Already getting the run around.....

I opted out of all the school’s programs because they didn’t have anything that I felt would be effective. They were spending too much money on reading recovery and there was nothing left over for anything that actually worked.

Word to the wise if the reading specialists are all reading recovery folks you won’t get any help at the school and will just have to do it yourself. Even if they are not doing reading recovery they will be using reading recovery methods.

Well, I agree with Linda. I fought with the district in when my son was in second grade. He had used Stevenson in pull out in first grade and it was totally inadequate. I hired an advocate and had a wonderful IEP written up. Then they tried to implement it using Stevenson. I pulled him out and taught him myself that year (another option).

Legally, you have input into the IEP but no legal right to influence programming. So you are somewhat at their mercy to interpret everything broadly and the way they want to. Legallly, you can push if you let her fail and then show that it was inadequate but short of that (which I was unwilling to do), it will be up to you.

I would work with her myself and privately between K and first grade and see how far you get. Saxon is a very good program (although, as you know, not designed for LD kids) and if you get a head start, it may be enough. If not, I would just expect that you are going to have to continue to do or provide the appropriate tutoring.

Beth

And they will firmly believe that there are some children ‘who just can’t learn to read well’. WRONG…4 weeks of Spalding beat 9 months of ‘Reading Recovery’ in my son’s case!

Elizabeth,

We should start a club.

“The reading recovery doesn’t work and children can be taught to read when effective methods are used………………. club.”

Suzi,

I’ll agree with the others. Very few schools at this point give effective early interventions for reading disorders. I am in the best possible situation (charter school with psychologist/friend as principal) but there are still issues with getting staff trained and experienced enough to do any good in time for my child. I advise intensive private summer services as you already have lined up and weekly follow-up if necessary after school. My child does not like to be pulled out of class as it is for speech.

My child had Saxon in K and first, and it is a good foundation, but your daughter obviously needs one of the structured multi-sensory programs like you are planning for the summer. It takes a long time for schools to change thier entire way of doing things (it will take a change in the laws), and even then, much more time to have teachers adequately trained and experienced enough to do any good. I think that day is coming, but we can’t wait for it to happen and sacrifice our kids in the meanwhile.

Janis

LOL! Consider me a charter member!
NOTHING makes me sadder or more angry — my attitude comes not just from my own child, but from the adult literacy tutoring I did as a volunteer, in those days I was ‘waiting’ to become a Mom.

Nothing compares to watching a 21 year old man break into tears while admitting that ‘THEY’ (the teachers who had often told him that ‘you’re just one of those people who can’t learn to read’ when reading recovery once more failed to do the trick, even in HS) were right all along…he had graduated on an ‘Exceptional Learner’ diploma — great diploma, no problem there, but he COULD NOT READ or WRITE.

Took us 3 more years together, but even without PG or much knowledge about dyslexic learners, we DID prove ‘THEM’ wrong…many former (professional) teachers at the Literacy Guild kept telling me that ‘I shouldn’t have to deal with Learning Disabilities’, but when I called the LD association, they said ‘Sorry, we don’t TEACH anyone — we just help parents deal with their children’s disabilities! GRRRR…don’t get me started!

OK, lunch is over — off my soap box!

Janis-

O.K…I have two options at this point that I think will benefit her the most.

#1 Do the intensive summer program at Shelton. Put her back into her regular 1st grade classroom w/ no services except ST and do the 3 hour follow-ups on Saturdays at Shelton. Approx remediation is 3 to 4 years Pro: no every day commute. Con: Only 1 day off for my daughter, which I don’t know if this is enough down time. Also, will she be able to keep up and not lose self-esteem next year in her regular 1st grade class?

#2 Do the intensive summer program at Shelton and continue there for the fall. They do the SEE program throughout the day with the kids. Approx remmediation is 1 to 3 years and then mainstreamed back into the class w/ the help of Shelton working with the school to set up appropriate programs for her. Pro: EVERYTHING about the school. Con: 1 hour commute both ways.

