[williamsmommy2002]

So ds1 is almost 6.5 and in 1st grade. He is in a learning handicapped special day class. We recently had his iep meeting and that is where he will be staying next year. His diagnosis is pdd-nos and he has some pretty serious articulation issues. He's in special ed under a speech delay right now but that is only because they saw no need to reeval until the 3 years are up at the end of next year. We did discuss evaluating him for learning disabilities outside of what we know because he has a very hard time with letters and reading/spelling. He is just barely learning to read and can only really read the sight words he knows.

Since his iep meeting, the teacher has expressed that she does think he is dyslexic. Today he couldn't write a W even though that is the first letter in his name that he's been writing daily for 3 years. She doesn't think he is anywhere near the level where she can accurately assess him for it. He does have developmental delays and does function at closer to a kindergarten level academically. Communication-wise, he is below that level.

I guess my question is, is there anything we can do now? He will be in third grade minimum before any of these issues are really addressed. That just seems so old to us. Has anyone btdt?

 

[snowmom5]

A lot of school districts do not "treat" dyslexia anyway, but I don't understand why you have to wait three years for another eval (my district does re-evaluation for an IEP annually, with the option for the parent to call for more evaluation at any time). Did the teacher say what they could do for him if they did diagnose dyslexia?

I know I harp on this a lot, but I'd want to rule out any vision issues by having an evaluation with a behavioral optometrist www.covd.org (hopefully if there are enough near you, you may be able to find one experienced at evaluating kids on the spectrum).

The only other thing that comes to mind is that it sounds like he's not ready for phonics yet - could it be that he has a auditory issue (as evidenced by his articulation problems)? Recently there was a post here where we were discussing listening therapy (just thinking out loud about that re: if there was a possible auditory issue).

And here's a random article about early reading struggles, with a list of tips to try; not sure if it will help you at all (dyslexics tend to be visual-spatial learners)
http://www.visualspatial.org/Articles/wholes.pdf

that's all I got - dyslexia can be a complicated subject (it seems some kids have auditory issues, some have vision issues, and some have a combo of both). It sounds like you may have a lot of research ahead of you. Even if the school refuses to look into this further, I'd get private evals if necessary - to wait three years would be crazy.

 

[Peony]

My 6y has SPD, some articulation issues, and is dyslexic, it took serious effort to get her tested for it. The local school district does not test until the child is at least 7, and then they do nothing for the dyslexia.

DD1 was diagnosed shortly before her 6th B-Day, this is after exhausting and exploring many options. We had her tested privately but ran into major issues finding anyone that could accurately test a younger child. We ended up traveling to a clinic that specializes in young children with learning disabilities. DD1 is severely dyslexic though, waiting was not an option in my mind. At that point she could only recognize a couple letters and couldn't count higher then 12, in addition to having serious memory issues, etc... Her self esteem was starting to crumble and I was desperate to find some answers for her.

It is my opinion that early intervention for dyslexic children is critical. Like snowmom mentioned, there are other things to look into as well, auditory and visual processing issues. We had to do all that testing as well, which was very helpful because she does have issues in those areas as well, some issues were common to dyslexics, others were not. I think it is insane that they want to wait 3 years before addressing this but I've found that is common in school districts, it would be similar here as well.

 

[williamsmommy2002]

Just to clear it up, they will not be waiting 3 years. His reevals are to be done in a little less than a year. I said he wouldn't get much help until 3rd grade which is really only a year away. William is really delayed though communication wise and his teacher said she didn't think she could evaluate him for it yet. She really wants to. He just is delayed quite a bit.

William does have some visual processing issues that we know about. We are starting to pursue that.

 

[Momily]

Special educator here.

The core deficit in dyslexia is one of auditory processing, not visual processing. The vast majority of kids with dyslexia have trouble hearing sounds in words, and manipulating those sounds to read and write.

The treatment is a highly structured, sequential phonics program that emphasizes hearing and manipulating sounds. There's no reason why you can't do some of that with him, or have his teacher do this kind of work with him in the classroom. In fact I'm a little confused why she isn't already. Structured sequential phonics is a well accepted method for teaching any child to read. In a class for kids with LD, it's a given that many of them have dyslexia. Dyslexia is simply a fancy word for a learning disability that effects a child's ability to learn to read and spell, the vast majority of kids with LD who are severely effected enough to warrant a special day class at 1st or 2nd grade will have their ability to read impacted, in other words they'll have dyslexia. Appropriate phonics instruction should be given to all the kids, with the kids who aren't making enough progress being given extra help, or additional small group instruction.

I agree that children who struggle with reading, need intervention early on, but I don't think that testing, especially in a child who is already diagnosed, makes sense this young. Teasing out the language delay, the immaturity, and the child whose anxiety has impacted their ability to absorb instruction can be difficulty if not impossible. The best way to do that separating is not testing, but giving the child high quality instruction (that is, treating them as if they have dyslexia) and seeing how they respond.

I can give you more thoughts on what to do in the class and at home if I know what they're already doing -- do you know what curriculum they're using now?

Sorry this is so long.

