new here and need some help

You’re already ahead of many parents, who sadly believe that the schools know best when, too often, even good schools don’t.
If you aren’t comfortable with teaching him yourself, try to find someone who is… but frankly, it can be a losing battle to try to get the folks at school to do it. Probably none of them know how — teaching reading is *not* something they teach well in teacher education. (YES that’s crazy, but yes it’s true.)

About the most straightforward, cut-to-the-chase way to get the basics down would be Reading Reflex which lots of libraries have and is pretty cheap at the bookstore.

You’ll want to read the intro chapters but you don’t have to take it quite as seriously as the book does — it comes on pretty strong sometimes :-) What matters is doing the lessons works for most kids — and if you’re having problems, just come back here and ask. Lots of folks here use it and have lots of good ideas.

You can also tell your son to relax about school, that you’re just going to work hard on the reading so that he will be *able* to do better and not have to work so hard and get so frustrated! You know he is trying, you know he is a good kid… so you are going to work on the reading. I’d even consider letting him sleep late or come home early for time for doing it, but that’s just my rebellious thinking… it ain’t like school’s doing him that much good…

I’m sure other folks will have other good ideas — wish I could say you were the only one with this problem :-(

In addition to getting the book “Reading Reflex” by McGuiness (check your library or local bookstore), I would recommend getting the Sound Reading CD from http://www.soundreading.com . This is a computer software program that a child can use independently, and that is very helpful in developing reading skills.

Reversals are often a sign of developmental vision delay, which is one of the major underlying causes of dyslexia. See http://www.childrensvision.com for more information, and http://www.covd.org to find board-certified developmental optometrists in your area. Developmental vision problems are not checked in regular eye exams. A child can have 20/20 vision and still have severe developmental vision delays that interfere with reading. Also check http://www.homevisiontherapy.com for a relatively inexpensive software program that addresses some of the common major developmental vision issues.

Nancy

A small quibble: developmental vision problems do not “cause” dyslexia. Instead, they mimic dyslexia in that a child with developmental vision delay may have difficulty learning to read.

Maryberry,

Sue gave you excellent advice!

As for what causes dyslexia or mimics dyslexia or whatever, see this article:

The link is:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-11/wfub-dmi110303.php

An excerpt is:

Public release date: 9-Nov-2003
[ Print This Article | Close This Window ]

Contact: Karen Richardson or Shannon Koontz
[email protected]
336-716-4587
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

Dyslexia may involve both vision and hearing
Say researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dyslexia may stem from how the brain processes sight and sound together – rather than simply a problem “decoding” the written word – reported researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center today at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans.
“For the first time, there is evidence that dyslexia is a multi-sensory disorder,” says Mark Wallace, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy. “It isn’t solely a problem with visual processing or with language. This is a novel way of looking at the disorder.”

Wallace said the finding could lead to a simple test for early diagnosis – even before school age – and better methods for teaching people with reading disabilities.

“Until now, experts have thought that dyslexia was either a visual processing problem or a problem involving language areas of the brain,” said Wallace. “But our study suggests that it’s actually a problem combining visual information with auditory information.”

The article continues …

Lil

At a certain point it becomes a question of semantics … I have this rather strange feeling that for different people dyslexia has a different cause.

…is that really a ‘strange feeling’ or is it one of those examples of a ‘gestalt’ insight, resulting from your natural talents in this area, plus many years of teaching/tutoring experience??? In other words, I’d trust your opinion more than any number of highly valid ‘double blind’ research studies…!
signed,
‘a fan in toronto!’

It can be hard to get schools to help and that’s the bad news. The good news is your opinion is most important to your son. Don’t hesitate to tell him that you’re on his side and that you’re sorry school is so hard for him.

The least thing your school should be providing to him is some speech therapy for his stuttering. Write a letter to the school’s psychologist requesting testing for your son. It is his right to be provided with speech therapy in school. Talk to your son’s doctor about his problems and get the doctor’s advice.

As for the reading, try to read outloud to your son every night for about 15 minutes. Choose a child’s book so it’s easy reading and easy listening. Reading outloud can’t hurt anything and it can help your son to understand that reading is supposed to be fun. Go to your local library and get some books on tape for him to listen to. The more he hears, the more he knows and the more words he knows and knowing words is good for young children trying to learn to read.

Good luck.

Interesting Lil. This is what our Neuronet therapist has been telling me for some time. She says my son has very adequate visual and auditory processing skills (after therapy): it is the integration that is still problematic.

Beth

Hello Mary:

Judging from your writing you are doing quite well if you yourself have learning disabilities. In addition to the fine suggestions you received I would simply add.

Making books fun and interesting helps — If you are able to read kindergarten, first or second grade level pleasure books than you are well ahead of the game. Take time each day after dinner to read a story for 15 minutes. I recommend a special time for the family to participate in reading aloud. Reading aloud become part of the family fun/routine. The idea is to make it a “Family” routine. By reading good stories you will increase your sons desire to have something to do with books. Also this level of reading every day will give your son many many valuable words.

If your son is having speech difficulties you should look into speech therapy. Most schools are able to provide this. If your school is not able to provide this you might look into the possibility of finding out how to obtain it locally in your community. It is not unusual for students with learning disabilities to exhibit speech difficulties. I completed a major statistical study on this area and found that 25% of speech students were later diagnosed as learning disabled.

Jim — Michigan