I REALLY want to do #2 because I think it would give her every advantage. I just worry about the commute day in and day out. I guess one becomes use to it after a while.

Suzi

Even her kindergarten teacher is saying go, go, go to Shelton. She will get nothing here.

Suzi

Why is a school [Shelton] saying that it would take 3 years to remediate your child in reading and she’s still in kindergarten?

Have I missed some significant chunk of information? I’m sure you have read many posts on this board recommending that parents teach their child to read with the PhonoGraphix method—or find a PG certified tutor. I agree with that advice. Does your child have some particular difficulty that makes this (or a similar program) not work?

I don’t know. That is what I have read in the brochures. Maybe I don’t understand what it means?

How do you find a PG certified tutor? I live in a small town with limited resources here. There are not even private SLP’s here. I know there are no tutors availalbe in this area. My daughter is oppositional with me, so I don’t think I’d make the kind of progress that she needs.

Suzi

After attending a private LD school for almost three years, our 10-y/o dd is about to main-stream to a private non-LD school. There were numerous issues with our private LD school (financial, lack of program, limited staff, significant behavior issues, etc.), which is far from the “norm” so please don’t think I am against private LD schools! However, if I had it to do over, I would do them differently based on what I am finding now.

We would find a private non-LD school that would be willing to work with us, and find a decent tutor. I am finding that the schools we’re looking at are more than willing to talk with our tutor about program implementation, and all but one of them has had a reading intervention program that I have found acceptable. We’ve fully discussed classroom accomodations/modifications with the staff (support staff, principals, and proposed teachers) and have received strong support. These are all schools that have been around for quite awhile, are solid financially, and have significant enrollment (3-400 kids, K-8).

I don’t know if any of the above is possible in your surrounding communities, but you might check. Your Shelton school sounds viable, and the commute isn’t that bad. Our commute was 45-minutes one way, and we used the morning time to visit, and the afternoon time for oral reading or listening to books on tape. It gets old, but in the end, if your child is learning and is thriving emotionally, it is well worth the time!

Go to readamerica.net (official PG site) and click on Find a Certified Therapist Near You. You can see what comes up for your area. The site says there are over 5000 certified phonographix therapists worldwide and most choose not to be listed. You can contact them through the website to get further names.

I totally understand not being able to work with your own child, but you should know that many parents are sucesful doing phonographix themselves with no training. So another possibility would be to find a sympathetic teacher or other tutor-type adult (for example, an upper level college student who wants to go into teaching) who would be willing to learn and do phonographix with your child over summer.

Another idea would be to arrange a nice trip to Disney World in Orlando—the Readamerica people headquartered there run half day, week-long intensive PG sessions for a fairly reasonable sum (around $600 I think—check the site). You could spend the other half of the day seeing the sites with your child. A PG/Disney tour package would be a pretty attractive package for most children.

My friend got similar advice recently from a tutor.

They said it would take 3 years too.

I really didn’t understand what they would be doing to teach a child to read that took 3 years.

Linda, I think most of the Orton Gillingham based programs say around three years. But we also all know how hard a rules-based program would be for a child this young. And that’s why I’d be looking at PG instead.

Suzi, personally, I’d try Phono-Graphix first, too. I think Marie’s ideas of going to a week intensive in Orlando ($750, I believe) would give her a big boost. You could probably pay for someone to go to PG training and tutor her for a few months for much less than you’d pay at a private school (assuming you can’t find a tutor who is already certaified). It is just too early to know if she will have much difficulty with written langauge, so it might be that she would need the special school services for that. But right now, the reading could be taken care of in less than three years.

Janis

We did Orton Gillingham (sequential phonics instruction) via private tutoring for dd - started when she was in 1st grade while we were advocating ferociously for an IEP.

