An update on where things are now for my daughter having received the correct form of instruction (Orton Gillingham) by well trained teachers in a well regarded school.
The other day I was clearing out some of the old school supplies we have around the house. Early on, when I had openly expressed to our family (while she was in the first part of first grade) that she was having trouble reading, one of my sister in laws gave me 200 flash cards of words that she was supposed to know (ha).
Of course she couldn't read them and I put them away high on a shelf, to be avoided. (No sense in trying to use a tool that was clearly not going to work).
Yesterday I found them again. She read them all at lighting speed with very few errors. I did see her "sound-out" a couple of them but really they presented barely any challenge to her.
What that let me know with no doubt was that she will not be illiterate. She has already had the following:
First grade: Half a year of Orton Gillingham immersion in school.
Summer Camp: a month long four hour a day intensive summer camp where her teacher basically finished off her dysgraphia issue single handedly. (around 600 minutes of 1 on 1 multi sensory approach).
Second Grade: Complete Orton Gillingham immersion in school.
This summer: Lexia homework (20 minutes every other day or so) and 2 hours a week of tutoring.
Which brings me to what comes next.
Her school is (on paper) $23K per year annually. Now this is not what we pay thanks to a scholarship etc but let me tell you what we pay is still far and beyond what Catholic school costs per year.
Still I believe she needs one more year at her current school and here is why:
While, at this point, she is not going to fall into the category of illiterate or barely literate (which is where sadly, so many dyslexic folks end up finding themselves) there are things I'm thinking she still needs:
1. Another year of practicing her skills in an environment that is helpful and supportive. Reminders of the methods that she has been so far. (Things like COPS, sounding out words etc).
2. Another year of smaller teacher/student ratio.
3. Another year to simply be a child in her current school that understands dyslexia and expects things in a far gentler way without the blame and finger pointing that can come with children who take extra time or are not perfectionists about their own work (as I've said before I find the children in Catholic School to be bored and miserable).
While the next Catholic school we plan on putting her into has at least an inkling about Orton Gillingham (the weekend class type of inkling) it's simply not enough to bring a child with dyslexia into the arena of thriving. We had to have the sort of school my daughter is in now for that to occur.
No possibly way would any of my children ever go back to the original Catholic school we were in.
Not with my memories of my daughter being papered with 8 worksheets a day (at least) by her first grade teacher (who never had any intention of teaching anyone what they really needed to know how to read).
Not with their changing her report card to reflect her to be a straight A student so that she would look like she didn't really have the dyslexia the doctor report found and therefore would not qualify for the scholarship she has now and additionally they wouldn't personally look like the crap school they really are (thank goodness for experienced Child Advocates who had seen that sort of nonsense before).
So while this is another year of financially paying way more then we had ever originally intended to pay I think, in the long run, it's money well spent.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
I never expected.....
I always meant for this blog to be more helpful, to tell more detail about our stories and other stories I had heard. I don't think I'm quite achieving what I had originally set out to do but then things have not gone the way I expected them to go either.
I thought we would make personal breakthroughs (sort of like reinventing the wheel) rather than find that the tools we needed are already out there but expensive to afford.
I never expected that after getting a diagnosis the next hit would come when my daughter (and then later my son) totally had their rights trampled on by school professionals who had the agenda of protecting the school district's time energy and money by trying to deny my children the IEP's they are legally entitled to have based on their diagnosis.
On a positive day I see small changes in the world and think that maybe they are starting to add up. I think of all the celebrities who keep telling everyone that they have dyslexia and I think to myself every time the world heard the word dyslexia we get a tiny bit closer to taking care of the millions of children (and adults) who suffer because the wrong teaching method is being applied to them.
Last night I was thinking about this and about smart people I have known through life and how I was always a bit surprised that they didn't do better in school, that they didn't seem to have the academic success I would have expected considering how intelligent they all are. I wonder if it is dyslexia and if they have just compensated in various ways to get through life since no one every really helped them the way my daughter has been helped. What a loss to society that by not being taught to read by a good method they want nothing more to do with academics.
