Just Saying Hello

I am a hearing impaired speech pathologist who also struggles with ADD. Many scoffed at my becoming a speech pathologist because of my hearing loss and attentional issues but I think my disabliities give me an inside track into trying different things to help the kids I serve.

I am in special education for the same reasons you are to give back what people did for me when I was younger.

[quote:6985ca01be=”pattim”]I am a hearing impaired speech pathologist who also struggles with ADD. Many scoffed at my becoming a speech pathologist because of my hearing loss and attentional issues but I think my disabliities give me an inside track into trying different things to help the kids I serve.

I am in special education for the same reasons you are to give back what people did for me when I was younger.[/quote]

It is great to see that someone who is disabled is able to help people in their area. It seems to be working for you ;) That’s great!

Tessa, you will certainly be a great role model for your students! I imagine your mom was probably trained in Orton Gillingham on order to teach you to read.

One thing you need to know is that it is unlikely that they will teach you how to remediate a reading disorder in college, so you will need to go to be trained like your mother did, or you will nto be able to help your students learn to read.

I would caution you to be sure your auditory and visual problems would not hinder you from being able to teach an Orton Gillingham type program. It is possible that you can do it but you may just need extra tutoring.

Patti, doesn’t the Barton program have a simple test to see if someone has the auditory skills to tutor that program? That might be a good way for her to see whether this will be a problem area. If it is, the sooner it is worked on, the better.

Janis

Tessa — yes, the multisensory approach your mother used to teach you to read is EXACTLY what works. You should get training in Orton Gillingham or LindaMood Bell or related programs that will show you how to do this.
Many colleges simply don’t teach you *how* to teach reading. Some colleges even teach methods and thories that have been proved to be false. So just get through college and then take courses in methods that really work.
Once you do that you will do so much good for your students, far more than a lot of teachers with no LD who just expect their kids to pick up reading by magic and whose classes have a third to a half of the kids not reading.

Thank you very much for the advice victoria and Janis! :)

The name you used sounds very familiar (Orton Gillingham)!

I need to read up more on the thing that saved me…it is something that i definetly want training for. One of the difficulties I see most students havn’t learning disabilities in college having the most trouble with is with reading. I feel guilty that I don’t have that problem . I feel bad when I get frustrated with my memory and directional problems? If they would have been taught this method would they not be having these problems now?

Isn’t it also true (this is what I have been taught…and I kind of believe but I have had no experiece yet) that each student learns differently? Isn’t that why it is important to learn all of these different approaches because some work better than others for each students?

Will the Gilingham approach work for every child?

Thank you so much for the information…I am truely glad I decided to post this weekend…I have a lot to learn.

The idea about different approaches working for different children is true to some degree, but it is often grossly exaggerated and used as an excuse for not using effective methods.

The analogy I sometimes use is a healthy diet. There are lots of ways of getting a healthy diet; one person may eat meat and potatoes and vegetables, another may eat fish and rice and salad, another may eat lentil-onion soup; but all balanced diets have a reasonable amount of protein, complex carbs, fiber, and vitamin foods. Now, suppose you take a fast-food menu with hamburgers and pizza and chips and fried pies and high-calorie sweetened shakes, and you offer your child a free choice from anything on the menu. Sure they will get a wide variety, but does that mean it is balanced? No, it will be high on fat and sugar and salt, and low on complex carbs and vitamins, because almost all of the choices are of that type. A wide variety of bad choices is still bad.

A good reading program has a balance of systematic synthetic phonics, guided oral reading with instant feedback and correction, and vocabulary study in various forms; those are the basics; also a good program will include relation of reading and phonics to writing, meaningful writing, and as soon as possible extensive reading in books of interesting content.
If you fill a classroom and your day’s schedule with all different sorts of programs taught from different viewpoints and all sorts of games and fluff to try to sell kids on reading, then the kids will be confused by the inconsistencies, and the fluff will take up time that could better be spent learning.
The “different” methods include several which have been proven over and over to be weak, inefficient, and sometimes dead wrong.

I have three very delayed reading students right now, one age 11 in Grade 5, one age 13 in Grade 8, and one age 19 in adult ed, all of whom were pushed through school with a Grade 2 or lower reading level until I got them this year. The schools here believe in the “learn your own way” theory — and it clearly didn’t work. I used the kind of methods I suggested above, and all of them have made a year’s progress every three to four months — they are perfectly teachable, just that having no direction and making up the program any way the teacher wanted to did *not* teach them.

Tessa,

Victoria said it very well…there are certain essential ingredients in a reading program for dyslexic children. Orton Gillingham is basically the oldest program in the US for treating dyslexia, but many others have been created with it’s influence.

Here is a good article right here on LD Online which will list many of the best programs available today. I recommend training in more than one since some certainly fit certain kids better than others.

