Comment

Comment by Luiza on October 12, 2009 at 4:50pm

Lynette,

My daughter's 2nd grade teacher told me that she had "taught herself" how to read. she would pick up a pile of books, go sit in a corner by herself and work with the books until she could read them.

She never had O-G tutoring.

At the time, I didn't know enough to take it with a grain of salt when her teachers told me she was "fine" or even when a psychologist told me that she "couldn't say" my daughter was dyslexic since she read with very good comprehension.

All that I did to help my daughter learn how to read was to read to her every night, for at least half an hour, but often for much longer. Again, according to her teachers, that was the only thing I should be doing to help.

Visual therapy at 10 yo was very helpful for her to become a fluent reader.

Luiza

Comment by Jean Spencer on October 12, 2009 at 12:55pm

Hi Lynette, this is probably off topic for this discussion but take a look at the Tom West "Dyslexia an Unwrapped Gift" videos if you haven't already. (http://dyslexicadvantage.ning.com/video/dyslexia-the-unwrapped-gift).

I like the TED reference and agree 100% with not reinventing the wheel.

So if I were a teacher/school curriculum adviser interested in learning more about dyslexia, where would I turn? What is the typical continuing education path? What resources are respected professionally? Can we get those resources to reflect the information we are finding?

I looked through the conference proceedings for the upcoming International Dyslexia Association conference in Florida. There were a couple of presentations outlined that relate to our current conversation but the largest majority were not. Is that the appropriate avenue to get information out?

How do you get PSA's published?

(This is so not my world!)

Comment by Lynette Kreidler on October 12, 2009 at 9:54am

What I am finding interesting in this conversation are the references to others who are doing research/education/advocacy surrounding Dyslexia. I had no idea there was a group within the Yale Center.

If I was unaware of that, what other individuals, groups, organizations, research, etc already exist? I would be pleased to see a comprehensive list added to this site. No use reinventing the wheel. And it would be interesting to me to see what angles and approaches people are coming at dyslexia from? Is it medical, neurological, visual, phonemic/auditory, organizations, output, creative thinking, gift or disability? I know it is all of these, what I am interested in is the areas of overlap.

In many ways it could be exciting to see a TED conference style of sharing about Dylexia, from all the wonderful resources the Eides have accumulated here for us. A think tank who could take the shared information and decide how to implement that knowledge into a way that benefits every individual and family affected by Dyslexia. Also a way to encourage individuals as to the upside of their creative thinking styles. What is potentially out there for them? After being surrounded by the thought that they are good at so few things (from academic experience) mentorships and visions of what could be could breathe fresh life into their spirits and psyches.

OK now I'm really dreaming... ;)

Comment by Lynette Kreidler on October 12, 2009 at 9:43am

Luiza,

May I ask, how did your daughter eventually put the reading together? Did she try O-G?

My middle two finally got "reading" at the end of second grade. We used Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons, at home; Graded readers, whole word flashcards. But they also had classroom instruction. My son was at a Montessori school for second grade, and that is where he finally put it all together, with no direct instruction from me. They also did the PACE program, which has a focus on phonological practice. It seemed to help both of them with a one to one sound/letter association and automaticity.

If "one size doesn't fit all" it would help to explore the ways others have learned to read.

Comment by Jean Spencer on October 12, 2009 at 9:11am

Luiza, I think that the recognition of dyslexia as more than just the initial reading disability is key. I like the work that Dr. Shaywitz is doing on a national level with the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity (dyslexia.yale.edu) and think that more of this is needed. They helped get the concept of reading fluency and speed into the definition and into the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment. It's not nearly enough but it is a good start. (Does anyone know what they are working on now?)

Comment by Luiza on October 12, 2009 at 7:58am

Jean, what I would really like is for schools to recognize that dyslexia is more than a reading disability. To quote from the Dr. Eides (if memory serves) I would like schools to recognize that dyslexia is a complex, lifelong condition that is neurological in origin.

That *should* open the way for early identification of dyslexia and early intervention. I do share Lynetter's exasperation with the 3rd grade standard, as it proved costly to my dd who somehow had learned to read by the end of 2nd grade.

It *should* also open the way for continued services after the child learns to read. The schools might then look for dyscalculia and dysgraphia as parts of an overall pattern, and lood also at apparent inatentiveness, erratic performance, etc as results of dyslexia. I am not sure that I would advocate for the O-G approach to all dyslexics though. I am not sure that the O-G was the program that my dd most needed, as her visual problems were much more dramatic and noticeable than her phonological processing problems. She always knew how to rhyme too.

I am dreaming out loud though. This change would require a change in the DSMV, a change in the way that most dyslexia specialists see "dyslexia," and loads and loads of extra $$$$ for the schools.

Well, FWIW, Luiza

Comment by Lynette Kreidler on October 11, 2009 at 12:29pm

What I want to know is where did the 3rd grade standard for "testing/labeling/gaining services for students" come from????