Then I thought about my daughter, who could pass a spelling test with A's in first grade but then wouldn't recognize the same word on a page. (Remember dyslexia is a fingerprint and every person's is different).
Then I was thinking about her in terms of her memory (excellent). That gave me hope for the future too.
And I was thinking about now, how she can read and all we are doing is maintaining where she is and hopefully improving her reading speed/rate (we will see I'm not holding my breath but then again I've been surprised before at the changes can be made when one is in the right hands).
So the next huge hurdle for her will come when we transition her back into Catholic school. I hope that wont be until fourth grade.
My teacher friend says up until fourth grade children are learning to read, in fourth grade they begin reading to learn. I believe that.
I thought we would make personal breakthroughs (sort of like reinventing the wheel) rather than find that the tools we needed are already out there but expensive to afford.
I never expected that after getting a diagnosis the next hit would come when my daughter (and then later my son) totally had their rights trampled on by school professionals who had the agenda of protecting the school district's time energy and money by trying to deny my children the IEP's they are legally entitled to have based on their diagnosis.
On a positive day I see small changes in the world and think that maybe they are starting to add up. I think of all the celebrities who keep telling everyone that they have dyslexia and I think to myself every time the world heard the word dyslexia we get a tiny bit closer to taking care of the millions of children (and adults) who suffer because the wrong teaching method is being applied to them.
Last night I was thinking about this and about smart people I have known through life and how I was always a bit surprised that they didn't do better in school, that they didn't seem to have the academic success I would have expected considering how intelligent they all are. I wonder if it is dyslexia and if they have just compensated in various ways to get through life since no one every really helped them the way my daughter has been helped. What a loss to society that by not being taught to read by a good method they want nothing more to do with academics.
Then I thought about my daughter, who could pass a spelling test with A's in first grade but then wouldn't recognize the same word on a page. (Remember dyslexia is a fingerprint and every person's is different).
Then I was thinking about her in terms of her memory (excellent). That gave me hope for the future too.
And I was thinking about now, how she can read and all we are doing is maintaining where she is and hopefully improving her reading speed/rate (we will see I'm not holding my breath but then again I've been surprised before at the changes can be made when one is in the right hands).
So the next huge hurdle for her will come when we transition her back into Catholic school. I hope that wont be until fourth grade.
My teacher friend says up until fourth grade children are learning to read, in fourth grade they begin reading to learn. I believe that.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Another story
Earlier today I heard another family story about a child with dyslexia.
An intense story about a school district that told many lies to the mother in order to "get her off their case" and attempted numerous times to blame the child by: finger pointing, saying there are behavioral issues and using plenty of blame-the-parent technique.
This parent lives a small town where they haven't really been for long (if you have ever lived in a smaller community you probably already know the drill- it takes awhile and it's best that you aren't making waves if you are new in town).
To sum up this depressing story the family has been ostracized in the town, the child's private news about having dyslexia is common knowledge and this child has been labeled and bullied by many as a result.
This family is getting ready to make some big changes and it has a lot to do with the way they have been treated within their community.
Funny thing, tonight I was at my local grocery store and saw two people I knew from the neighborhood Catholic school we left. One of the people spoke to me later (eyes glazed over when I started talking about how we had to leave, dyslexia....) and one of them saw me and completely ignored me (was that an accident, possibly).
It made me remember though that there is risk here. Society is starting to get a clue as actors, successful business people and other famous types come out to the public with their dyslexia but there is still a long way to go.
An intense story about a school district that told many lies to the mother in order to "get her off their case" and attempted numerous times to blame the child by: finger pointing, saying there are behavioral issues and using plenty of blame-the-parent technique.
This parent lives a small town where they haven't really been for long (if you have ever lived in a smaller community you probably already know the drill- it takes awhile and it's best that you aren't making waves if you are new in town).
To sum up this depressing story the family has been ostracized in the town, the child's private news about having dyslexia is common knowledge and this child has been labeled and bullied by many as a result.
This family is getting ready to make some big changes and it has a lot to do with the way they have been treated within their community.
Funny thing, tonight I was at my local grocery store and saw two people I knew from the neighborhood Catholic school we left. One of the people spoke to me later (eyes glazed over when I started talking about how we had to leave, dyslexia....) and one of them saw me and completely ignored me (was that an accident, possibly).
