Special Ed help

My two cents is to not rely on the school. I think it is true in general but particularly true in Florida where the resource rooms are very over crowded. I say this with the voice of experience. When it became clear in second grade that the resource teacher was not qualified, I took it upon myself to teach my son to read. He is a complicated case with multiple LD’s and so I also got a lot of private therapy as well. But he was the only one in third grade in resource room who could read—when the old teacher was finally gone and a new one came in. Now, you can blame it on an individual teacher but I will tell you that the new one, much better intentioned and trained, still wasn’t able to be that successful. There simply wasn’t enough time or staff.

So I personally wouldn’t worry about what they put on his IEP—in my experience you can get them to put exactly what you want and they will do exactly what THEY want. I would either find him a private tutor trained in Lindamood Bell or Phonographix or teach him yourself. You can get the book Reading Reflex—which will tell you how to tutor your son in the Phonographix method. It is the easiest most parent friendly effective method around—works for most kids, although not always as quick as the developers claim.

My son who could not read any better than your son in second grade passed the fourth grade FCATS last year in all subjects.

Beth

I would just like to agree with every word of Beth’s post! It often takes a lot of time and effort and possibly money, but true remediation rarely happens in schools. I use the methods Beth mentions.

Janis

THe goals are the *least* important issue here. Here’s a little reality check:
Most kids with LDs are very, very, very lucky — it’s extremely rare — to make a year’s progress every year. Schools can put any ol’ timeline they want; most kiddos who have a reason for learning to read more slowly than other students continue to learn it more slowly than other students.
HOWEVER.
A year’s gap in second grad e is huge. In 12th grade??? NOBODY KNOWS. If you’re reading at “only” an eleventh grade level, you are not going to be having trouble and nobody’s going to have even tested your reading in the past few years. By eighth grade, if you’re reading at 7th, you’re fine. And frankly, even by fourth grade for those tests, if he’s only a year behind, wiht a little coaching on test strategies he’ll do fine. THis is a kiddo with enough intelligence and general acADEMIC and language skills to seem like he reads better than he does. (THis is a good thing :-))

HOWEVER.

I would just love to know whether students really do make a y;ear’s progress in a year’s time in that special class. Just what do they do in there? Can they tell you? How many students are in there? Because Beth is right. Unless they just happen to have a bunch of other bright kiddos who happen to be behind in reading, and are prepared to teach reading (ummmmm…. be sitting down…. most elementary teachers have a poor to dismal training in teaching children to read, especially those with reading difficulties… the colleges don’t do any kind of good job in that department — there are lots of articles and surveys out that support that gut-wrenching statement. )
So… besides the goal, what else was in that IEP — what were the reading goals? I mean, besides “increase grade level” — which they cdould do by having hiim memorize a bunch of sight words, which actually might “catch him up” in the short term — what are the goals and objectives for reading in that IEP?

Beth,

Thanks for the advice. You are correct, the special ed classes are full. His “special group” would contain 14 - 16 children and 2 teachers. It would be for 1/2 hour, 4 days a week. I guess I just expected more from the school, since it’s a very good school. They said that with so many kids falling behind in reading and the issues with the FCAT they are very “busy”. I tried to get them to tell me which part of reading he was having problems with, but the only thing they would say is he’s a year behind in reading.

A friend of mine passed along a phone number for Magic Forest Institute. She had just read about it in one of the local Orlando paper. I called, and it’s more of a school for children with learning disabilites. But they did have a teacher call me back who provides tutoring. she is trained in Lindamood Bell and Wilson. She said she is also familiar with the Phonographix method. She sounded great on the phone. I think I might bite the bullet and pay the $70/hr fee and take my son to her. (I don’t think he would do well with me teaching him).

Any thoughts on what I should ask her? What to look for?

Thanks so much for all your help.

Go for the tutor. If she is trained in Wilson, LMB, and PG, she’ll know what to do for him. I would NOT let him go to the special class at school. With 14-16 kids they will accomplish nothign for kids’ individual needs. He’ll just be missing something he might could learn in the regular class. Change the IEP to consultation service by the LD teacher to monitor and suggest accommodations while he is learning to read with the tutor. I would just make sure the tutor is fully trained in at least one of those methods. You might ask for a reference, too. I think $70 an hour is on the high side, but I do know that the LMB clinic here charges $69 an hour, so it’s not out of the ballpark.

