Anyone else with a dyslexic in the public school system?

[kentuckymom]

My son will enter second grade in a couple weeks. We know he's dyslexic because of an independent evaluation we had done at the end of kindergarten. I suspected it early in his kindergarten year. He has two hours of tutoring a week outside of school using the Barton Reading and Spelling program (which is Orton Gillingham based). He's made progress with this program, but he's still not where most kids his age are in terms of reading. In his particular case, his dyslexia has also affected his math ability because he has a really hard time with memorizing patterns of any kind, which makes for a difficulty with counting. He can understand the CONCEPTS of addition and subtraction, for instance, but he just learned to count to 20 consistently without skipping numbers this summer.

He has an IEP for speech (which he'll probably be released from sometime this year because he's only working on one sound at this point). We've lightly brought up the idea of having him evaluated for a "specific learning disability" because of his reading and math weaknesses, but have been told that, while it's our right, he's not low enough that he'd likely actually get any help.

If you have a kid with similar issues in the school system, how have you handled them? How much do I count on tutoring and reinforcement at home to help him as opposed to pushing the school system to do something formal? 

In case it might affect your comment, I should say that I've given serious consideration to both homeschooling and a private school specifically for kids with learning differences, but, for a variety of reasons, dh and I have agreed to keep trying to get ds's needs met in the public school system (see my thread in the education forum if you want to know more).

[Jenni1894]

My son is 8 and going into 3rd grade.   We had some problems early on in school, particularly 1st grade.   He's now on par in reading and writing.  He also had a speech delay, which has been corrected.   We had math and reading tutors and I did think about homeschooling him also.  

The school tutoring really helped him, but he felt "left out".   I worked with him tons on reading and writing and comprension.   Practice sheets I print off the internet and just working him thru out the day when I could.  I'd have him read a short book and then have him write me a report on it. 

While we public school, IMO I think home help and anything extra (tutoring) is most helpful.    My Dh is dyslexic and was pulled from his HS and put into a special school (contrary to popular belief it was a learning disability and not a behavioral).  He hated it.  Being singled out and labeled "one of those kids" all through school.   He wished that his parents and school would have been more suportive and patient.  So with that in mind I decided it was best for my son to continue in a normal school setting and it was my job as the parent to help him.  I also found fish oil to be helpful for him. 

[melissa17s]

My ds is in public school and has dyslexia as one of his dx.  He has an IEP because he fell far behind his peers due in part to the dyslexia/dysgraphia.  He worked in school with the special ed teacher about 70 minutes a day for 2 years- 40 minutes on reading and 30 on writing.  He also went to off and on OT outside of the school for a year for the writing during 4th grade.  He has had success with reading and is now at grade level amongst his peers at the end of 5th.  He is not doing as well with writing, and will probably stay in special ed because of it even if his reading stays on par with peers.  Here there are no specific programs that the teachers follow for dyslexia.  It is left up to the classroom teacher and sometimes, like in ds case, the special ed. teacher to decided how to teach the student.  I worry because he is going to middle school this fall, but I think he will catch on to the new environment fast.  I hope he gets a good special ed teacher, like he did in the elementary.  

I think OP you should ask the IEP team to add reading and math goals or evaluate for reading and math at the least to see if he qualifies for further instruction.  My ds loved his special ed teacher.  He needed the small group and one on one instruction he got outside of the classroom.  Part of his goals is that he would not miss out of regular class, so he went when they had free work time or writing time.  

[Peony]

We are hoping to reenter the public school system with DD1 in 6th grade, but through a charter school. Right now she will be going into 4th grade in a very small private school. She now is at grade level with reading and comprehension but has to have accommodations. Tests have to be administered verbally, she needs extra help in order to do any computer work, we elect out of spelling tests and reading logs. She is to the point where she CAN read but does not like to, so I am hoping that decreased pressure to will eventually shift reading to something more enjoyable. She struggles in math and for part of last year we had to add in a math tutor as well. It took 4 hours a week year around for 3 years of a OG program to get her to this point. It has been a very long hard journey. We originally ended up at this school because she needed more services then our local public school could provide. Like you, she had to do private tutoring but because DD1 was doing such a high volume of it, it was either never have a after school life (and sports is huge to her) or find a school where the tutor would be allowed to go into the school to help her. Public schools here do not allow that but her school now does. 

As more of our children are entering school, we have 4, it is quite painful to pay the school fees. We've met with the public school, I know the special ed teachers over there. DD1 would not qualify for anything until she is 2 grade levels behind again. No extra testing time, nothing. So for now, she is staying where she is. We've worked with the charter middle school already and know their model well, And sadly, they actually have more resources available to the dyslexic students then the regular public middle school does and only a fraction of the students. So that is our story anyway!

[kentuckymom]

Thanks for your comments, everyone! It's great to hear that you've found the best fit for your DD, Peony, even if you had to go outside the public school system to get it. We just met DS's teacher for the fall, and she seems very willing to work with us and find the best available way to help DS succeed. Whether we have to push for more services just depends on what kind of progress he starts making. He had his last tutoring session for the summer this morning (they'll take a week off and then he'll start with the new fall schedule, actually two days before school starts). His tutor said that he's beginning to progress at a faster rate than before and she has great hopes for second grade.

[Mark Halpert]

Parenting a child with dyslexia takes a 3-pronged attack

-   Getting the help your child needs at school

-   Finding the right program outside of school

-   Learning how to be the coach and advocate your child with dyslexia needs

Most students with dyslexia are right-brained learners -- they learn best when they see and experience information -- they have what we call right-brained dyslexia

Try and get an IEP or a 504 Plan

Find a program that teaches the way your child learns best and identifies and addresses their challenges

Get help to be the coach and advocate your child needs

Those with right-brained dyslexia will often:

-  Have difficulty with sight word vocabulary and recognizing words they have previously seen

-  Skip words and lines when reading and/or reversing letters or numbers

-  Hyper-focus when interested and have attention problems when bored or frustrated

-  Get anxious when asked to do something they cannot do

For more information on parenting a child with right-brained dyslexia go to www.3dlearner.com/parenting-right-brained-dyslexia