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

Also, if you do not already have it, you need to buy [b]Overcoming Dyslexia [/b]by Sally Shaywitz. This will give you a very good foundation on how to help children with learning disabilities in reading and written language.

Janis

[quote=”Janis”]Patti, doesn’t the Barton program have a simple test to see if someone has the auditory skills to tutor that program? That might be a good way for her to see whether this will be a problem area. If it is, the sooner it is worked on, the better.

Janis[/quote]

Well, I’m not Patti, but I can answer the question. The Barton program *does* have a test to see if someone has the auditory skills to teach the program (or any other OG program). You can get the test (free) at:
http://www.bartonreading.com. If you don’t have high speed access, you can get a VHS tape free. You don’t have to use the program.

(I may know more about this than Patti as I have seen the “real” version whereas Patti has seen the prototype.) Anyway the test includes the ability to repeat sounds; substitute sounds (this is kazz, say it with a /f/ instead of a /k/ that sort of thing). Another thing you can do, is say sounds and have a friend who is not dyslexic tell you if you can say them correctly. You should also be able to spot if someone is saying them incorrectly. This test is a passable by a dyslexic, esp one who has had the kind of intervention you have had.

On another subject, I agree with the comment about teaching kids the “same”. This is often used as an excuse to teach kids inappropriately.
For example, if all kids don’t learn the “same” then totally visual methods should teach a kid to read. We know they do not. (Or if they do only to about a 3rd grade level max). We all alter our teaching for individual kids. For some kids you go faster, slower, provide more practice, less practice, don’t need to cover something, need to cover other things more, etc. I think that’s a more correct understanding of
not “teaching kids the same”.

I also have a learning disability, but not dyslexia. However, I have Aspergers which is a form of high functioning autism. At times it has been a hinderance but I work particularly well with kids who are autistic.

—des

Thanks, Des. I think it is a super idea that Barton included this screening. If I ever train reading tutors again, I’d like to try it out.

Janis

Yippee… I get “reminded” to log in :-)

Tessa… if you didn’t know it already, don’t count on being able to teach in the public school systems (though parts of Iowa might be okay). It didn’t work for you… there are lots of reasons for that. An awful lot of well-meaning folks don’t believe that people like you can succeed academically. Every year, they see more and more “proof” that they are right, as more and more students fail academically.

So learn your trade — but realize you might have to go with private schools or practice to really help the folks you want to help.

You would have no trouble with it. The reason for the test is that many parents use Barton. Since it is parents and dyslexia is genetic there is a good chance that the parents will be too. It is necessary that they would have the requisite phonemic awareness to teach their kids (or find someone who has).

—des

[quote=”Janis”]Thanks, Des. I think it is a super idea that Barton included this screening. If I ever train reading tutors again, I’d like to try it out.

Janis[/quote]

Thank you for all of the advice ladies!

I need to come through here and take notes to keep with me.

Sue, thanks. I hadn’t even thought or heard of that before. My belief is I will show them differently. I don’t think I fully explained my situation yet.

First of all…even though I was extremely behind in 7th grade (2nd and 3rd grade level), I passed with average grades when I got back to the public school through highschool (I was homeschooled 7th and 8th grade year, and brought back to grade level).

Secondly, through college I’ve been on the Dean’s list every semester, and doing better than many of my peers. I know that grades aren’t that big of a deal…and they don’t look for someone who specifically has high grades. Some of the worst teachers are those who are extremely smart but have no teacher sense (not knowing where to look for information, not knowing how to deal with people…). So, they can’t look at my papers and use academics against me.

My goal is to teach in the public school though…because I think that is where there needs to be the most help. I also believe that thigns are slowly getting better (slowly but surely). Thanks for the heads it though…it is something that I will keep in mind.

My son’s third and fourth grade special ed teacher was dyslexic. She had a masters in education and then went on and got training in LMB and phonographix. She was, I think, very frustrated in our school system (left because husband was doing medical residency in another town) but had been very happy in Gainesville where she was originally. She didn’t feel like she got enough support to be effective in our school. And I am sure she didn’t. We had had a horrid teacher before her so I was delighted just to have someone who spoke the same language as me and who supported my efforts to help my son. I had stopped depending on the school several years before.

My two cents would be that you would need to do training in addition to schooling and that you need to look for a school that provides adequate support.

Beth

Ty Beth and everyone!

My plans are to go to school for another year and a half (so all of next year and then I have another Semester of student teaching), so I’ll be done around Christmas 2006. I hope to substitude teach in the schools around the area that I live, so I can look around a little. That will give me some time to get my foot in a couple of doors and scope the place out. It would also give me enough time to get some extra training.

Thank you so much for all of the advice everyone! I am very happy I decided to start posting here.

Tessa,

While I admire the Don Quixote thing and the I’ll show them attitude, unfrotunately no matter how succesful you are you won’t show them anything because their eyes are wide shut.

