My 8 ds has been doing Wilson at school and glass analysis with his tutor since March. Well have we made progress!! His most recent PALS testing shows a jump from pre-primer level to ending first grade. Even though he started in March he has passed the rest of the kids in the Wilson program at school with him who have been at it since Sept. His teacher said he is really working her, she had to go and make more lessons just for him to finish the year. The tutor feels at the pace we are going he will be at a 3rd level when we start 3rd in Sept.
Is this type of progress normal for a child that has been described as “a classic dyslexic”, or is he just a victim of the Balanced Literacy program forced on him since K, and is now “getting it” with a true reading program? I am praying the progress continues. I am so thankful we have had the early intervention and can’t imagine where he would be if we hadn’t started now.
thanks for to all for the great info, I have learned so much from all of you.
Re: dyslexia or dysteachia?
Please read Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz MD, this book will clarify and explain any questions or concerns you have. It is a revolutionary book, I recently cited it to lobby our school for an effective reading program. The teachers and principal were “deer in the headlights” blown away! They are scrambling to find a scientifically/research based reading program to incorporate. We will see if they will deliver the goods. I have the criteria and research and law to back my request because of this book. It is a must read for anyone who has reading problem or a child with a reading problem. Parents Unite!
Re: dyslexia or dysteachia?
Please read Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz MD, this book will clarify and explain any questions or concerns you have. It is a revolutionary book, I recently cited it to lobby our school for an effective reading program. The teachers and principal were “deer in the headlights” blown away! They are scrambling to find a scientifically/research based reading program to incorporate. We will see if they will deliver the goods. I have the criteria and research and law to back my request because of this book. It is a must read for anyone who has reading problem or a child with a reading problem. Parents Unite!
Re: dyslexia or dysteachia?
It is quite possible that your child really did have a learning issue but that you caught it and her brain changed.
Brain scans on dyslexic children has shown that when the right methods are used the child’s brain scan can look more like that of a nondyslexic.
I found that once my son received the proper phonemic awareness based method intensively, he moved very quickly. He started very far behind.
He probably didn’t have any auditory problems but some visual problems surfaced later related to tracking. He wasn’t developing an enjoyment for reading and could not sustain the reading effort for any length of time.
Be on the look out for this type of problem and if it does surface you may want to consider vision therapy.
Re: dyslexia or dysteachia?
My experience with the more truly dyslexic child has been that there is not only the phonological processing piece that needs to be taught, but fluency (speed/accuracy) is also a huge issue. Good classroom teaching won’t fix that.
I recently received a first grader who obediently sounds out everything every time he/she sees it. This child has made poor progress in first grade, but knows the sounds and can sound out simple words. This child, in my view, is dyslexic and needs resource help. This child was not a victim of dysteachia.
If your child merely needed more explicit teaching of phonics and is catching on quickly, reading with reasonable speed and accuracy, then this may be more a case of inappropriate teaching. If your child is learning, but is reading very slowly, having to really study words and needing an exhorbitent number of exposures to get simple words to the automatic level, the problem is more than teaching methods.
Re: dyslexia or dysteachia?
Linda F - I often wonder if this is the case with my daughter (the “brain change”). She is doing awesome - although we are continuing with an OG tutor this Summer - just to make MOM feel better!
Hard to tell. I’d have to meet him and work with him. If it’s *only* dysteachia, he will get up to class level and not need too much extra help from here on in, just a bit now and then like everyone else. If it’s classic dyslexia, other problems will likely crop up and he may need to keep the tutor fairly regularly. Keep a close eye, but good work!