I'M BACK!!-"Help! My 8 y/o ds can't get past three lett

I posted my original ‘HELP’ request back in December of last year. (I posted a copy of it at the bottom of this note) I had every intention on getting back to you all sooner, but so many things came up, and I never got around to doing it. I did want to come back and let you know that we had my ds tested last month with the Nadeau Learning Center. I am still learning the terminology, so please bear with me. We found out that he has severe ocular tracking problems and convergence problems, and that he has visual processing disorders as well as auditory processing disorders. Another interesting thing we found out is that he is color blind—although they said that it does not tie into his other problems. He could not see ANY of the colors in the color blind test circles. They said that that would explain why his favorite color has always been black…it was the brightest color to him. They did say that his extreme fear of heights that we could never explain was related to his other dysfunctions. That was interesting.

We are doing a home therapy program that consists of exercises like cross pattern creeping, jump rope, skipping, tactile treatment doing brushing treatment, water treatment, and vibrator treatment on his arms and legs, belly rocker and walking beam. We have to do them twice a day for 8 weeks, and then we will start with spinning, scooter board/down a ramp, sound therapy, balance board, vision therapy, and other exercises after that. He will also start next week tutoring once a week for two hours at the clinic for his delays in reading as well as vision therapy. We are finishing up our second week of home therapy, and ds is doing great. They recommended that we also start ds on RNA and Organic Mineral supplements as well as take him off sugar while taking the supplements. We started the supplements and no sugar two weeks ago, and I am amazed at how attentive ds is when we are doing school…though I’m not sure if it is due to the exercises, supplements, or no sugar since we started them all at the same time. And I am doing all school orally until we can get his ocular tracking problems under control.

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone that posted to my original request for help. I have read them all over many times, and they do make more sense to me now. I know we have a long road ahead of us, but I know we can do it.

Thanks again,
Sheila

ORIGINAL POST:
We have been stuck in the same spot for what seems like a year now. I started my ds out with How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons in 1st grade. He did great with the letters and sounds, but when it came to actually reading the words, he could not do it. I switched to RR, and he loves it. He can do all the Three-Sound Word Building lessons and all the Three-Sound Auditory Processing lessons without a mistake, but when I give him a three letter word to read in the Three-Sound Directed Reading, he goes “blank”. He cannot even think of the sounds sometimes. He tells me that his brain just won’t let him think of the sounds. I know he is trying so hard, and he just gets so frustrated with himself when he cannot do it. If he does manage to sound each letter out, when he goes to blend the sounds, the last sound always gets changed. For example, when he tries to blend ‘mop’ he says all the sounds correctly, but when he says the word, it comes out ‘mot’. He immediately realizes that the last sound came out wrong, and he tries it again. Again, it comes out ‘mot’. He gets so frustrated and hits his head and tells me that his brain just won’t let him say the sound right. Has anyone ever heard of this??

This is a child that is very bright…I know you’ve all heard the stories, but I can’t understand it….he learned his ABC’s on the computer when he was 2 yrs old. He got his own computer on his 3rd birthday and was turning it on, using the mouse, and loading his own CDs within a week. He has never had trouble learning things until we started reading.

One thing that I have to point out is that he has always had a problem with completing sentences. It is like he has trouble finding the words for what he is thinking, or he will mean to say one word, and he says another. For example, if he wants to say something is hot, he will say it is cold, or if he needs to tell me that something is in the refrigerator, he might say that it is in the dishwasher. He knew that he wanted to say refrigerator, but it came out dishwasher. After he hears it, he will correct himself. Does that make sense? It is so hard to explain it. Most of the time, he cannot even remember what something is called. It takes him a while to think of the name. I know that this is playing a part in affecting his reading, but I don’t know what to do about it.

Other interesting things…he never liked to color or draw when he was younger, and getting him to write anything is like pulling teeth. He gets ‘b’ and ‘d’ confused, and he tries to read from right to left sometimes. I can show him the word ‘on’ and he will read it as ‘no’. If I show him ‘no’, he will read it as ‘on’. He did reverse his letters and numbers when he would write in 1st grade, but this year, we started with Handwriting Without Tears, and he is doing great with it.

Where do I need to go for help? This board has been such an encouragement knowing that others have problems too, but I haven’t seen one quite like my son’s. Can anyone offer me some advise?

I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks so much!
Sheila