There are professional schools like Sylvan whose business is educating kids instead of petty politics and value judgments seen in public schools. I see no reason for some one like you to try to show them anything because I doubt you are the type of person who would hit them over the head with a 2X4 first. Tessa, I really think public education in most cases prefers the status quo. Don’t waste your time trying to prove anything to them. You’d be wasting your time. I’m sure there are many people who have tried only to get trampled. I really believe it will take an act of congress to get our schools on par with the rest of the free world. I really don’t think one well intentioned teacher walking into the lion’s den will do any good.

Save your energies for those who need people like you, the children.

Yes…I am there for the kids. I am not really trying to prove anything to anyone. I just want to help!

I know it is going to be difficult, but the majority of our kids are in the public schools. Yes, there are some aweful things in the school…but there is also good. Everyone…well almost everyone…has the right intensions.

It would be a lot easier if things changed in the education department, and the school were run in the way they should be run but that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

I am not expecting to change everything or anyone. As for the kids…no I can’t help them all, but as the tail of the starfish. I am not going to tell this right but…

A man was walking on the beach one day. There had been a storm the night before, and 100s…1000s of starfish were washed up on the beach…dieing. Well, along the beach this man saw a strange sight…he saw a young boy picking up starfish, one at a time, and throwing them back in the ocean. The man watched this boy for awhile…amused. He finally said something. “Boy, what are yo doing?” The boy answered “I’m throwing hte starfish into the water.” The man immediately said “Ok…but there are 100s…maybe 1000s startfish here. You could do this all day and most of them would still die. You aren’t going to make much of a difference” The boy thought for a moment, picked up a starfish and taused it into the ocean, and turned to the man and said “I made a difference for that one.”

I’m not expecting to go into the school and make a drastic turnaround in the school system…or even that school district. As many have said here…there needs to be change and it needs to start somewhere.

Tessa,

I have the starfish story on a poster and have it laminated and hanging in my classroom (you maybe can still get one from Lingui-Systems). While I do get frustrated with the system, my purpose in being there is to help the children assigned to me. I take that very seriously and I can see you will, too! So don’t be discouraged! (By the way, our daughter is majoring in elementary ed. and plans to graduate exactly when you will!).

Janis

Hi Tessa,

I would just add that the primary deficit in dyslexia IS auditory, unlike what most people think. It wasn’t until the brain scans (fMRI in particular) came out in the 1990’s that this was proven, but it is virtually a given now. Also, in my learning center when we test kids with reading problems, 95% of them have auditory as their weakest processing skill. Some ALSO have reversal issues (such as you have) and/or visual-motor issues, or processing speed, or memory weaknesses, but those are contributing factors, not the main ones. You should try to remediate these weaknesses as much as possible though, not only to make your passage through school easier, but so that you will be better able to teach the students you are trying to help. The PACE program is another option you should check into for that. Although it doesn’t “cure” the learning disability, all cognitive abilities can be strengthened through practice, and that is the basic principal behind the PACE program, and many other good therapies. There is a link to it, and some other good info, on my website, below… good luck!

Hi Shoshie,
I would like to know where you found the research that concludes that the main problem in Dyslexia is Auditory Processing, with Visual and/or Motor as just contributing factors?

Hi,

I have been using a method for decoding words that is concrete and multi-sensory. It is inexpensive, and works with any text, any level. Email me if you would like me to send you letters which I have exchanged with other teachers.

Anita www.learntoreadnow.com

Hi Geodob,

There has been a lot of research over the years, it is pretty much an accepted fact now. You could do a websearch on “dyslexia” and look at any of the fMRI studies that have come out in that time and you will probably find it. For example, there is one by Glenn Rosen, Albert Galaburda and Matthew Menard of Harvard Medical school in the early 90s, I don’t remember the exact year. Sally Shaywitz is another name to look for, especially since the mid 90s. The first I time I saw this reported in the popular press was in the Aug. 29, 1994 issue of Newsweek, an article called “Why Johnny and Joanie Can’t Read” by Sharon Begley. I remember seeing others over the years. There’s a whole cover story on Dyslexia in the Nov. 22, 1999 issue of Newsweek for instance, quoting lots of research and many fMRI brain studies.

Basically what fMRI technology did was enable us to “see” into the brains of many different people, both dyslexic and normal readers, to compare what parts worked the same and what parts were different. I was in grad school in the 80’s, and I remember my professors saying then that there was no “medical proof” of learning disabilities even existing at that time. The only means of photographing the brain prior to fMRI involved exposing subjects to rather high levels of radiation, so it was unethical to do that to large numbers of normal individuals. Anyway, this is what was explained to me by a neuropsychologist I know who was involved in these studies. I’ve even seen more recent studies showing that the way the brain is “wired” can be changed by some of the intensive interventions that are out there… and that is the next step, of course, not just what is wrong, but how do we fix it? That is my area of interest and expertise, as a learning disabilities teacher and tutor!

Hope this helps, let me know if I can help further!