I have 4 children. My first 2 have done exceptionally well in school and are developing in all areas just fine. My Third child however is different. I noticed when he was 3 that his speech was significantly delayed. When he was 4 I took him to what was going to be his elementary school and requested and eval. They were happy to do so. During that first IEP he was referred to a special preschool that was for children with speech and language delays. He did very well in that pre school and met all of there expectations. He is now in Kindergarten and is continuing speech therapy in school 2 times a week. I thought that he was improving a lot until he was in a regular classroom with “normal” kids. He is significantly behind the rest of the class.(he doesn’t know any of his letters, numbers and he just learned the basic colors and only 2 shapes.) I thought that working at home with him would be enough but it’s not. So I got a tutor for him. He sees her 3 times a week for 30 min. each session. It has been a month and I have seen no improvement and she’s only working on the four letters in his name. (Ryan) He knows the R but he can’t tell you the names of the other letters. But he can tell you the sounds they make and when asked to put flash cards together (for example R with r or Y with y) he can do that with no problem. He get’s extremely frustrated and emotional when I work at home with him. My husband seems to think he’s lazy. Is he?
I have requested and SST meeting at his school with his teacher and the study team, and I took him to my physician (what a joke!) he referred me to a private school where the evaluation alone is over 400 dollars and that is so not in our budget. I feel I’m hitting a wall and I’m starting to second guess myself and think I’m over reacting.
I’m just looking for someone who has maybe had similar experiences and can help me out with my frustrations. I only want to make sure my son gets all of the help he possibly can so he can become the best person he is capable of being.
Thanks for reading I know it’s kind of long..
Re: does my child have an LD?
Does he struggle with *everything* or is it more concentrated in when you throw symbols into the mix? What kinds of thinking is he good at? While you’re figuring out the school situation, you can also be figuring out how to draw on his strengths.
It’s going to take time and patience. If he has learned a couple of letters with the tutor and can put them together that is a start.
There are other approaches to teaching letters (teaching the letters of the name and the capitals first may *seem* a good idea, but can lead into dead ends.)
I have written up a very long outline on an effective way to teach the alphabet, and to avoid re-posting it all the time I send out copies by email on request. I’ll also send out the rest of the reading and number packet, which you can use as you get to it.
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