Twins struggling with comprehension

[ChristyA]

We had our parent teacher meetings the other day for our twins who have different teachers, 2nd grade. Both teachers say our girls are struggling with comprehension. Both teachers are very concerned. They can read at grade level, but they don't necessarily understand what they're reading. They don't always understand what the teacher is saying, or understand the instructions. And of course their speech isn't at age level; they were diagnosed with a speech delay at age two. They still receive speech therapy through the school. I hate seeing my kids struggle with this and am doing everything I can think of. I just bought them some 2nd grade workbooks at the bookstore which they enjoy, hopefully if I reinforce at home what they're learning at school it'll help. I need to contact their speech therapists at school, haven't spoken with them since school started. I would love some suggestions of any kind!

[ChristaN]

Have you tried posting in the special needs forum? Even if your girls don't have a formal sn diagnosis, the mamas there are fairly knowledgable about this type of stuff.

In terms of speech, are they just having articulation/enunciation difficulties or is there an underlying issue with how they are processing spoken language? If it is later, I could see as how that would impact their comprehension of written and spoken language. Were they premature or do they have any other issues? I'd expect the school to suggest some action plan for remediating the comprehension issues. I do believe that they are legally required to provide your girls with assistance for the issue.

I'm sorry not to be more help at this point with specific suggestions!

[IlluminatedAttic]

Thoughts are probably too basic, but when was the last time they had a hearing test? Have they had many ear infections or chronic fluid in the ears? Have they been diagnosed with a specifically titled speech disorder? Dyspraxia can also effect both verbal and written comprehension. SPD can also cause impediments to comprehension in a school/large group setting.

[ChristyA]

thanks for the suggestion about the special needs forum, I had overlooked that. I will copy and paste my original post to that forum and answer your questions there.