There is a web site called something like “International Dyslexia Association” (formerly the Orton Gillingham Society). You can do a chapter locater and just keep calling the local person till they return your call for private tutors in your area. We got several names, almost all had waiting lists. Lucked out with the only one who would take us - experienced, knowledgable and dd fell in love with her.

And yup, we schlepped 45 min. each way twice a week for 45 min. sessions for about 1 1/2 years after the run-around from the school (“wait til 3rd grade”, “but we teach phonics here”, etc.) and my mistrust/lack of confidence in them. Ironically, the school has since proudly announced they have an Orton specialist on staff - that is ONE Orton teacher for a district population of 3,000. The private tutoring was expensive but worth every penny. DD is reading brilliantly and loves to read for enjoyment. She is in 4th grade looking at declassification from special ed.

It was interesting to see the other comments here about literacy volunteer work. One of my friends did Literacy Volunteers of America. She was trained in Orton - her LVA work was a hobby, something she wanted to do in her free time, not a vocation. She said that of the two people she tutored through LVA, both had fallen through the cracks at school, the “unteachable” who were reading after LVA.

Suzi,

I think if the only choices are #1 and #2, I’d probably try #1 first. I’d go to #2 the next year if she did not make the gains to go into second grade.

Janis

I think it is hard to know at her age whether she will really have the sort of difficulties that would benefit from a special education school. Most kids would do just fine with number one. I’d go with the odds and do that. If it isn’t enough, then send her full time the next year.

Also, have you visited? She is very young and you may find that most the kids are older. It is rather unusual, unfort., to catch dyslexia at your daughter’s age. Most people don’t send their kids to sp. ed school until they have exhausted other possibilities, because of the expense. I would make sure the social environment is a positive one for her before I would send my six year old daughter there.

We visited a school for LD kids not long ago and 80% were boys.

Beth

Wow! I tutor kids twice a week, three times when I’m really lucky. And I don’t get three years — have to show some sort of results in three weeks to keep clients, and usually they can only afford a year of regular tutoring.

I am flexible about the rules thing — few at the beginning where the kid doesn’t have the background for them to make sense, more later as you get into more complex multisyllables. And it doesn’t take that much time and work in general.

I don’t know these Shelton folks, but either they are re-teaching the entire school program and have very high standards, or they’re wasting time like the public school. I didn’t see your earlier posts — if the Shelton is a group thing, not individual tutoring, and if the price is very reasonable, then this amount of time makes sense. Otherwise, you can get more bang for your buck from private one-to-one tutoring.

First look at iser.com, where there are many special educators listed in every area.
If that doesn help, email me for my list of places worth looking in to search for tutors. And if there’s a local person willing to learn different approaches, email me for my outlines of how I tutor reading successfully.

Shelton is suppose to be highly respected full time LD. She would have all of her regular classes too. I *think* they spread out 4 hours of one-on-one tutoring throughout the week. I really do need to find out more about it. All I know is that everyone I know who has there children there sing its praises. Also, the class size in 1 to 4. Since she is mild, then she may only spend one summer and one school year there and I can go through their training so I could help her.

The probem with finding a tutor in my area is that there are not any! I’ve looked. I’ve searched. I’ve called everyone I know. I’ve asked schools teachers, the one SLP in my town, Shelton tried to help me find a tutor here. So, to get one on one tutoring for her I still would have to drive 1 hour to Dallas. She would have to go after school and she will already have tons of homework and be tired from being in school all day. I just don’t think that would work for her.

Suzi

for about 18 months with our HI daughter. We had fun on the hour each way commutes, we would talk, sing, listen to CD’s. etc…She remembers that time fondly…do what you feel is best..but don’t let the commuting stop you….

I seem to get the most info. from them about what is going on in their lives and their opinions.

Despite getting both of us out of the house at 7:30 a.m. Saturday mornings for one of the tutoring sessions, I loved our car talks.

