Response to Back with another question

I have not read the other posts, but I do want to mention that a pediatric opthalmologist is unlikely to perform developmental vision tests. A very few do, but they are the *rare* exception.

If you want to completely rule out vision problems, you need to get a developmental vision evaluation. For this you need to see either a developmental optometrist (my recommendation) or an orthoptician (not as complete an evaluation). Orthopticians are the providers of vision therapy for those few opthalmologists who know enough about developmental vision problems to recognize they exist. (Independent research is conclusive about the value of vision therapy for convergence and accommodation problems, but few opthalmologists have extended their practices to cover it.)

If you have not checked out http://www.childrensvision.com , I would suggest starting there. You can find board-certified developmental optometrists in your area at http://www.covd.org . Just as with other doctors, some are better than others, so it’s a good idea to do a little research before choosing one doctor over another.

It may be that developmental vision delays are not a problem for your child. However, you really cannot rule this out on the basis of exams done by pediatric opthalmologists.

Nancy

DS,

I have caught up on all the posts since we first “talked”. Thanks to Nancy for explaining about the difference between a developmental optometrist and an ophthalmologist.

DS, Victoria so knowledgably picked up on the points about the problems with the reading program. And now that I know it is Stevenson, I will have to agree it is not a good choice for an LD child. There are articles right here on this site that name the major multi-sensory structured language reading programs (go to LD In Depth and read the articles on reading). You can read Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz or Parenting a Struggling Reader by Susan Hall and Louisa Moats. I do not think you will find Stevenson listed in any of those sources.

Instead of repeating another WISC test, I would suggest instead that you try the Woodcock-Johnson Cognitive Battery. It may give you some of the information you are seeking. And I’d definitely want the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing as well, since it tests skills that specifically effect reading. And then I would attempt to find a good reading tutor who is trained and experienced in one of the proven methods.

Janis

My son was initially taught with Stevenson. I hated it as did he. Part of the problem is the emphasis on long vowels makes most text inaccessible to kids and they end up having to read nonsense. My son is very concrete and didn’t even like Dr. Seuss that well.

Beth

[quote=”Nancy”] It may be that developmental vision delays are not a problem for your child. However, you really cannot rule this out on the basis of exams done by pediatric opthalmologists.

Nancy[/quote]

Thank you Nancy and Janis for the links. I will look into it! :)

You all have been SO helpful! I really appreciate it and can’t thank you enough! I am going to quote and respond again, just to not miss anything…

“Victoria so knowledgably picked up on the points about the problems with the reading program. And now that I know it is Stevenson, I will have to agree it is not a good choice for an LD child. ”

Can you pointpoint specifics as to why it’s not a good choice? I need all the help I can get, because I “know” that you can’t specifically request “XYZ” reading program, and you have to define it by needs. From what I have heard, the Stevenson program is “multi-sensory, sequential and structured”….

“There are articles right here on this site that name the major multi-sensory structured language reading programs (go to LD In Depth and read the articles on reading). You can read Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz or Parenting a Struggling Reader by Susan Hall and Louisa Moats.”
Thanks! I will head over there next…

“Instead of repeating another WISC test, “
Don’t you need to repeat this to correlate IQ with the other achievement tests?

“I would suggest instead that you try the Woodcock-Johnson Cognitive Battery. It may give you some of the information you are seeking.”
Thank you again. I did request that when I made the appointment. THey said they could do it.

“And I’d definitely want the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing as well, since it tests skills that specifically effect reading.”
Probably a stupid question, but will this poinpoint his accuracy with phonemic awareness?

“And then I would attempt to find a good reading tutor who is trained and experienced in one of the proven methods.”
Do you think he would get confused going to school and being taught one way and then being tutored outside of school with another way?

Thanks again and again!!!

[quote=”Beth in FL”]My son was initially taught with Stevenson. I hated it as did he. Part of the problem is the emphasis on long vowels makes most text inaccessible to kids and they end up having to read nonsense. My son is very concrete and didn’t even like Dr. Seuss that well.

Beth[/quote]

Beth, may I ask if there was anything else you didn’t like about the program? If so, what specifically?

DS,

Unfortunately, it is easier to find listings of good programs than it is to find out why they left certain ones off the list. You just won’t find Stevenson on any of the major reading disorder experts’ lists. I would approach it by furnishing the school with some of the lists of acceptable programs and ask them to provide you with similar sources recommending Stevenson. I don’t think they will be able to do so. But realistically, you probably can’t make the school change programs. So you’ll likely have to go with having him tutored privately. I would say it may not be ideal to have a child being taught with two totally different approaches at one time, but almost all children being tutored are in that situation if they also go to school. So I wouldn’t worry about it as long as the tutor thinks it’s okay.

Here are the two articles on this site that list good programs:

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/reading_approaches.html

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/mssl_methods.html

Another excellent source of reading program reviews is the Florida Center for Reading Research with which Dr. Joe Torgesen is associated:

http://www.fcrr.org/FCRRReports/reportslist.htm

Yes, the CTOPP is an excellent test for phonemic awareness, and it also tests phonological memory and rapid naming.

Janis

I didn’t like anything about the program, although some people do. It might be a better second time through program for a child who already knows how to read. It uses a lot of little memory tricks to remember types of syllables. For my son, it was just one more layer of memory. I also recall that they taught constanant blends as a unit, which except for th and sh is unncessary. I don’t remember a lot of it now…it was three years ago.

I also know I taught my son using Phonographix (reading reflex) which drove the teacher crazy. She was gone the next year (PARTLY MY DOING) and my son was the only one in resource room who could read.

But Janis is right it is easier to move the ocean than to get the school to change what they are doing. I hired an advocate who got me a wonderful IEP but which the school tried to implement using Stevenson. They claimed it was everything the IEP required. IT was not but you as a parent have no input into implementation of an IEP and there is the rub.

I gave up and have done it myself and with private therapy. It was that or due process and I decided my energy was better spent helping my son than fighting the system.

Beth

You might be able to at least bring up that Stevenson is old — that there have been all kinds of developments and improvements, even in the Revered Structured Multisensroy Programs. I’d be curious as to the training the teachers had, as well.