teachers say that she has an excellent visual memory which makes sense — she remembered the brand of coffee her daddy drank at 1 1/2. But visual memory and spelling, now I see, come as two separate things. So, probably, her visual memory is interfering her spelling because she doesn’t have to learn to use phonetic rules to decode the words, thus, she is not learning how to spell. Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Helan
We use Hooked on Phoics as one of our many home programs. My daugher really likes putting the stars on the chart and after we complete a level she gets a surprise or fun outing. She likes the books but did not like listening to the tapes. She said they were boring.