I have a daughter with Stealth Dyslexia. I have 3 other children who all struggled to learn to read but are quite intelligent. My younges, a current 1st grader, has "ALL" the classic dyslexic tendencies. When in a meeting with the reading specialists, I told them of my families history with dyslexic tendencies, and they completely blew me off. "It could be developmental, you don't know anything until 3rd grade." What's so magical about 3rd grade? And since when don't parents know how their children are doing.

The interesting thing about this, is I am a reading specialist myself. I deal with children with all types of learning profiles. You can learn the signs. Of course I don't want to needlessly label my child(ren) but if it helps them get the services they need...

OK so much for my rant. But the question remains, and Jean I think you alluded to this before, we don't want to shut down our teachers, administrators, etc, but we do want to have our children's needs addressed. And most certainly before the Magical 3rd grade.

BTW, I like your list below. I especially like #4. I think the reading is the Obvious meaning to Dyslexia, but all the other things are easily overlooked and explained as a low motivation child, disorganized or lazy. Labels that don't address the intrinsic needs. Even though I live with children with these characteristics, I sometimes lose sight of what they are specifically. They are MY reality so they seem Normal to me. I would love a spelling out of these characteristics to help me figure out what works best for my family and their acquisition of lifelong skills beyond the classroom.

Comment by Jean Spencer on October 11, 2009 at 9:05am

What are we asking the schools to "do" for our kids?

(This is specific to dyslexia since that's the world I know the best right now.)

1) train kindergarten and first grade teachers to recognize some of the basic signs (can't sound out words, doesn't "get" rhymes)
2) make trained specialists available to evaluate students identified by step #1
3) teach identified students to read with a widely-accepted program such as Orton-Gillingham
4) train teachers of all ages to understand and recognize the other sides of dyslexia
5) provide trained school resources to come into the classroom to help identify appropriate tools/techniques/accommodations to allow students to perform their best
6) incorporate techniques into the standard curriculum that will help dyslexic students as well as others (for example, my son's current teacher has them organize all their papers in a single binder - this is fantastic for him and good for the rest of the class as well).
7) don't require a child to fail in order to qualify for help

That's a start.

Comment by Lynette Kreidler on October 11, 2009 at 6:12am

A couple of things:

One, since the Eides are directly involved with this discussion board, perhaps, we can ask them if they would be willing/able to help develop a screening tool for both parents and teachers, to help them evaluate if a student needs further testing to determine if stealth/dyslexia is acting in their lives.

Secondly, what exactly are we asking our schools to "DO" for our kids?
Yes they need to understand it's an issue exists that affects the mental, emotional, and psychological health of our kids and their ability to learn. But we are then asking them for some consideration towards our kids. What exactly does that look like?

BTW, while reading this discussion, I noticed the side bar to the right under Dyslexia General, What does Dyslexia look like in the Gifted? Great video, and it links to others that are also helpful to this discussion.

Comment by Jean Spencer on October 10, 2009 at 2:38pm

I agree - no more "falling through the cracks" allowed! I always laugh (not in a good way) when I read my school's mission statement about educating children to the best of their ability and then they tell me that because my gifted/dyslexic child is averaging out that everything is just fine.....

OK, enough grousing. I don't know how to fix the world. I'm trying to make a difference right here, in my home - Gwinnett County, Georgia. How do I explain to a school system that believes they are world-class that they are totally missing a fantastic opportunity to educate the brilliant minds of the next generation? (I'm broke. Can I entice someone to come and talk to them if I tell you that they have right around 160k students in the district? Let's see, if 10% have dyslexia....)

I do have to say that pretty much everyone I talk to seems to actually care about the children. I just don't understand how they can be so far behind on this issue. I'm sure that a lot of it is funding along with state and national definitions for IEPs that define the problem as being a difference between what they are doing and their classmates are doing rather than between what they are doing and what they are capable of doing. By the time a bright student gets to the point where they are not keeping up with their class, they are already devastated psychologically which gives you a whole bunch of other problems to try to fix. (Along with giving the school the excuse that they have psychological problems, not educational problems...)

The funny part is that I really think the school would find it cheaper to address dyslexia head-on than they are currently spending to remediate it. It's a ton cheaper to put kindergarten and first grade dyslexic children in a phonics-based class than it is to take 3rd graders with behavior problems and try to figure out how to teach them to read.


I really like your idea about handouts/checklists. I've searched for a 1 pager that adequately expresses the issues my child faces but the best I've found so far is the Eide's Stealth Dyslexia article (which is longer). I'm sure there is one out there but I can't find it. So many of the sites are trying to sell a specific technique or are focusing solely on the children who are totally failing. I would love to have a researched-backed "expert opinion" paper to give to my school board that they might actually read but I will probably only have one shot at that and I'm not sure how to go about trying to get them to pay attention without ticking them off.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page