My dd’s one on one private OG tutoring didn’t take three years - never heard that. Her tutor estimated it would take 9-12 months - it took closer to 1 1/2 years. (DD’s ADHD was not addressed the first six months so progress was significant versus school but a lot slower than expected.) The beauty of the one on one tutoring was the tutor wouldn’t move on until dd completely mastered each section. I didn’t have concerns I would’ve had in a small group situation - like the group moved off the ‘ou’ sound combination and oh well dd didn’t get that particular one quite so well.

But, just to give you one more thing to worry about (sorry)…. Writing lags behind reading - so when your dd masters reading she may be still playing catch-up on writing. DD had particular problems with ‘expressive’ writing which was supposed to be remediated in school resource room. Given my distrust of the school, we kept her with the tutor for one more school year but at only once a week. Tutor made an exception for dd with the writing instruction - school perceived me as a little too cautious. In one year’s time dd went from 16th %ile to 70% ile (and in this past year she is off the charts) in writing. The special ed director actually choked up when she saw dd’s progress. In retrospect, I don’t think the limited amount of writing instruction within the RR group of 4 would have produced the same progress.

DD is considered ‘moderately’ dyslexic. At 9, dd can now read and write brilliantly (just don’t ask her to spell).

Here is a description of the program at Shelton that I copied from LD Online.

Montessori And Sequential English Education Approach. The Sequential English Education program is a multisensory structured language approach to teaching reading, writing, and spelling to students at risk for or diagnosed as dyslexic or having a related disorder. The program initially emphasizes the mastery of the code of the English language, the alphabetic, and phonetic system. It is one of a few programs age appropriate for 5 and 6 year old children. The instruction is 1:1 or small group (1:7) and intensive. Multisensory techniques are integral. In the SEE program the memory board (textured surface of masonite board) is used for a visual-auditory-tactile and kinesthetic input of new material being learned and any error being corrected. Comprehension proceeds from word meanings to sentence paraphrasing.

She is mildly dyslexic, so I doubt that it would take the full 3 years. I’m thinking of more like this summer and maybe one school year. During this time, we can hopefully find someone to tutor her after she’s had this intensive training. The diagnostician said that it is really hard to say how long it takes, but typically 1 to 3 years. Maybe 3 is for severe dyslexia?

Since the program is Montessori, I believe that each child in the group moves at their own rate. Also, this is a full time school, so she would be attending 1st grade and also receiving the special tutoring and speech therapy.

The other options that they suggested were Alphabetic phonics or LindaMood Bell.

Suzi

We have visited and the school seems really great. I saw equal amounts of boys and girls. I did not visit the 1st grade classroom which she would be in. We will definitely get a good idea while she is attending this summer. They actually have an LD preschool. They obviously believe in early i.d. I knew early on that something just was not right. I wish I had followed my instincts even earlier.

Suzi

Suzi - check with Shelton and see if anyone else is coming from your neck of the woods. Maybe you can set up a carpool.

Laura

Just to clarify what Shelton is…my son will be attending Shelton in the summer and fall. It’s just a private school, about 800 students early childhood to 12th grade, that teaches to kids of average to above average intelligence who learn different. It is a comprehensive program where they learn, besides reading, writing, math, science and other basics they also learn things like social skills and organizational skills. They spend the first and last 10 minutes of every day with a teacher just talking about what they need to take home and what they brought from home and ensuring the correct items come and go to school. The classes are small (my son’s 3rd grade SEE class will have 11, I think.) They also have speech and OT available to those who need it. Many kids start there with the intention of being mainstreamed back to where they come from but they end up staying and graduating from there. Also many kids transfer to the top regular ed private schools in town (which is often where they came from once it was realized they were LD). It’s a regular school in that they have a football team, school uniforms, athletics, cheerleaders, PC labs and Mac labs, lots of overnight school trips to cool places, field trips, an annual action (you wouldn’t believe the items to bid on - ie a fishing trip to the Artic Circle, 4 tix to the US Open) It is a well endowed school, it appears. We will be the poorest people there, I’m quite sure!

