Help with finding testing for my child

Dyslexia basically means difficulty learning to read in spite of normal intelligence and a normal environment. The underlying cause of the difficulty is hotly debated among researchers, as is diagnosis and remediation.

My own experience has been that dyslexia is typically related to visual processing problems and/or auditory processing problems and/or problems with development of phonological awareness. My advice would be to go to a highly qualified professional in each of these three areas, rather than trying to go to some testing facility that is probably unaware of one or more of these underlying issues that affect reading.

Vision is best evaluated by a developmental optometrist. You can find certified developmental optometrists in your area at http://www.covd.org.

Auditory processing is best evaluated by a CAPD audiologist. You can find these at http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/

You can request in writing a complete speech and language evaluation from your school, or you can go to a private speech and language clinic. Be sure the eval includes the SCAN (screen for auditory processing problems) and the LAC and CTOPP (which test for phonological awareness).

Often all three evals are covered by medical insurance. Usually the professional’s office can give you information about this.

Vision problems are often best addressed by vision therapy followed by PACE or Audiblox. A CAPD audiologist can make specific recommendations about sound therapies, including FastForWord. The best approach I have found for remediating lags in development of phonological awareness is Phono-Graphix, which also teaches decoding skills quickly.

Mary

Please tell me more about Phono-Graphix. I teach a self-contained Special Ed class with a student who is by far the most “dyslexic” student I’ve ever encountered. It took the poor kid 45 seconds to sound out the word “snob” as well as 45 seconds to sound out the word “sailboat.” Both of which he got correctly but at a cost of time. At the moment I’m using the Edmark Reading series - basically a rote memorization program to build his fluency. So far it is working but is just so BORING. I’d like to supplement him with some writing activities but do not want to frustrate him further. Any suggestions?? Also, do you think the Phono-graphix would be a viable option? Otherwise, he’s a fairly average boy. thanks so much for your advice.

I recommend buying the book, “Reading Reflex” by Carmen & Geoffrey McGuiness. It lays out the philosophy and methodology very clearly. Cost is about $16 and the book is available at most bookstores — Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc. The book alone would be enough to get you started. Website for PG is http://www.readamerica.net/

It’s hard for me to say definitively if PG would help the student you describe. If the problem is phonological processing then, yes, PG will be very helpful. However, the slowness you describe could be the result of “slow rapid naming” which is more on the order of a neurological issue.

Some children are very slow blenders. If this is the case, then it will take a *lot* of practice using PG techniques to achieve fluency, but PG will eventually work. The website has a bb where you can post and get specific advice on how to handle a problem like this.

Both slow blending and slow rapid naming are highly linked to auditory processing problems. If I were the parent of this boy, I would probably take him to a CAPD audiologist for evaluation. There may be some sound therapies that would help.

Mary

Thank you,

If you have any information in the future I would be very glad to listen it is my child’s future at hand and I don’t want to let it slide away.