Freshman w/dyslexia

Kim, I am one of those mom’s of a child with LD who has stuck with it. My daughter is now in ‘transition’ and just started one course in a community college. She also just got her first ‘real’ job. What are your son’s interests? What is he good at? Is he actively pursuing these? It is SO important for a child with LD to know he is good at something. We have placed a large amount of time and learning around my daughter’s interests. We’ve tried to focus on her Abilities rather than her disabilities. I think our society places way too much emphasis on intellectual learning and unfortunately, much of our lives seem to focus on this. As for my daughter, we have tried to fulfill societies little checkmarks (high school credits) by being creative, directing her learning through her interests. That is what is so good about homeschooling.

PASSWORD>aa4um5Lp2CxdUKim,There are a lot of different issues here. It sounds as if he is progressing well overall, but very troubled by his reading difficulties, and I don’t think that going to school will make the situation better. I think it’s important to let him know that while there is no magic solution, you can keep trying different things until you find what works for him.In order to help him overcome his reading problems, you first need to identify specifically which skills he needs help with. Many kids struggle with basic decoding skills- since you’ve already been through lots of programs, I assume you’ve covered this, but if not, this is the place to start. If his decoding skills are good, but he reads s-l-o-w-l-y, there are some exercises to help improve speed and fluency. For some dyslexics, this is the big obstacle. Finally, it takes time and lots of reading practice at a comfortable level to develop a good reading vocabulary. Considering all the books on tape he listens to, he probably has a great oral vocabulary. In time he can get his reading vocab up to speed- if the other skills are in place, he might try reading along as he listens to a tape, starting with books that are easier that the ones he is probably used to listening to. There is a book titled “The Gift of Dyslexia” that a lot of students and parents have found encouraging- you can probably find it at the library.Jean: Hi there, I hope I have found a safe place to express my concern over
: my son. He is 15 and is very dyslexic. I have home schooled him
: his whole life. Every year we thought, this will be the year he
: gets it and will have a break through. I have tryed all sorts of
: curriculum. I have had him do 10 weeks of intense Vision Therapy,
: that didn’t help. We tryed a learning center and that didn’t help.
: I am worn out. Kevin can’t understand why God has not answered his
: prayer and helped him get past this challange. I told him, he will
: alway have it, but that he will learn to cope. We are so fustated.
: I can’t handle seeing him give up on school and it causes alot of
: conflict in our home. I have given us a two week break just to
: re-group. I am afraid that he will not pass High School. It hurts
: me to feel as his mom I have failed him in some way because he is
: getting futher behind in the basics;reading, spelling, grammer,
: math, handwriting with each year he gets older. He listens to a
: 100 books on tape a year, so he is ahead in History and Literture.
: And we rent alot of tapes from the library. What do I do with a
: teen ager who has dyslexia and a major attiude to boot. He is a
: great kid. I just need some help. Most of the home schooler
: parents of high school age kids are dropping like flys,and are
: putting their kids in public school. I have been thinking maybe it
: is time to do that too???? I feel alone. Thank you, Kim

