Dyslexia & Recommendations

Yes, the school can reject the recommendations of the doctor.

Be careful of the charter school. They often have less money than regular public schools.

I can imagine how frustrating this must be for parents, but schools are required to follow very strict eligibility guidelines. The school system is required to conduct their own special education evaluation in order to determine eligibility for services. There are four questions to answer: Does your child meet the criteria for having a disability? If so, is your child making effective progress? If not, is it the result of the disability? If so, does your child require specialized instruction and/or related services? Each question is very complex. I have been in situations where the school system did not find a disability, but an outside evaluation resulted in a medical diagnosis (i.e. dyslexia, PDD-NOS). So, we were able to answer ‘yes’ to the first question. However, if the child is making effective progress in general education, the child would not be eligible (medical diagnosis or not).

Best of luck with your son. If he continues to be ineligible for special education, even with this new information, the Team should still thoroughly discuss the recommendations from the outside eval. He will still need a multisensory approach, as well as classroom accommodations (such as the books on tape you referenced). If he isn’t eligible, then this is the job of general education. You need to make sure the Team discusses creative solutions for his intervention. Hopefully his school has a strong reading specialist or literacy tutor to work with him, and hopefully that person has been trained in some multisensory approaches to reading (i.e. Wilson, Orton-Gillingham, Project Read). If you’re told that that is not the role of the Reading Specialist, you’ll need to have a serious talk with the principal to help him/her think outside the box. I’d also stay in close contact with those working with your child, in order to monitor his progress. Whatever you do, make sure you always work constructively with the school as a team as much as possible.

In case you’re wondering about my perspective… I was a special education teacher for several years. Last year I worked as a special ed. team chairperson, and was responsible for all of the evals in the school. I learned so much, and had a wealth of experience. However, I really missed teaching, so I’m going back to teaching special ed. in the fall!

Sorry for this long-winded reply. Hope I won’t be banned from this website!

Guest, if my ten-pagers don’t get me evicted from the site, you have nothing to worry about! We’ve had some trolls here who disguise themselves as “guest” so you’ll get more welcome if you choose a nickname — you don’t need to register if you don’t want to.

Maymom, you are starting a long and complex process. Many, many things to think about.

Guest’s description of the special ed placement process is the ideal. If your school is working to the law and to modern standards, wonderful, go with it. If your school is one of the many foot-draggers, well, many others here can sympathize with you and offer positive ways to work around problems. Keep looking and asking.

Evaluation is a good thing but can be carried too far — I have heard people complain that they had spent two or three years getting evaluation after evaluation and spent thousands of dollars, and meanwhile their child had gotten absolutely no teaching help. Keep the central goal in sight, and that goal is to get proper education for your child, *now*, not several years in the future after he has been branded a failure and lost all self-esteem and learned counter-productive habits.

“Dyslexia” is a politically loaded word. Some people fight over the word and insist that it be used, while meanwhile their child is not getting teaching because all the time and energy is going into fighting. Some school systems are banned from using the word “dyslexia” because of all the political infighting and so the people who should be helping the child are at cross-purposes. If the vocabulary is a problem, “Learning disability — reading” means the same thing and can get him help. You may also get a more detailed evaluation of specifically what kind of LD he has.

Be cautious about accommodations. Books on tape are meant as a supplement to the program, *not* as a replacement for learning to read. There are always some people, unfortunately often in front of a blackboard, who seize on the easiest way out of things. If he has books, on tape, hey, we can quit doing all that hard work teaching him to read. If he has a keyboard or better yet voice recognition, we can quit doing all that hard work teaching him to write. If he has a calculator, hey, we can quit all that hard work teaching him arithmetic. Don’t slide down the slipperty slope of not teaching him becasue it’s easier.

The next step is definitely to get multisensory structured reading and writing instruction. If you are lucky, you may be able to get something through your school. If not, you may find you have to get a tutor or work with him yourself. The sooner, the better; don’t waste years battling the system while he doesn’t learn. Teach him first and battle the system on the side.

Hello, my name is Debbie, and I live in MA. I was the last Guest in this discussion, and I apologize for not choosing a name. I haven’t used this discussion board before and I didn’t realize that I could just choose a name without subscribing.