We used a PG tutor last summer and it didn’t help at all. Public school didn’t help. Shelton is just really an amazing place and this way my son won’t have to do supplemental school in addition to the 7 hours he is already at school.

There is one PG tutor in the city, Suzi. I called PG and they told me her name and number. She saw my son 3x a week last summer at $50/hour. It didn’t help. My cousin is a certified PG tutor in anothe state and she has run across kids that she can help only a small amount (one 4th grader in particular who she did an intensive with when I was visiting her stands out).

When I called Read America in Orlando, my son was 7 and I wanted him to go there during the summer between 1st and 2nd grade, They said he was really too young for the intensive and they suggested the PG tutor and I got her name. She said they won’t turn him away if I signed him to go to Orlando but in their experience it would be better to wait till he was older.

I have spoken with BALL on this issue and Ball being multi-talented and an erudite authority on many many subject suggest that you remediate your little girl’s dyslexia by doing this: Obtain an old turntable, place a book on it and as it is turning have your daughter try to read it. Try putting clear colored plastic sheets over the pages she reads. That is helpful for some dyslexics. Try colored lenses.

The school is obviously jerking you around… suprise Schools suck for the most part so take matter into your own hands. You probably know more about helping your daughter than your school does.

Hey there….no, we will be the poorest parents there!! LOL The more I talk with everyone here, the more I want to enroll her there for next year. Almost everyone who as BTDT with both the public school system and Shelton says go straight to Shelton first. Everyone who has had their child their really praises that school. They say don’t allow the public school to start chipping away at her self esteem. My school district will only put a bandaid on it until 3rd grade. She’s already frustrated…I can’t imagine what it would be like if we stayed.

I cannot imagine doing the Scholars program in the fall. She would be in 1st grade and in school 8 to 3 M-F w/ TONS of homework all week and then have to spend over 1/2 the day saturday for INTENSE tutoring? I know my daughter and I know she would not do well with having so little down time.

Suzi

..

Listen, the school sounds great, it really does. I say, if you can afford private school K-12, go for it.

But I do want to caution L.A. about one thing. Have you had either auditory processing testing or developmental vision testing? Do you know the underlying causes of your child’s reading disorder? If your child had PG last summer for many weeks and did not improve, I’d have to think one of three things. Either the tutor did not do the program correctly, it wasn’t long enough, or else you child has an underlying problem that needs therapy first before ANY reading program will be successful.

Janis

Well, Shelton sounds like a good program and if I had the choice I’d probably go for it. Certainly the fail-for-two-years-and -then-we’ll-see approach is a nightmare.

Maybe *I* missed something here? I have never heard before of PG saying a kid was unteachable, or of their turning away a kid age 7 because of age. In fact, the thing about PG that rather annoys me and some others is that they claim too much, insist that their program is the one and only answer, and keep pounding on that (often unrealistic) 12-hour claim.

I don’t promise miracles, and I wait to see how the kid is doing before I predict time and results, but I *do* have methods that work, slow but sure.

And seven years old is definitely the time to start; in fact seven is a year or two later than ideal, the poor kid is already learning failure at school.

I will happily email you my how-to-tutor outlines if you want them.
Or, if you want to talk, to ask some specific questions, just send them

You are ahead of the game, believe me. I read the description above and it does sound like a good place for a kid like her. If you think your family will tolerate the drive better than the tutoring, go for it. You certainly don’t want to depend upon the public school, from your description.

Beth

I think they are talking about their intensive. My son went when he was 7. It is a bit young because they have to work 3 hours a day and younger children have a harder time with that. I suspect they have just found out that older kids can make a much bigger gain in that time and that the schedule is hard on the little ones.

Beth

I agree this sounds wonderful. Suzi, your child is so young starting out you probably will be able to mainstream.

Thing is, you may not want to.

