Re: To Roxanna re: dyslexia

[Guest guest]

What matters most is the methodology that they use to work with her. Our school, for instance, did the Orton Gillingham methodology and Ryder had an hour of that extra a day, plus the regular teacher taught reading the same way. It is key to use this because it works and it works for kids like ours. They might not even have discussed methodology at your IEP meeting, just said she will work with the 'resource teacher" on the goals. But you can ask, "Do you have training in Orton Gillingham?" If she/he says "no", then ask what reading training they do have - what methodology they use to teach struggling readers.

Because of the NCLB act, schools have to use scientifically proven methodology to remediate these disabilities. So they need to provide this. I think that was one thing my school was doing well at - they implemented several well known reading methods in the early grades for the kids who were having problems. But I don't know if this was something other schools are doing/were doing. Find out! It's possible you have a "title one reading" teacher in your school who is trained in orton gillingham. Ask them. This is a great website to get more information about dyslexia --> http://www.dys-add.com/teach.html

Also, make sure you will have data taken on a regular basis. For example, they will be able to tell you in a few months if she has improved in the areas she is having trouble in via testing. With my oldest ds, he had the same reading goals every year and made no progress. I kept trying to figure out what was going on and how to help him but I didn't know enough then. So you don't want her to just move from year to year making minimal progress or no progress. We know how to remediate these disabilities so there is no excuse not to see her improve a lot. Plus, you have the NCLB law to help you push for what she needs.

Another thing my school provided was Fast Forword. If they want her to get summer services, see if you have a FF provider in your area and ask them to pay for that. http://www.scilearn.com/

It can be a pain in the butt because it is one hour every day. So you'd have to take her. But it really made a big difference for my ds. I begged the school years back to get this for my older ds but they poo-poohed it. Said it wasn't "scientifically proven" to work. Imagine my shock when they got it some years later. And bragged that it is scientifically proven to work. lol, welcome to the real world. ugh.

Well, it was there for my younger ds. And it is a great program to look into. I would try to get that over Summer school, especially if summer school is not something specifically designed for her needs. I don't know her, but I know with my younger ds, he does not need more exposure to information, he needs help learning how to manage that information. For instance, long division is a nightmare with him. I realize that just doing more long division problems does not help him at all. He gets HOW to do it. He needs help learning how to manage it all, how to move the information faster and more efficiently. At the local school, they would just give him another paper with a ton of division problems to do. And that just had him screaming. So consider that and you do not have to take the summer program they have for all kids who are behind. Her being behind is for a specific reason. Exposing her to the material again isn't going to necessary fix that problem. But if you can get her into a program like Fast Forword or a specific remedial reading program using Orton gillingham with a tutor who is trained to do that methodology, then she will make a lot of progress over the summer and be able to use the information she is getting in the classroom. Or you may want summer school AND private tutoring or FF. Now you have them admitting she needs help, you should push hard to get the right help and not just "more school." She will get bored fast that way and not learn how to manage her information any better.

I'm glad she is getting help now! Email me anytime.

Roxanna

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke

( ) To Roxanna re: dyslexia

Just wanted to know if you have any advice for IEP goals. 's reading is testing at grade level at the moment. However, they do see that she is having difficulty with de-coding words and she spell phonetically. She is also having trouble with comprehension when there aren't picture cues.

I just had her IEP and came away not knowing if the goals were appropriate, too generalized, or if she could have used more. Of course, they are going by what they are seeing, the testing scores, etc. She will be receiving 450 hours of resource a week in addition to her 60 min. of speech.

I feel like I am very uninformed in what she needs, so any help would be appreciated.

They are recommending summer school for her. The teacher was shocked that no one had recommended it before. Which was a good thing because I was able to say, in front of the assistant principal that everyone had told me in the past that everything was "fine/okay".

I am going to go and have her formally tested to see if she is dyslexic, which I feel pretty confident she is. Who knew? I am so grateful to you for giving me this advice because she certainly fits the signs/symptoms!

-Melinda