I completely agree with Victoria. This child will need direct instruction as soon as possible, using the methodology we’ve been discussing. My guess is that the principles of Orton-Gillingham sum up the type of program recommended (direct & explicit, alphabetic, phonetic, multisensory, structured, sequential & systematic, diagnostic & prescriptive, teaching to automaticity). He’ll need regular tutorials, either individually or in a small group. I agree with Victoria that you should do whatever it takes to do this now, even if it means paying privately. Make sure to do some research in your community so that he’s working with people who are highly trained, who use an approach that subscribes to the above principles. But hopefully you’ll have luck with his school and he’ll be able to have this during the school day.

Yes, accommodations are just simple adjustments that the classroom teacher is responsible for making, in order for a child to access the general education curriculum.

If you are interested in computer software to supplement the tutoring, I’d recommend Lexia (the family version). It’s a little expensive though. You can check it on on lexialearning.com. Maybe you could find out if your son’s school has this software to use with him (2-3 times per week, 15 min. each time). It would benefit many students if they looked into purchasing it for the school.

All of this “teacher talk” is getting me excited to start the school year!

Wow thanks for all the responces. Now to answer questions or clear up points…
1. My son received special education services. The school says he is a student that “has fallen between the cracks”. The last he was tested (in early fall), he did not qualify for special ed based on test scores. He was reading at an early K level but his scores needed to be lower. The school told me that if they feel a student needs the help, they will put them in special ed and that is what the did with my son for reading.
Because my son reads at such a low level, it affects him in all school work. He needs to be read all info. He needs extra time to do tests or any work. He will get confused if a page was mixed with different math problems (+ and -). These are just some of the examples of how the dyslexia effects him. So in my opinion, the 4 questions would have to be answered yes. The school agrees but doesn’t want to change how they operate.
We would like the acommendations that the doctor suggested used. As of the last day of school last year, my son was marked down for switching letters (and numbers) around. We would have been happy with books on tape or someone reading material to my son. I offered to help him in the classroom if money was the reason. The final strawl came when the school informed us that for third grade, my child would be in the resource room for math. There reasoning was that third grade math is all story problems and if he can’t read, he can’t do the story problems. It appears that it is easier fof the school to do this (and I’m sure more money for them).
After hearing that dyslexia is not a dysability, I looked it up. Under Michigan law and IDEA, it is a specific learning disability. But they school refuses to admit that. The school hs even told me that my child was the first dyslexic that they have taught.
The problem is that we have not allowed the school to do what they wanted with my child. We kept pressing till we found out the specific reading problem our son had. Then we wanted specifics done. The school wanted no specifics and wanted me to go away. But when my 8 year old child does not know all the sounds to the alphabet and the school is fine with that, the school is not doing what it should.
We live in a small town. No trained tutors. No LD centers. The resource room teacher at the school had no idea what multi-sensory methods are. Thankfully, a local charter school has a trained reading specialist in OR who would work with my son 1 on 1 several times a week. We have decided to have him go to that school. We are tired of fighting the school. It’s doing nothing for my son.
I go on Friday to do the IEP with the Charter school. I will ask them about computer programs that he could use at home.
When I orginally posted this thread, we were not sure where our son would go to school at. But a conversation with the public school sold it for me. They are claiming to not accept the IEE (that they paid for) report. The received the report in May and are just letting me know this. Instead of fighting with the school, we are moving on. Fingers are crossed, the charter school works for my son.

Wow, I am so sorry to hear about your experience. You did everything you could, and I don’t blame you one bit for not wanting your son educated there. To say that he’s the first child with dyslexia they’ve ever had? Someone had better tell the special ed. director that they are in need of some serious professional development.

Listen, I’m so glad to hear that your son will get the tutoring he needs at the charter school. Teaching him to read is by far the priority (followed only by his self esteem), and the prerequisite for everything else that will come his way in school.

I hope your son has a really positive experience this year, and that he will be on his way to becoming an independent reader. He’s lucky to have you.