 

[williamsmommy2002]

His teacher is using zoophonics(which has helped him quite a bit) and does go very slowly. When she was telling me her teaching philosophy/technique at the begining of the year, what you described is the way she teaches her kids. She does tend to have quite abit of success with her students and their reading skills. Her kids leave her class after 3rd grade reading at a 2nd grade level on average. He is having a bit more issues with these skills than most of the other kids in her class. That being said, he is one of the more severely "disabled" kids in her class and is on the borderline of needing the lower level class. Since he has shown us some higher level skills overall, we don't want to just put him in a lower level class that wouldn't push him as much.

She does teach in small groups, he gets more tutoring weekly with another teacher, and his teacher has taken over his group to help him more specifically. His class has 14 students, one teacher, one aide and a student teacher. His speech therapist and title 1 teacher are also in his class a lot. When he has trouble in class he ends up being taught one on one in a quieter setting for the most part.

I just wasn't sure of the process of what he needed or what else would help him. He does have some auditory processing issues as well. It's like his brain just doesn't get it sometimes. I've had him repeat things that i've told him and then just not get them(the toy is in the kitchen, and then he runs to other rooms looking for the toy).

Thanks for all of you help. And thank you momily. You have made me understand that we are not just standing back doing nothing for him.

 

[mamarhu]

I hope I can write this without sounding like I am on an anti-reading or anti-learning soapbox. I worked in bookstores for years, even owned one for a spell, and I am the sort of nerd who reads textbooks and takes graduate classes recreationally. I am the consummate nerd. So for me, a change in perspective to meet my kid's needs was huge.

YoungSon had/has all the diagnoses of the OP, PDD-NOS, dyslexia, developmental disabilities, (IQ tests at 72, although I know better!), articulation issues, plus PTSD and other anxiety. He is now 12, and has admirably found a balance between which social situations he can handle (one or 2 good friends), and which are better to avoid (loud chaotic atmosphere - like bowling). This is without any formal therapy, although I have read and put into practice many therapeutic ideas. The autism has by no means gone away, but we have about zero behavioral problems these days. We have both learned to cope.

He was in speech therapy through the school ages 3-7 or so, to exactly no improvement. We decided not to pursue ST when we started to homeschool. He still has some sounds that don't come out right, but most people can understand him most of the time. He probably will never work as a radio broadcaster, but gets by fine.

Regarding reading, I am taking somewhat the same approach - letting him decide how much effort to put into it. I supported every remedial and specialized program when he was in school. Since he has been homeschooled, I have tried to help him learn to read, have tried every known tutor and program in our area (including a couple different approaches to Orton Gillian, I think that is what the PP referred to), and frankly nothing is working. But that only means my kid may never learn to read - not that he is stupid, or won't have a productive, happy life. I think all the attention to his difficulty in reading affected negatively his self-image. I wish I (we) had devoted more attention to his strengths. I have no clue how he will make a living, or if he will ever live totally independently. I am pretty certain that unless some amazing adaptive technology is invented, he will never go to college. But I can imagine him making some craft product, and selling at craft fairs. Or perhaps cooking professionally. I hope he will have a wonderful partner who can help take up the slack in paying bills, reading menus, etc. Just because I am an academic, intellectual reading addict, does not mean that YoungSon will find pleasure that way. He enjoys and absorbs movies in a way that I never will. Our society is set up in such a way that reading is considered essential, but we (meaning my friends and family) have rejected other facets of culture without minding the loss. I think my job as YoungSon's parent is to guide him on the path that works best for him, not me & 98% of others.

I hope I didn't give the impression that I think YoungSon can not or should not learn. He is interested in Civil War and Reconstruction history and physics right now. But he explores these subjects through alternate means: I read to him, we visits museums, he watches movies and TV. I am pretty happy with the way his life looks to be going.

I am not advocating giving up. But as YoungSon has grown, he has taught me to love and accept exactly who he is. He will only follow one path in life - it doesn't have to be the one least suited to his style.

Phew - I was feeling pretty philosophical this morning. Wonder what brought that on?

 

[williamsmommy2002]

THank mamarhu, I was hoping you would chime in. Your approach and philisophy is basically the what I believe. I waver on homeschooling him because my mom can't handle him too much and I work long hours. He does tend to learn better from others besides us but is getting better. Really I don't care about him growing up and going to college and getting a wonderful professional career. I'm way over that. I do hope he wil be able to live on his own and take care of his daily needs. My bil has some serious issues and he has a great partner who helps him with the stuff he's not good at. He's lived on his own most of his adult life though and draws scial security. My ds however still wants to grow up and have these wonderful careers. I don't think one of his wants is possible but I do try to push his strengths.

So far his teacher has been very gentle with her approach and he doesn't quite get that he's behind the class yet. In fact if I kept him home I think his self esteen might suffer. His brother likes to rub his nose in things at times but he is not really advanced enough to get him to understand why he should stop. I have a feeling if he saw his brother excell past him in this area, it would be very disheartening for him. I already don't know what i'm going to do next year.

I guess I would love for him to love to read. I love to read as does the whole family. He does love to be read to and loves stories. I guess that's what they make books on tape for.