Really, that is what Read America told me when I called! I swear!

I appreciate the offer for tips, Victoria, but I decided to enroll him in Shelton so he can get help during the day rather than nights and weekends. He’s had enough school after 7 hours a day, plus 2 hours in an afterschool program. I have the Reading Reflex book and I think it’s good, but it’s the whole time logistics thing. I’m single and I have to work.

The PG tutor made no promises to me and neither has Shelton. I would rather have them say no promises than make promises they can’t keep.

I also toured the Lindamood-Bell clinic in town. That program was 3-4 hours a day for several months (I think) at $40/hour. One-on-one. They want the kids during school hours. Most of their clients were either homeschooled or in private school where attendance didn’t count. That wouldn’t work for us since my son is in public school.

Thanks Janis for the concern. It helps me to listen to what others have to say.

Shelton requires intensive evaluations before they will consider a kid a candidate for the school. They have to have a legitmate learning disability that the school can address before they will accept them. My son had (over various days) 10 hours of testing, plus 3 teacher recommendation forms, plus he spent 3 days there in a 2nd grade classroom and every professional he was around evaluated him (teacher, art teacher, music teacher, etc) and determined if he was a match for the school. They accepted his developmental pedi’s dx of ADHD and I signed a contract saying he would be medicated while attending the school and that when they felt like an adjustment needed to be made I had to be willing to take him back to his doctor to tweak the meds. My child is not teachable off medication. (Which is another reason the nights and weekend tutors don’t work for us - he’s not medicated during those times.) Shelton has their own evaluation center.

He was evaluated at a university’s speech and language clinic a couple of years ago bec he was taking an intensive course for stutterers there and they told me he didn’t have any processing problems, which is also what his recent testing showed.

I don’t know what developmental vision testing is, can you enlighten me? He does have Duane’s Syndrome and is in studies at the Retina Foundation for that so they can learn more about Duane’s Syndrome. Besides Duane’s his vision is perfect.

L.A

My son has developmental vision problems but 20/20 vision.

When I initially brought him in he could not track his eyes at all. The doctor held up his finger and said, “Follow this,” moving his finger left right and in a circle. My son’s eye was flipping all over the place. He had zero control of his ocular muscles. I felt like a fool. How could I have missed this?
My son could read but just wouldn’t.

The poor kid was bouncing around looking very adhd. I have come to understand that was because near work (coloring, writing and reading) was painful. He never sat.

He now loves to read and even draws for fun.

This is really just one of his vision issues but it was the one with the biggest effect. We continue to work on others.

PS. the opthalmologist said his eyes were fine.

I agree with Beth. Three hours a day five days a week on just reading would be very difficult on a 7 year old. That’s what they meant. I’d try an hour a day for 3 weeks, or whatever. That would be intensive but not kill the kids or the teacher!!!

L.A., I agree that Shelton sounds great for your situation, but public school kids certainly can be taken out of school for a few months to do Lindamood-Bell. They don’t own your child, you do! (By the way, if LB is only $40 and hour, you are lucky! It’s $69 an hour here!). They do the intensives during the summer, too.

Janis

L.A.

It sounds like you have had good testing. But I am really puzzled that they would say he has no processing problems. When medicated, with no processing problems, he certainly should have learned to read with Phono-Graphix (umless there are undiagnosed visual issues). Did they give the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing? If that test is all at age level, then I’d surely be wondering about vision. That is the area I know least about, but there is a reading specialist on this board who is very familiar with visual issues. His name is Rod. But here is a link to learn more about this area first:

http://www.covd.org/

Janis

My son has been to a PG intensive and has had PG therapy. It has not been a magic bullet for him because of his various processing issues. I too would wonder whether there are other things going on with your son. My son would have scored very low on all three parts of the test Janis refers to and had developmental vision delays as well.

PG is a very good program that will reach most kids. If it did not work with your kid, I too would be on the look out for underlying processing issues.