I just wanted to comment that my child goes to a charter school and the LD teacher is Lindamood-bell trained. I coordinate the reading intervention program part-time and I am trained in Lindamood-Bell, Phono-Graphix, ABeCeDarian, and Language. I would say there is no public school here who can claim personnel as well trained in research-based reading methods.

I work with some wonderfully sweet teachers in the public schools, but knowledge on how to remediate reading disorders is rare.

But all schools are different, so you were very wise to check out both!

Janis

Hi! I’m hoping to get some direction. I have been trying to help a friend find a “talking” dictionary for her high school age daughter with dyslexia. She struggles with spelling, and sometimes her spelling attempts are so far off, she cannot find the word in a regular dictionary. (ie: “intir” for the word “entire”). I am hoping to find something that is portable (so she can take it with her to class), can be used with a set of headphones (so it will not disrupt the class) and does not have cartoon characters on it (like the ones you find at Toys ‘R Us).

Thank you for your help!

KimsMom

Franklin makes a few versions that offer talking dictionary and thesaurus features. For a high school age student you want a dictionary that includes [i]at least [/i]60,000 words. There are some products that offer less but they are better for elementary and middle school age students. Amazon offers some of these devices, I’ve seen some at Costco and you can check out ebay. Type in “Speaking dictionary” and you will get some selections.
For school use, you may also want to pick up some inexpensive headphones so that other students won’t be disturbed by the talking feature.

I just found this board & read this section with great interest. I find that I have similar experiences listed earlier. My daughter was diagnosed with dysgraphia in the 6th grade. The reason I finally was able to get her diagnosed is because I took her out of the school system to get her tested. But alas, that is not the struggle we are facing now.

Recently we moved to a new state, which means that she will have to be retested by the schools. I believe they test for dyslexia/dysgraphia—we will see. My real problem is this: My daughter is very bright, she has a slightly above normal IQ and has done well in school since we learned of her diagnosis and made her modifications.

The problem: She started High School this year (9th) at the new school. She is able to do college prep work with some minor modifications. The day we went to register, the counselor implied that #1 the college prep coursework would be harder in this state than the one we were in, and that #2 were we sure she could do that type of work.

Here is the real beef, the school psych who has looked over my daughter’s original evaluation (done 3 years ago mind you) talked to the school counselor and special ed teacher & then they called me to once again question whether or not my child could do the work.

Now I am starting to get upset. Here’s what they said at the end of the conversation: we are not used to having special education students in college prep classes here, are you sure she can do the work.

Would I sign my child up, if she couldn’t? I am a realist. She isn’t going to get all A’s, but she is able to do the work with assistance.

I am getting so frustrated with the new school system & I am afraid that the new tests they give her will convieniently not qualify her for serves, thus she wouldn’t be able to the work without assistance. I guess I will have to wait and see.

Do you all have any suggestions on how to deal with a system that is not entirely supportive? I have always been involved in the schools, but I can see that that is even going to be an issue…

help

Basically, you need to insist that she does belong in those classes and has a right to be there. Sniff the vibes emanating from people and try to figure out what they are afraid of: that she is some unknown “Special” student that will suddenly grow bumps and hair and roll her eyes, or wehther she is Another Pushy Parent’s Child Who Really Is (shudder) AVERAGE, or even Too Lazy To Write.
Do your best not to be angry at their lack of knowledge. Folks in the “college prep” world often build an ivory tower around themselves with a glass/class slope of competition to keep Unknown Elements out. Anger, even when it’s justified, tends not to do anybody any good unless you use it to provide energy when you’re running low.
You also don’t know what parents have preceded you. If by coincidence, last year there really was a pushy parent or five, then the teachers & admins are steeled against that and are seeing everything that looks like that as a threat. Once they get to know your daughter and you they should relax (evenif it’s with a shrug of resignation at their “lowered standards” — their attitudes don’t matter as much as your daughter’s education).
Many school systems have snobby attitudes — their programs are of *course* much more challenging than anyone else’s. You simply can’t have been prepared for their level of learning anywhere but there. (Our local ps tried to tell my parents this every time one of us went from Catholic elementary to public middle or high school, and it was laughably pathetic, considering how much better we were educated than most of the ps kids).
Just as the first women in medicine or scientific fields and the first minorities in any field had to be twice as good to be thought marginally acceptable, your daughter is going to be in a position of close scrutiny, at least by some teachers. Do look hard for the ones who will be your allies and do *really* try not to alienate any of ‘em because sometimes the ones you least expect will come around if you haven’t. No, it’s not fair… so either go to the Fair Land or shoulder up to the challenge.
It could be *highly* satisfying to prove them wrong, when your daughter can do the work with the accommodations she has a right to. Just practice your very best sweet, level-headed broken record recitation that indeed, she has a disability that keeps her from writing so she needs these accommodations, thank you… and perhaps have a few letters drafted to send off in the case of noncompliance, all polite, formal, expressing your concern as well as your knowledge that you know they are trying to do what’s best for every child in their school.