Has he had a CAPD eval? Has he done FastForWord or PACE? If not, then it’s way too early to despair.My daughter’s reading did not improve much from vision therapy, but VT laid the groundwork for dramatic reading gains during PACE.Children with auditory processing problems (as opposed to vision problems) often experience similar dramatic gains in reading from FastForWord. (Although it’s a good idea to get a CAPD eval first, as not all auditory processing problems respond to FF.)The key is to focus on the underlying problems holding back his ability to learn, rather just on academics and academic remediation. There is a model that views development as a pyramid. Genetic inheritance forms the broad base of the pyramid. Sensory/motor development is the next layer. Cognitive skills develop on the sensory/motor layer, and directly underlie academic learning — which is the small peak of the pyramid. When a child has problems with academic learning, it’s a good idea to closely examine the underlying layers.VT addresses problems on the sensory/motor level. A CAPD eval would determine whether there are similar therapies that would reduce sensory/motor deficits in auditory processing (such as FastForWord). On ce sensory/motor level problems have been addressed as much as possible, a cognitive training program such as PACE can produce dramatic improvements.If PACE is out of the question because of cost, Audiblox is a good home-based program that can be started for about $80.The keys to making progress are (1) identifying the exact nature of the problem — CAPD eval would fit in here, (2) identifying therapies likely to help — such as FFW and PACE.Schools typically provide only academics and academic remediation. As a homeschooler, you have a lot more freedom. I would definitely take a step back and spend some time working on reducing underlying deficits, because that will make academic learning come much faster and more easily. This is what we did with our daughter, who was not reading at all at 8-1/2yo and who was identified as having “severely disordered phonological awareness”. In an 18-month period we did Reading Reflex, vision therapy, PACE, and a PG intensive. This brought her reading to a 4th/5th grade level with normal fluency. She still has some academic areas that need work, but her ability to learn is greatly improved over two years ago.One of the side benefits of a program such as PACE is that most kids experience a significant “attitude improvement” going through the program.Mary: Hi there, I hope I have found a safe place to express my concern over
: my son. He is 15 and is very dyslexic. I have home schooled him
: his whole life. Every year we thought, this will be the year he
: gets it and will have a break through. I have tryed all sorts of
: curriculum. I have had him do 10 weeks of intense Vision Therapy,
: that didn’t help. We tryed a learning center and that didn’t help.
: I am worn out. Kevin can’t understand why God has not answered his
: prayer and helped him get past this challange. I told him, he will
: alway have it, but that he will learn to cope. We are so fustated.
: I can’t handle seeing him give up on school and it causes alot of
: conflict in our home. I have given us a two week break just to
: re-group. I am afraid that he will not pass High School. It hurts
: me to feel as his mom I have failed him in some way because he is
: getting futher behind in the basics;reading, spelling, grammer,
: math, handwriting with each year he gets older. He listens to a
: 100 books on tape a year, so he is ahead in History and Literture.
: And we rent alot of tapes from the library. What do I do with a
: teen ager who has dyslexia and a major attiude to boot. He is a
: great kid. I just need some help. Most of the home schooler
: parents of high school age kids are dropping like flys,and are
: putting their kids in public school. I have been thinking maybe it
: is time to do that too???? I feel alone. Thank you, Kim

Mary MN has a very helpful approach — first identify the problem, before you can get the best solutionTwo other thoughts: Have you shared your own past difficulties with your son? It is a big help to teens to realize that parents and teachers went through rough times too.And please note — those of us who sent teenagers through public schools had some pretty rocky times too.

: I’m not sure that public school would be able to help your son. Have you ever thought about having a reading specialist work with him once a week? Or any kind of a reading tutor? There are methods than sometimes prove helpful to dyslexics.Spelling and even grammar should be helped by typing with a program that has a good grammar check and spelling check. Seeing his mistakes by the program will help him to learn how not to make those mistakes. And his math should not really be affected by his dyslexia.I’ve worked with homeschooling families and it does get harder as the kids get older. Older children naturally want to break away from their parents a bit and it can feel to kids like that isn’t happening when they’re homeschooled.If you would enroll him in public school, I would have careful conversations with them about his needs before doing so.Good luck.Hi there, I hope I have found a safe place to express my concern over
: my son. He is 15 and is very dyslexic. I have home schooled him
: his whole life. Every year we thought, this will be the year he
: gets it and will have a break through. I have tryed all sorts of
: curriculum. I have had him do 10 weeks of intense Vision Therapy,
: that didn’t help. We tryed a learning center and that didn’t help.
: I am worn out. Kevin can’t understand why God has not answered his
: prayer and helped him get past this challange. I told him, he will
: alway have it, but that he will learn to cope. We are so fustated.
: I can’t handle seeing him give up on school and it causes alot of
: conflict in our home. I have given us a two week break just to
: re-group. I am afraid that he will not pass High School. It hurts
: me to feel as his mom I have failed him in some way because he is
: getting futher behind in the basics;reading, spelling, grammer,
: math, handwriting with each year he gets older. He listens to a
: 100 books on tape a year, so he is ahead in History and Literture.
: And we rent alot of tapes from the library. What do I do with a
: teen ager who has dyslexia and a major attiude to boot. He is a
: great kid. I just need some help. Most of the home schooler
: parents of high school age kids are dropping like flys,and are
: putting their kids in public school. I have been thinking maybe it
: is time to do that too???? I feel alone. Thank you, Kim

Kim:I am amazed that, with all of these responses, no one has suggested the tried and true method of multi-sensory teaching designed specifically for Dyslexics! Why don’t you first let us know what state you are in and perhaps there is someone who can help you in that specific state.Then, go to www.iser.com and look under your state for names of people specializing in dyslexia or Orton-Gillingham methods.Finally, go to www.dys-add.org which is the website of the International Dyslexia Association and see what you can find there.Good Luck!Kay Harlan (PS our clinic is in Washington State)