Janis

Hi,

I, too, have a son with inattentive ADHD, anxiety, reading/writing problems, and other issues. :-) I asked questions all through my son’s school career, asked the school for testing in second grade, and finally had the testing done privately the summer after second grade.

So far, everyone who has responded has given you excellent information. I’d just like to make a couple of extra points:

One of the things many of us here have discovered is that when there are LDs, there are usually underlying disorders causing the LD. In your son’s case it could be only the ADHD. But you might want to look into other things like auditory processing disorders and visual processing disorders. My son has both, and the remediation was MUCH more effective after he had some therapy to help train his processing disorders.

Look at LD In Depth for information on processing disorders. If you have any suspicions that there might be more going on with your son, ask here and there are many people who can help with information about how you can have your suspicions confirmed by a professional.

The second point is that Beth’s son and my son have both had good success with the Read America clinic in Altamonte (right next to the mall). Can I infer from your post that you live in the Orlando area? Linda Woodruff is the clinician there, and she provides one week intensive programs using the Phono-Graphix method. My son has been twice with excellent results. Linda is phenomenal, and has an uncanny ability to reach kids who have trouble learning to read. (And the one week intensive works out to $50/hour. <g>)

Lil

Lil,

Yes I live in the Orlando area - in Windermere. I had researched the Read American clinic in Altamonte. I didn’t know if my son could handle a week intense reading program. When did your child take this? Did you pull him out of school or do it over a holiday? Why did he have to go twice?

I will take your advice and do some research on the processing disorders. I had never thought of that.

Thanks everyone for all the help.

Kelly

Oh, gosh! Definitely go to the Read America clinic for the intensive and then follow it by the one-on-one tutoring. See if they have a spot near the beginning of summer. If not, they also offer once a week sessions which you could begin now, but the intensive is pretty powerful. It’s only 3 hours a day, right, Lil and Beth? And it’s also less than $70 an hour. I think the intensive is about $750 for 15 hours and that’s $50 an hour. I imagine the weekly sessions would be similarly priced.

The reason a child might need to go back for further reading tutoring is if he had underlying problems that had not yet been addressed and that might prevent him from learning or retaining as much as he could otherwise. Both Lil and Beth’s kids have had a lot of other therapies which made the second intensive much more effective. But it depends on your child’s particular needs. I think it is very important to notice if a child has any kind of visual issues, though, like eyestrain, holding the paper close, rubbing eyes, saying he can’t focus, etc. That would warrant an evaluation by a developmental optometrist. But a lot of auditory issues are solved just by the reading therapy itself, although some benefit from things like Fast ForWord first.

But the very fact that you tell us your son has never had structured phonics instruction makes me think you should go on and try the Phono-Graphix first, assuming no obvious visual issues. If that does not solve the decoding problems, then you reassess and see what he needs.

Janis

My son went the first time to the Read America intensive when he was in second grade. It got him reading but I think the intensive format is actually more effective when they know something…and my son knew almost nothing but a few sight words and some of the sounds. (And this was after a year in special ed for reading so you can see why we intervened.)

We went back this December, at age 10, and I am sold on the intensive format for him. It helped get some of his kinks out, although he still has some. I really don’t think the same number of hours would have done it in a nonintensive format.

I also know though that the clinic also does after school tutoring that you might check into. Personally, that is what I would do if I lived in Orlando area and had a second grader.

Beth

As to why we went twice…

You might be fortunate with your child in that once he gets appropriate reading instruction, he will catch up easily. But many kids don’t, even with appropriate methods and great tutors. As I said, my son is a complicated case with a string of diagnoses that have made reading difficult.My son, age 10, still is not a normal reader and he has had tons of therapy and reading instruction. Even now, I am considering additional tutoring/therapy for next summer.

Beth

Hi Kelly,

My son went twice, because the first time was so good! :-) I have a child who doesn’t understand that he needs the extra help (there is a name for that) and he has always been resistant to my help!

ReadAmerica also does more than one program. The first time he went, it was strictly Phono-Graphix (decoding). The second time it was for a combination of Phono-Graphix and Language Wise (comprehension).