Thanks for that advice. I really was just spouting off because I knew someone on this page would [i]get[/i] it.

I know what I need to do and how to get focused to support my daughter in the college prep world. I guess I never looked at the “ivory tower” you mentioned. That makes perfect since. I just need to stand my ground.

What bites me a little is that they don’t even bother to ask Jen (my daughter) how she feels she is doing in the classes.

I understand we are new, and that may be part of the challenge. I will need to be patient and continue to advocate for Jen. The people here do not know her, and they certainly haven’t even looked at her previous records yet or had the time to get to know her.

I really like what you said about the ivory tower. I will be sure to keep that in mind when I approach this new adventure in high school.

Thanks!

One thing that teachers in the college prep program are afraid of is “standards creep”, and it is a real problem. One minor exemption or modification for dysraphia is not going to cause a problem to the college prep program, but once you start bending the rules where do you stop? I have been in schools where the academic program got modified out of existence, where with all the best intentions in the world the Grade 8 classes were barely doing Grade 4 work or the Grade 12 college prep math class couldn’t pass a Grade 9 basic algebra test. It didn’t happen overnight, just dropping or modifying one little thing after another. For both your daughter’s learning and for the teachers’ confidence, make a (short) list of absolutely necessary modifications (for wriing only, not for content) now at the beginning, and tell them that this is it, final, you are not going to ask for anything else. And if she fails a test (given the basic modifications), well, she fails a test. Happens to us all now and then. Parents and who go in and insist that the whole school be changed and their child can never fail are exactly what they are expecting and why they are resisting letting her in.

Victoria,

You make an excellent point: I need to reassure the staff that I am not trying to change the standards.

What I am asking for is fairly simple. Jen needs to be allowed to use a tape recorder or have an outline provided (where she can fill in the blanks—so she still has to pay attention) so that she is able to get the lectures. She has processing issues with her dyslexia and just is not capable of writing quickly enough to keep up. Jen also occasionally needs more time on tests and assignments if they are lengthy (although if the special education coordinator (or mom) would give smaller incremental deadlines for the project and consistently check to see that she is progressing, the more time issue for assignments is really a non-issue). She also spells very poorly, so we ask that she be allowed to use word processing for assignments. Another thing that helps (but is not an absolute), is fonts that are “clean” such as Arial.

I am not asking for the standards to be dropped at all…that would never help her in the long term, especially given she plans to attend college. I like the terminology you used (wiring—of the assignments/tests). That is exactly what she needs. I am very realistic about her abilities. Those classes that she can’t do CP work quite yet, we don’t put her in (for example, Math).

I think my frustration is more that I am dealing with people that are supposed to know and understand kids with learning challenges, yet I seem to be educating them. Last night at the open house, the special education teacher again mentioned that they are not used to having kids with learning disabilities in college prep classes.

Thanks for the support!

High school educators need to understand that there are a number of students with learning disabilities studying at four year colleges. There are student support centers at every college where students receive the accommodations that they require to be successful at college. The difference at the college level is that the student is responsible for making the school aware of their learning disability. Schools have note-takers, Kurzweil scanning and text-to-speech software, study skill support, etc.

My son, who is on an IEP with reading and writing goals, just started ninth grade. His IEP team recommended him for a lower level (which would have put him below the college prep courses). I insisted that they move him up from Level 3 courses to Level 2 courses and he’s off to a good start.