More new stories

In the process of figuring out where to go next I learn other people's stories about their children and it makes me grateful.

On Friday I had a pow-wow over the phone with our current Catholic school principal where I was able to speak calmly and honestly about not appreciating the numerous times I was told by her and her staff to, "wait and see". 

In only two weeks time (since we gave the diagnosis of dyslexia to the school tutor) she has been improving by the tutor using the Orton-Gillingham approach (before the diagnosis she was using Reading Recover which doesn't work for dyslexia). Now I have seen her actually sounding out the words, before that, no.

"Wait and see, she will catch up," our current school staff and principal had said over and over in varying ways. 

"It will all click in by fourth grade."  The principal herself had the story that she didn't learn to read until second grade because she realized people were having fun reading and she wasn't.  Then she suddenly learned.

Okay, so that was her personal story but as an educator that is a small viewpoint and quite misguided.  I have my own learning-to-read-late story which I will tell here at a later date but first I want to tell the story I heard today.

There was a family with numerous children at our small Catholic school.  The eldest excelled, the youngest was fine but one of the other children in the family showed many signs of trouble from an early age.  The school kept saying, "wait and see," (the same way they did to me). 

So the parents waited, and waited.  By the third grade the child could still barely read and the tutoring the school did was barely any help. 

Finally, they had their child tested by a doctor (not one of the best either but at least they were able to identify dyslexia with other complications).  Knowing this the parents moved the whole family out to one of the suburban districts which is supposedly known for being helpful with learning differences.

They still don't have an IEP (Individual Education Plan) and their daughter fails the many standardized tests on a regular basis. Her favorite letter is C on any multiple choice exam. 

She is now in 7th grade, very far behind and still not getting what she needs.  They told me that even the public suburban school says, "wait and see." They have no more patience left.

In most cases school personnel do not want to act on your child's behalf to discover the reason they are not where the other kids are.  They would rather tell parents to, "Wait and See". DO NOT BELIEVE THIS.  

If your child is not where the other children are in school go and have them tested by a trained professional immediately.  Find the most reputable neuropsychologist you can, get on the waiting list if necessary and pay the money. 

EARLY INTERVENTION is the motto we parents must have.

"Wait and see" is your family's enemy, mistrust those who tell you such things no matter how nicely they put it.   

Incidentally, your own denial is also your child's enemy but I will speak about that in another post.