The first time we went was over the summer. The second time we went, my son missed the first week of school after Winter Break - but I had it written into his IEP that there would be no penalties for that - since the school system wasn’t willing to remediate his learning disabilities.

The biggest reason we did the clinic twice is because Linda Woodruff is so good. There are not many people who can reach my son, and she managed to do that beautifully. Plus, after the first clinic, I was able to follow through for about eight weeks, but I have an elderly mother who lives alone, and I was her sole caretaker. I used to come home from her house, and FALL into bed because of the stress. He needed more that I could provide, and more than he was willing to accept from me. Linda, as far as my husband and I are concerned, is the perfect answer!

When we got back from the clinic 2 1/2 weeks ago, the first thing my husband asked me was if I had scheduled him for this summer! (and my husband was a huge naysayer in the beginning) The program is way above excellent - but Linda works beautifully with our son.

Lil

The point of being pulled out of class sadly is to conform to the law which requires school districts to do something. Whether that something is effective or not is another question. The law does not demand of schools that students with identified lds ‘catch up’.

In fact, it can be very hard to catch up while keeping up. And just as we don’t all run at the same speeds, we don’t all read at the same speeds. Your son will be where he will be in another year. And some children come into their own in reading older than others. While some few children become skilled readers very young, others become skilled later.

The district can try to hasten your son’s reading growth through tutoring - there are many different programs out there - you might ask them which approach they use and how well it marries to your son’s particular issues with reading.

It never hurts to read aloud to any child and certainly to a child who needs reading support - the more the better. The more they hear of books, the better, whether they’re reading them or someone is reading them to them.

Good luck.

[quote=”Beth from FL”]
I also know though that the clinic also does after school tutoring that you might check into. Personally, that is what I would do if I lived in Orlando area and had a second grader.

Beth[/quote]

Beth, I know this is a hard question to ask - but would you recommend the once a week tutor instead of the intensive? Or in addition to…. I did call Linda today and I asked about the week of Spring Break. She thinks she already has someone then, so I must decide if I pull him out of school another week, or do it every week. I really don’t want to wait until summer. It would be about a 40 minute drive (with I-4 traffic). I thought if I did it every week, I would pull my son out of school a little early, so we could be there before traffic was too bad.

I guess in the end, any help I get him will be better than what the school is doing. I wonder, do you think what they teach at Read America would confuse him with what he learns at school?

Kelly

Kelly,

I would get the book “Reading Reflex” (available at amazon.com for about $15) which teaches parents how to use the Phono-Graphix method. Then I would use that at home as a supplement to your son’s school work. You can do it for about 15 minutes a day. Then I would schedule a one week intensive over the summer. Your son will get more out of it because he will already be familiar with the concepts.

Lil

I would do both once a week tutoring and get the book, like Lil suggests. I think it is helpful to have someone trained to work with your child and to give you homework to do. I think it is difficult logistically during the school year to have someone else to do it enough to be useful, especially if they aren’t nearby. I then, as Lil suggests, would consider an intensive for summer. I think your son would then make a big leap forward which you could then build on.

Once a week tutoring is not enough to be helpful. It would have to be a minimum of twice a week, preferably three times a week. But if you work at home with him on the other days, it would be adequate.

I would have followed up the intensive with once a week tutoring, if I lived in Orlando.

Beth

Thanks for all your help. Linda from Read America was able to get my son in for the intensive week during spring break. Not excatly what my son has in mind for his week off, but I felt it was better to take advantage of living in Orlando and not having school that week. I’ll tell him we can do fun thing when I pick him up.

Thanks for all your information.
Kelly

Good for you, Kelly! I know your son will make good progress with Linda! You still might want to get the Reading Reflex book to familiarize yourself with the concepts, and work a little with your son so he understands what he will be doing. I think the reason my son made such wonderful progress the first time is because he was familiar with the concepts prior to seeing Linda.

Lil

Wonderful!!! And I too think getting the book and familiarizing him will make a big difference. I really did not do that before he went when he was seven and I think it would have helped.

Beeth

Kelly,

And isn’t ironic that you have people from a national internet board telling you about things in your own backyard? I found a therapist we’ve worked with for several years the same way–someone was talking about Neuronet therapy and it sounded just like my son. So I looked it up on the internet and the developer is in my metropolitan area.

Small world these days.

Beth