ok so ,many questions going through my head.
I am currently still waiting to ger my daughter started on her tutoring for reading, and in the mean time I am driving myself crazy. 2 of my other children are currently homeschooloing using the K-12 curriculum, and I am enrolling her for the spring (it is through the public schools so this would enable her to get the services offered by public schools with less hoops to jump through than if I homeschool eclectically). Any way we were doing the placement tests for reading and I was writing down observations that I noticed as she read, and they are consistent with what I have always observered.
I know I am being impatient and don’t expect any DX here I just can’t sleep at night not having any clue what her problems are with reading. I don’t feel comfortable with the results from her neuro-psyche and as I mentioned already, I plan to have her tested by an educational diagnostician (from the Lab School), as soon as school is back in session from winter break.
In the meantime I would like to share my observations and see what those of you that have experience think.
BTW, her placement tests are indicating second grade level (and she is nearly 11). No major problems with early phonics skills, letters and simple blends (i.e: bl, tr, clr,…), or digraphs, (i.e: sh, th, ch, ph).
She read ,(these were in sentences not standing alone), stout as stood, kept as keep, that as what, did as do, could as would, and rising as raising. Also about 1/3 way through the assesment she simply decided it was too hard and began randomly checking answers without looking. She read speech as special, imitate as intimidate, are as were, Nepal as Penelope, astronomer as astromatory, statue as state and from as form.
Now if I tell her to go back and look at the word more carefully she can nearly always read it correctly, it just that it takes her so much effort that she gets it wrong when reading it in the sentence. I guess I’m saying she is able to sound it out when reminded to go back and correct it. Even big words, she can correctly sound them out if given a reminder toi look at the word again, but will not do so automatically, then other times she sounds three syllable words that I think are pretty large, out perfectly. I guess what leaves me confused is it seems that the skills are there but she can’t seem to apply them. Although some digraphs she does need to relearn.
My second question is not related to the above. I live in tyhe D.C. metropolitan area and am really interested in getting trained in as many of these different reading programs as possible. I have been reading up om the posts concerning LIPS, Orton, wilson and the others trhat have been mentioned but it seems like to go to trainings I’d have to travel to Cali. are there any places or special events on the East coast that I could attend? My intereset is not just for my child, but for my community. Being Muslim, our community is so underserved concerning any special education. My major in school was special education but I have a ways to go and had to take a break after my last child because I was just overwhelmed. Anyway as I was saying we have basucally no-one with any expertise or even basic training in working with children that do not learn according to the “NORM”. Our schools are not set up to recognize, much less help children with any sort of LD’s. So while I am working on getting my Masters in Special Education I would like to take as many trainings in these programs as possible (besides it seems to some degree that those of you that are tutors and have both the trainings and the degree, that the trainings have been more valuable to you in matters of remediation for ld students), correct me if I’m wrong.
Lastly, as I said I am in D.C. and I also would like to know if anyone has any knowledghe of excellent tutors out here. At the moment I am planning on using the Lab School tutors (as I want the best out there), but they cost $70 an hour (OUCH), so if I can get someone for less that is excellent than that would be really wonderful. If not then somehow I will find that $70 dollars
Re: so many questions
P.S. From what you said about your daughter, she needs Phono-Graphix or AbeCeDarian advanced code instruction and then I’d put her in REWARDS Intermediate. It would be so much easier for you to help her yourself if you could take the training by Washington Reads in January!
Janis
Re: so many questions
Thank youy so much fot theinformation. I definitely plan on going to the soonest training they have I will check the site you gave me as soon as I get off here and I will also look into taking the training at the Lind Moode Bell Center, I believe I did see that they offer trainings at the D.C. site.
This will help soo much, (God willing),. I have resorted to barely sleeping the past month because I felt so helpless in my ability to helpher, and the fact that I let this go solong even though I knew that something wasn’t clicking. I think the trainings will help me to feelmore competent in helping her and others in our community thatneed thehelp but don’t knowwhere to turn.
Thanks again!! :)
Re: so many questions
Oh yeah, I looked up the AbeCDarian (SP?) online and I see that there are trainings in N.Y. so I just have to figure out who I know in the area and I plan on tripping up there for an upcoming seminar. I had noticed all your posts on it’s beneftits and I am sold.
phono-graphix training: jan 16-20, I am so there (God willing).
Nancy
I agree with everything Janis posted about reading programs.
However, it’s also possible that your dd has developmental vision delays. Regular eye exams do not check developmental vision skills, so they often go undiagnosed. A developmental vision evaluation by a board-certified developmental optometrist can either rule out or identify these problems. For more information, see http://www.childrensvision.com
When a child has both decoding issues and vision issues, both types of problems need to be addressed appropriately to achieve full remediation quickly. Not all children with a reading problem have vision problems, but a fairly high percentage do. Especially with an older child, it’s a good idea to get vision checked out.
Nancy
Re: so many questions
I think it is wonderful that you have the desire to help others in your community! Many of us who are passionate about teaching children with learning disabilities have had children of our own with learning problems. And I will say that a wonderful side benefit to this field is that it is very rewarding to teach a child to read.
Please let us know if you go to any of these trainings! The Phono-Graphix is enough to get you started, but Michael Bend of AbeCeDarian is just top notch. So I hope you might have an opportunity to train with him, or at least use his materials.
Keep in touch!
Janis
tutor in DC area
I, too, live in the Washington, DC area (Silver Spring). I am a Phono-Graphix tutor and was trained by Washington Reads. I think their course is excellent and you will enjoy it very much.
I also suspect that your daughter has some visual efficiency weaknesses. I would be happy to talk to you more about this and help you figure this out if you would like to contact me off line.
Linda Warschoff
[email protected]
That’s great to hear that you are working on your master’s in special ed.! And even better that you realize that you need specialized training to effectively remediate reading disorders.
You have some great possibilities in your area. First I will tell you that I also have a master’s in special ed. and have been trained in several good reading programs including, Lindamood-Bell, Phono-Graphix, SRA Corrective Reading, and Language!. The other program that I use the most has taken the best concepts of some of the above programs and made them much easier to teach, and that is ABeCeDarian (www.abcdrp.org). Since those trainings are not widespread at this point, you might go for the Lindamood-Bell trainings which are held in a few locations on the East Coast during the winter and spring. But I would especially encourage you to take the Phono-Graphix training offered in the DC area by a group called Washington Reads:
http://www.washingtonreads.com/signup.html
They have three trainings scheduled for 2006 including one in January. That week long training is much less expensive than the Lindamood-Bell training (and you do have to buy materials, but I’d personally still convert to actually using ABeCeDarian because it is a more complete program.).
One thing that sold me on the Phono-Graphix is that it teaches the alphabetic code faster than most Orton programs and gets the child into reading books faster. And practicing reading the code in text with proper error correction is key to getting these kids ahead.
I do recommend Lindamood-Bell’s Visualizing and Verbalizing program for kids who have good decoding skills but have comprehension problems. You can check the Lindamood-Bell site for training dates and locations. There is a DC clinic, but the trainings are not offered at all the clinics.
Good luck and please let us know what you decide! (Oh, and I’d really recommend the Washington Reads clinic for your own child if that location is possible for you.)
Janis