It made me remember though that there is risk here. Society is starting to get a clue as actors, successful business people and other famous types come out to the public with their dyslexia but there is still a long way to go.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
What needs to happen next
Sorry to have been away for awhile.
When one's own child is in the care of the right sort of professionals and starts to learn, well, one can relax a bit.
Still, part of my energy goes to thinking about the needs of all the (millions) of children who are still caught in the educational traps that have been laid for them across the country.
As a friend pointed out the other day, it's amazing that dyslexia has been know about for 130 years and, as a society we are still here, not dealing with it very well.
The person who said this is a grassroots organizer who has tried to get folks in her school district organized in order to see some changes (at least hopefully getting the district to adopt the Wilson program). She told me it isnt going well right now which I was sorry to hear. I've been tossing that around in my head for awhile now. I believe there is a solution but it has yet to be found.
Not everyone is willing to drop everything and put their child into a expensive private school which teaches an Orton-Gillingham based curriculum.
Not everyone can pay for that in the first place and not everyone can make the sort of changes required by such a need. I understand.
Additionally, in relation to this IEP meetings themselves require time and energy. A parent has to take off work, get babysitters and (in my case) hire a Child Advocate to translate all the alphabet soup mumbo jumbo so that they (the parent) can have a decently clear understanding of what is really being offered and a sense of trust that their child's rights arent still being trampled on (it's difficult to trust people who once sat across the table trying to get me to sign a paper which essentially screwed my child out of anything they had to offer).
So here we are. My kid is getting what she needs. We are fully prepared to make the financial sacrifices in order for her to get the education I believe she deserves.
Now my son is diagnosed too (and it didnt cost as much as the first time around because of something called an IEE that my advocate gently lead me to).
On a good day I think I see dyslexia coming to the forefront of society. Movie stars are talking about it. Famous people and successful people are admitting they are dyslexic and all of this is helpful. Still, like my friend said, school districts dont want to change. They dont want to or cant offer the help that is truly needed at this point. A very few districts are making changes faster than others but overall there need to be more changes, more and better educated teachers.
There is still a very loud cry for help and no help in site for the near future.
When one's own child is in the care of the right sort of professionals and starts to learn, well, one can relax a bit.
Still, part of my energy goes to thinking about the needs of all the (millions) of children who are still caught in the educational traps that have been laid for them across the country.
As a friend pointed out the other day, it's amazing that dyslexia has been know about for 130 years and, as a society we are still here, not dealing with it very well.
The person who said this is a grassroots organizer who has tried to get folks in her school district organized in order to see some changes (at least hopefully getting the district to adopt the Wilson program). She told me it isnt going well right now which I was sorry to hear. I've been tossing that around in my head for awhile now. I believe there is a solution but it has yet to be found.
Not everyone is willing to drop everything and put their child into a expensive private school which teaches an Orton-Gillingham based curriculum.
Not everyone can pay for that in the first place and not everyone can make the sort of changes required by such a need. I understand.
Additionally, in relation to this IEP meetings themselves require time and energy. A parent has to take off work, get babysitters and (in my case) hire a Child Advocate to translate all the alphabet soup mumbo jumbo so that they (the parent) can have a decently clear understanding of what is really being offered and a sense of trust that their child's rights arent still being trampled on (it's difficult to trust people who once sat across the table trying to get me to sign a paper which essentially screwed my child out of anything they had to offer).
So here we are. My kid is getting what she needs. We are fully prepared to make the financial sacrifices in order for her to get the education I believe she deserves.
Now my son is diagnosed too (and it didnt cost as much as the first time around because of something called an IEE that my advocate gently lead me to).
On a good day I think I see dyslexia coming to the forefront of society. Movie stars are talking about it. Famous people and successful people are admitting they are dyslexic and all of this is helpful. Still, like my friend said, school districts dont want to change. They dont want to or cant offer the help that is truly needed at this point. A very few districts are making changes faster than others but overall there need to be more changes, more and better educated teachers.
There is still a very loud cry for help and no help in site for the near future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)