Can I demand to have a special reading program used?

I too would be interested in knowing the same thing my son is not dyslexic but has a ld but they just do not modify his program which I think would make sense they use the same program in sped ed as reg ed. To me this does not make sense.

Lisa
New JErsey

Hi everyone, You can’t specify a certain program for any remediation in the IEP. This is the main problem with special education. The philosophy of the past, that you can’t remediate learning disabilities so you just give accomodations is still believed. Once in special ed, always in special ed. Unfortunately, real life isn’t that way. When a child is just given accommodations and no remediations, the child will have a hard time in school particularly high school and then in any education experience past high school. I personallydon’t believe this and I use many programs to remediate learning disability. I have eleventh graders, for English, who are reading at a fourth grade level and have terrible writing skills. Last week, the first week of school, I gave them a pep talk and convinced them to give me a chance to teach them how to read. They have been told throughout their life with that many programs would do it for them, and they didn’t. I am going to test them next week and then, let Phono-Graphix do it’s work. They really can’t wait. These kids would like to do something with their life and I would like to help them. I can tell you that even though you can’t demand that they use a certain program in the IEP, you can make yourself ‘one of those mothers’ and bug the district to make them do it. I was hired by Fairfax because of PG. You know the saying, a squeaky wheel gets ‘the attention’????? Ha! If you have objectives in the IEP that concerns reading, ask them how they are going to work on them. They have to tell you how they are going to do it. Most of the parents that want a certain program, hire a tutor and do it themselves. Really, in my opinion, tutors are the reason why most kids make it in school. Just fight for what you want for your child.

Has your child been diagnosed as Dyslexic or is that just a term that has been attached to his reading problem?

The most you can do is get the IEP committee to agree that your son needs certain attributes of a reading program — such as multi-sensory, etc. If you get enough of these attributes that are very specific, the choice of program can be narrowed down somewhat. However, even that often doesn’t work in the end when the school’s agenda (e.g., keeping costs down) is incompatible with the specifications.

Some school districts have roving reading specialists, so that even if your particular school doesn’t have someone to provide the program, the school district can. Often you have to first find out on your own if there is such a specialist in your school district (sometimes personnel at the school don’t even know this is available), and then you have to make the request and sufficient noise so that your son gets the specialist.

Personally, I don’t think it’s worth trying to get anything from the school. You wear yourself out in terms of time and energy, and at the end get something that is watered down and insufficient.

Since your son responded to Wilson, chances are good he would respond to Phono-Graphix methods. You can do PG yourself at home using the book “Reading Reflex”, which is available for $16 from most bookstores. This is what I used when my daughter was reading at a preschool level in 2nd grade. Within 6 weeks she was reading at grade level. The method is actually quite easy to do, and the book is written specifically for parents. It doesn’t expect any prior teaching experience.

Mary

Yes my son has been diagnoised as Dyslexic, after I insisted that he be tested by an outside source. But at a meeting the LD teacher did tell me he thought he was “outgrowing” his dyslexia. The school pyscologist was at this meeting and she informed him that you don’t “outgrow” dyslexia, he might be learing to manage it but you outgrow….shoes.

Hi, thanks for your response. Can you tell me more about Phono-graphix? I never learned to read with phonics, so teaching my son is a challenge, I’ve realized the only way he is going to learn to read is Phonic. We live in a rural area where help is not available, and being a single mother, tutoring is something my family budget can’t afford. I want him to learn to read and am willing to help in any way I can. I brought the Wilson Reading system home this summer, but after reviewing it, decided I would probably confuse him more. So any ideas would be appreicated.
Thanks, Kathy Ohio

Phono-Graphix is the method used in the book “Reading Reflex”, which I recommended in my post below. The book is written specifically for parents who want to tutor a child using the Phono-Graphix method. The approach is simple and straightforward, and many parents have used it successfully.

Mary

May I second the recommendation for Phono-Graphix and Reading Reflex?

My 7 year old son has multiple developmental/cognitive delays. I have taught him to read this summer using Reading Reflex with Bob Books for extra practice. Now, when confronted with a word he doesn’t know, he automatically sounds out the word. I am thrilled with his progress. The Reading Reflex approach is very easy to accommodate for writing disabilites. We have Matthew spell words using letter tiles I found at Wal-Mart since writing is too frustrating for him. He will be starting 1st grade next week able to read the second level of Bob Books. The Phono-Graphix approach, with it’s emphasis on individual sounds, seemed to integrate well with what we were supposed to be doing for Matthew’s speech therapy homework anyway.

My concern is that when placed back into a “Whole Language” program, he will again be “reading the pictures and not the words” and doing the other bad habits we worked so hard to correct this summer.

Jody

The website is www.readamerica.net.

I wouldn’t hold my breath. I hired an advocate last year to have an IEP written that would imply a certain type of reading program that my son needed. Getting the IEP was really not an issue. Then the school district decided to implement the IEP using the same program that my son had been unsuccessful at the year before. They told me that the teacher had not been trained adequately, they were going to train her, and that I didn’t like it, I could go to due process. Legally, parents don’t have the right to specify programs and, in my experience, schools interpret multi-sensory very broadly.

We ended up pulling our child out of school part time and homeschooling him. We privately have given him the training I wanted him to have through school.

The teacher in question is gone this year so maybe something came of our struggles last year.