Language Delays and learning

Hi SuzeyQ,
When you say ‘delayed in all aspects of language’, perhaps you could be a bit more specific?
Whether you are referring to speech, or comprehension, or reading?
Or perhaps all 3, but is their a variation?

I would also make a distinction between Auditory and Visual thinking, as these are the 2 primary forms of language.
Where I would ask about her language, in terms of these?
Where I suggest that you need to untangle it a bit, first.
Geoff,

I’m speaking of language in terms of reading, comprehension, writing, but not handwriting. Speaking, but not speech. So this would be more the form of grammar used in speaking rather than articulation. Articulation problems exist primarily while reading, but not while speaking and they aren’t severe. There is also problems r/t understanding the written/spoken word. This would be more like vocabulary issues. There are of course spelling issues, decoding issues… Also there are issues in speaking regarding word/thought retrieval. Formulated ideas is problematic. Clearly stating thoughts and not getting confused or losing train of thought is another issue. All these areas, including lack of organization in written work overlap and affect all areas of learning.

I hope this helps clarify things. There are “known” medical issues: CAPD, dyslexia, NVLD, undiagnosable PDD-NOS, executive function disorder, sensory integration disorder. As well as a seizure disorder that has been controlled and my dd has been seizure free for over 7 years. Other problems include memory issues, processing issues and perceptual issues.

Thank You,
SuseyQ

It sounds like you first need to tackle reading. If reading is a struggle, then other issues like comprehension etc. are bound to be difficult. What I have found is that once reading gets better, along with the ability to decode sounds, spelling gets better. Then as a child reads and starts to increasingly understand the flow of language, vocabulary, writing, speech and comprehension improve. There’s different levels for these areas as well. In writing, the first goal may be to write individual sentences correctly. On a higher level is the ability to read something and write a summary paragraph about it in the child’s own words. In comprehension, the child may first be able to answer oral questions or multiple choice questions about something. The ability to answer comprehension questions in sentence form may come later.

Yes,
I agree reading and speaking are the first step. But, how does my dd progress in reading??? She hasn’t progressed much since over 2 yrs. ago. She has had 2 1/2 years of Orton Gillingham, some Seeing Stars, Some Alphabettic Phonics, and other “excellent” phonetic programs, but she isn’t progressing.

The key is finding out why she isn’t progressing. What does she need to understand or grasp so that it all makes sense and connects together in a meaningful fashion?? That’s what I’m trying to discover. At this point her reading should have taken off, like many others who have done work in these programs, but it hasn’t.

Thank you for your support,
SuseyQ

My dd didn’t progress in reading until we did 2 things. First, she was dx’d and treated for Irlen Syndrome. Second, we started using Text-To-Speech programs.

She’d had years of various phonics and reading programs, speech/language and auditory therapy. In the 4 years of intensive therapy she made 1 year of progress so that by the end of 6th grade she was only reading between a 2nd and 3rd grade level. With the introduction of therapy for the Irlen Syndrome she jumped 3 reading grade levels in 3 months and then kind of stalled. The introduction of the Text-To-Speech program allowed her to read things at a higher level, increase her vocabulary and helped her with visual tracking. After another 2 years she is now up to grade level in her reading without supports.

I’ve found that some kids just don’t respond the way we expect to more “researched” programs. Sometimes thinking outside the “box” and trying different things leads us to unexpected success.

I agree that you may be missing something, such as a visual problem. It took three eye doctors and two failed eye exams to finally get my daughter’s visual problems correctly diagnosed. Her auditory processing problems were more obvious, but her visual ones were not. My daughter’s performance improved greatly after she got glasses. That said my daughter did respond to Orton Gillingham before her visual problems were discovered. It taught her to read. Based on your brief description of your daughter, it sounds like her CAPD may be severe. Maybe Fastforward or (on a much cheaper end) Earobics would help. My daughter did Earobics before Orton Gillingham. I could see how even strong programs that work for many kids may not work well for children who are really struggling to distinguish all sounds. Also, sometimes whether a program works or not depends on the tutor/teacher. Anyway, a program to improve auditory skill might help. Good luck.

I’m struggling with the school over this exact issue. They continue to keep her on an IEP for “reading, written expression and math” but ignore those foundational skills required for reading. They ignore the fact that her auditory skills are EXTREMELY weak. We are starting FFW next week with a private SLP/LD Specialist. I’m not sure what the results will be since none of us owns a crystal ball. There may not be any improvement or it may be very little or it could be amazing. Only time will tell. If nothing happens, we go back to the drawing board and try something else. Our audiologist said it will take time to figure out what helps her and what does not. We are also continuing to work on visualization strategies for her because she does not seem to automatically make pictures in her head, but she can when we ask her to. It’s just not something she automatically does. She’s learning and it’s helping with things like auditory memory.

Hope you find something to help your dd. I know how frustrating it can be, especially when going at it alone.