Hi, I’m new to the board and to the whole LD thing. I need help sorting out which program(s) to start my daughter on. We’ve looked at PACE, FastForWord, IM, Earobics, TLP, Phonographix, Seeing Stars, Learning Breakthrough, AudiBlox, etc. and I’m extremely confused.
My daughter is age 7-9. She completed Kindergarten at 5 and first grade successfully at 6 and bombed in Second Grade at a new school. She had high marks in math concepts, geometry, etc., as well as science and social studies. But reading, spelling and math facts were her downfall.
The teacher complained about her daydreaming and how slow she was with her work. She hasn’t mastered her math facts above the 2+ level and hasn’t mastered her sight words. Her spelling tests were fine, but her spelling application wasn’t. She had reading specialist help last year and gained some, but only to high first grade level. She’s very slow reading and has limited decoding skills. She’s a messy writer with no sense of spacing and frequent letter and number reversals.
At the end of the school year, we decided to retain her, but I had the feeling something was wrong in her learning ability. She’s so very bright, curious, verbally intelligent, and it wasn’t adding up.
So I had private testing done and the results indicate high intelligence, visual and auditory processing problems, auditory and visual memory issues, and perceptual/motor integration problems, problems with fine motor coordination, and visual-auditory learning (sound-symbol relationships). She also has some spatial issues—balance and localizing herself in space.
Here are some of the scores.
WISCIII
Verbal IQ 123
Performance IQ 110
FSIQ 118
Verbal Comp SS 122
Percept Org SS 113
Freedom from Distractibility SS 109
Processing Spd SS 101
Verbal
Information SS 12
Similarities SS 13
Arithmetic SS 14
Vocab SS 14
Comprehension SS 16
Digit Span SS 9
Performance
Picture Completion SS 10
Coding SS 9
Picture Arrangement SS 12
Block Design SS 12
Object Assembly SS 14
Symbol Search SS 11
Coding SS 9
Symbol Search
Woodcock Johson III Test of Achievement
Standard scores range from 127 in written expression to 107 in basic reading skills
On the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test, she took six minutes to complete the designs
The Gibson Test indicated she’s more than two years behind in auditory analysis.
I have a devel. OD appointment for later this month to see if there are vision related issues.
So what would you all suggest. We were all set to start PACE and then I got on these boards and now I’m not so sure.
Thanks for all your help!
Mary
DCD?
Developmental Coordiantion Disorder is a new diagnosis to me, but it sounds a heck of a lot like what runs in my family. I don’t have a lot of time right now, but email me and when the computer problems get straightened out (virus problem, and the virus removal did more damage to the ssytem than the virus itself) I’ll be able to give help and suggestions — nitty-gritty on some tried and true approaches that helped me and my daughter and others. No miracles, just work and slow but steady progress.
PACE
We’ve done PACE and I would advise not to do PACE yet. I think your dd will be very frustrated with it at her age and if you have deep rooted visual and motor issues, you may not see the results you paid for.
Thanks
Thanks for your advice. I’m going to push the school to do an OT and auditory processing (APD) assessment, and I’ll see what I can do for the neurology work up. I also appreciate the advice not to do PACE yet. As you suggest, we’ll wait and see what the assessments say.
Mary
Re: Please, help for my daughter...(long, sorry)
Well, I’m not good with test scores, but I have experience both as a parent and a teacher with many of the programs you listed. In my current teaching assignment we use many effective programs that are helping children to make good progress. You might start with TLP and a good reading (phonemic) program such as LiPS (Lindamood)/Seeing Stars or PG. Then after TLP use Earobics or Fast ForWord to improve auditory processing continuing with your reading program. At a similar age my son did Fast ForWord and LiPS/Seeing Stars, vision therapy. Our biggest problem was getting a teacher with skill and experience and providing the programs at a time of day when our son could benefit the most. So, maybe part of your decision will be how skilled the provider is and with what frequency/intensity the program can be provided.
Re: DCD?
[quote=”victoriah”]Developmental Coordiantion Disorder is a new diagnosis to me, but it sounds a heck of a lot like what runs in my family. .[/quote]
Its the official “American” name (i.e. the DSM IV name) for the diagnosis that is known in Great Britain as dyspraxia. Lots of folks here use that name as well. It is often a hereditary condition. My husband has it, as do my two sons, one of whom has a severe case and also has ADHD and LD, the other of whom has only shadow versions of all three.
Andrea
personal assistance available
Well, the main reason I’m not up on the new diagnostic terminology is age — I’m over fifty and my daughter is twenty and niece and nephew also in their twenties. And I stay out of the school bureaucratic loop these days. We sure are familiar with the symptoms described and many useful things to do about them, we just were around before this got named. The next generation will be showing up with it soon, no doubt — and they may even get usefully diagnosed this time.
I can offer personal experience as a person with notable coordination problems and parent of the same and experienced tutor, as well as horror stories of non-treatment of my brother’s children.
I’ve fallen behind on answering email requests due to computer hassles but finally met a real person at microsoft and hope to have it resolved soon.
Please email me at [email protected] and I’ll try to give some practical do-it-yourself advice. (And if you don’t get an answer, remind me again — I *know* I have an organizational deficit!)
Mary
I have always personally shyed away from big labels that try to explain all the issues a child may have and look at the very specific issues underneath so that they can be addressed.
Is it possible that your daughter has sequencing issues that are impeding her math facts? This was a major problem for my son and was remediated through interactive metronome. www.interactivemetronome.com
My son also has visual/motor issues that are being addressed through vision therapy. It seems that kids with visual motor issues can look like they have add but once you address the underlying issues the attentional problems can disappear. That has been our experience.
More thanks
Hi, I just got back to my computer and see all your wonderful replies. We have our first IEP Team meeting next week, so I’ll have a chance to see what (if anything meaningful) the school offers and then I can fill in the rest. I really, really appreciate the advice about PACE. Thanks.
Mary :)
I would suggest an OT evaluation in light of her motor skills issues. Also, who did her evaluation? If she did not see a neurologist you might consider doing so. From what you have written, it is possible she may have Developmental Coordination Disorder, which is generally a neurological diagnosis. DCD is commonly accompanied by LD and also by ADHD, all of which should be considered here, if they have not already been. My son, has all three and OT was very helpful to him in developing adequate handwriting skills.
Andrea