Or is it just ADHD? In other words, he could not learn reading using PG because the medication was not in effect then? If so, you might try a tutor in the summer instead.

The school sounds great, by the way.

Beth

I checked that website, Janis. My son sees a pediatric opthalmologist for the Duane’s Syndrome. The doc said he will have trouble reading in that it will be hard for him to go line to line. His left eye cannot move to the left at all. For him to have fusion he has to move his whole head. The two surgeries made it so he could look straight ahead without turning his head. She can’t fix it any more than that. He needs to read with an index card or something to keep him on the right line and so he will move to the next line. He doesn’t like to use it though. So at the end of every line, he looks back and forth and back and forth to make sure he’s gone to the right line. Sometimes he goes to the wrong line. So, in that respect he does have a problem in that area.

I think the problem with the PG tutor was not really the PG tutors fault. For one they met at my son’s daycare, so he would be playing, she would come in and take him to an empty classroom while his buddies got to keep playing. He wanted to play! Another thing, and this really is the biggie, he wasn’t on medication during that time bec he was starting to lose weight. (He’s a slim kid.) When my cousin (PG tutor) worked with him for 3 hours a year prior, when she was visiting us, he was medicated and he worhips her and she really helped him - in that 3 hours! I know PG can help. If we lived in the same area, I would have him see her for sure! The only complaint with the PG tutor we saw is she let him control everything. The director of the day care said she saw them running up and down the halls. Also the tutor didn’t make him sit on a chair or anything. He roamed around the room. My cousin said she would never let any of her clients roam around the room and run with them up and down the halls. My son will take people as far as they will let him go.

So it wasn’t the best set up for our PG experience. I still totally recommend it. I think it was more my fault what happened to us. He also went to public summer school during part of this. No progress was made there either.

I wish you could come to my doctor’s office and read the letters from parents whose children had problems like this and were helped. For some it took years.

Opthamologists differ in their approach to this type of problem. They don’t offer exercises as an alternative in the vast majority of cases. They are surgeons and the world needs surgeons but there are other answers for this type of problem.

There really is hope, especially for a child that is so young.

Mmmm interesting. Your doctor doesn’t think surgery is necessary for Duane’s? Had he not had the surgery the only way his eyes could have fusion would be if they were both looking to the right. He would have suffered life long neck problems by always having his head turned to the left in order to see straight ahead. Excersizes don’t help it all.

I am sorry.

I didn’t mean to offend you. I guess you have looked into this.

Again I apologize. I certainly do not know the whole story probably should have found out the whole story before I opened my mouth.

L.A.,

You are a knowledgable and perceptive parent. I agree with your assessment about the conditions which prevented the PG from working. You are obviously on top of the visual issues and can follow up with a developmental optometrist if he continues to have trouble with reading at Shelton.

I am a person who prefers to not medicate if possible. But there are some children who cannot learn without meds, and it sounds like your child needs them. So it sounds like he will be going to the best possible environment for him. I guess most of us are envious as we have nothing close to that in our area!

Best of luck to him!

Janis

Oh my gosh, Linda, I wasn’t offended at all!! Someone walked into my office and I posted without finishing my thought!!! What I was getting to, and I may be wrong, is that his having Duane’s and not knowing much about it (the medical community) I was thinking it might preclude me doing anything regarding vision therapy. It would muddy the waters and make it hard to evaluate. Just an assumption and I may be wrong. Interestingly, one of the studies on Duane’s he’s been involved in at the Retina Foundation was about brain waves and processing. -Laura

And you know what’s funny, Janis? There are 3 other LD school near me besides Shelton. Within 6 miles or so. What are the odds of that???

-Laura

Actually you can use therapy along with surgery.

From what I understand surgery straightens the eyes but doesn’t always correct the vision from a learning perspective.

Surgery and all types of therapy go hand in hand in medicine all the time.

I was a nurse a long time ago.