I am new here, this forum was recommended to me so I hope you guys can help. I will try to be brief and explain my situtation.
My son has a ” learning disability”, I have been looking into some programs outside of the school. I have found a processing and congnitive program called PACE, and reading and spelling program called MASTER THE CODE. Both are taught by a learning consultant. Basically someone who went through the training program for each of these. Needless to say it sounds great but alot of money for us right now. I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of these programs or used them? I would also appreciate any other programs that may be useful.
I hope someone can help. I appreciate any insight. I have thought that he may be dyslexic, I also think there may be some auditory processing problems. Not to mention that ADHD has been suggested too.
I have to say that I may not be able to check back until tomorrow. But will definitly check back.
Thanks!
Re: My first time here and My son has a "learning disablili
Thank You Victoria. I will search for some of the other topics. I will also look into some of the other programs. I know we have alot of options, it seems hard to know which on will be right. I feel as thougth we started so late with getting him just the little help he has had already had. It is encourageing to know that there are so many others who have similar problems, not to mention the insight you can gain from the experiences of others.
Thank You.
Re: My first time here and My son has a "learning disablili
Welcome!
Victoria said it all-did a great job of covering all the bases and stressing that what’s successful depends on your particular kiddo
It might help if you gave us your ds’s age and grade and what specific problems he is having
I think we all tend to find kids on the boards who seem to be similar to our own and follow their experience the most closely. That helps cut down on the number of options you feel you have to try out because yes, they are plentiful
I would start small and inexpensive myself. Even if you don’t see measurable succes, the time spent, along with the one on one working with him on something like PG will help you better see his strengths and weaknesses so you can make a more informed decision as to where you spend big money!
Use the search function at the top of this page to look for these topics, and you will find many discussions.
Appropriate help depends on identifying as much as possible what the problems are. I have not used PACE myself but I understand it is aimed at kids who have problems with memory and organization of thoughts, and many people here speak very highly of it but *only* for the kid who needs the skills covered. Master the Code is a followup that teaches specific reading skills, often called MTC for short.
For general thinking/organization skills, there are many other programs at varying prices. Interactive Metronome helps with timing, sequencing, and organization, and requires a trained provider and tools so it is quite expensive. Audiblox teaches many thinking skills and is apparently quite inexpensive and can be implemented by the parent, but requires dedicated work over a fairly long period of time. There are also computer tools, one called brainbuilder, which are moderately expensive and get mixed reports from parents.
For auditory processing, there is a program called FastForWord, medium expensive (depends whether done by parents or provider), and some programs I have heard of but not seen called The Listening Program and Tomatis, quite expensive again. These get good reviews from some parents whose children’s needs matched the programs, and less enthusiasm from others.
Many parents here speak highly of vision therapy, again only if the child needs this particular kind of help, and it seems to vary a lot depending on who is doing the therapy, also quite expensive because of the professional time involved; there are also some online sites and a book that can help you do some therapy at home at lower cost, but this is usually going to be less specific and focused.
There are other good reading programs available, at wildly varying prices. I use a “home-cooked” program myself, put together out of two or three relatively inexpensive book series plus homemade materials — ask for the notes if you are interested; many people on this site recommend Phonographix (frequently shortened to PG, not a movie code) which requires only a very inexpensive guide plus homemade materials plus books to read; Lindamood Bell (LMB) is a program offered in clinics which teaches the specific speaking and hearing skills necessary as a foundation to reading — it is quite expensive but has very good reports here; Orton-Gillingham (OG) is the granddaddy of dyslexia teaching programs and has produced a number of descendants at varying prices, most of them quite effective.
And this is only a partial list of what is out there. Don’t panic! Helo is available
Parents who have been through a long process with kids with many difficulties (search for old posts by LindaF for example) have recommended that first you need to look at underlying sensory deficits — auditory processing therapy and vision therapy IF needed; second you look at cognitive therapy such as PACE again IF needed; and third you work on a good systematic reading program including (but not limited to) systematic synthetic phonics.
I work as a reading tutor and I tutor reading, handwriting, arithmetic, and related skills. In doing this I have to teach auditory discrimination and language and visual tracking and writing directionality; some of these can be covered by an experienced reading tutor, and getting a good tutor is a place to start. However if the child has severe and profound problems that make the reading tutoring exceptionally difficult, then it is time to look at the other issues.