Building A Dyslexia Parent Group - Step 2

STEP 2 - WHAT ARE THE SIGNS? (PRESCHOOL)

Preschool

• Has a hard time learning nursery rhymes or song lyrics that rhyme.

• Struggles to name familiar objects and uses general words like thing and stuff instead.

• Has trouble remembering things in the right order, like singing the letters of the alphabet.

The source of these signs is Understood.org.

STEP 2 - WHAT ARE THE SIGNS? (GRADE SCHOOL)

Grade School

• Has trouble sounding out words.

• Often confuses letters that look similar (b, d, p, q) and letters with similar sounds (d/t; b/p; f/v).

• Has trouble with spelling.

• Often doesn’t recognize common words.

The source of these signs is Understood.org.

STEP 2 - WHAT ARE THE SIGNS? (MIDDLE SCHOOL)

Middle School

• Reads very slowly.

• Spells the same word correctly and incorrectly in the same assignment.

• Struggles with writing assignments.

The source of these signs is Understood.org.

STEP 2 - WHAT ARE THE SIGNS? (HIGH SCHOOL)

High School

• Often skips over small words when reading aloud.

• Seems to be searching for words when speaking, and might substitute words (like saying “gate” instead of “fence”).

• Often doesn’t “get” the joke.

The source of these signs is Understood.org.

STEP 2 - TRUST YOUR GUT

Trust your gut, trust your intuition. Teachers may not know about dyslexia or the Science of Reading. Many behavior issues result from children being frustrated and embarrassed about not being able to read. Children are not born lazy. If you can teach them early enough they will be enthralled by reading because they’re good at it and are successful.

STEP 2 - TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

Time is not on your side. Neuroplasticity wanes with time. It is commonly thought that it takes four times longer to remediate a 4th grader than a 1st grader. Moving quickly to identify the problem and work towards a solution is imperative. There is no time to waste. “Research clearly shows that children who are poor readers at the end of first grade are never likely to acquire the reading skills they need to successfully complete elementary school— unless these students are identified early in their school career and given the intensive, systematic intervention they require.”

American Federation of Teachers

STEP 2 - SCHOOL STAFF MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT DYSLEXIA

Teachers and administrators may try to downplay your concerns and tell you: they’ll grow out of it, or that they need to be medicated for ADHD, or that you should have read to them more, and/or they should eat more veggies... The truth probably is that they don’t know about dyslexia or the Science of Reading. If ‘dyslexia is not real’ then they come up with a lot of creative explanations to blame it on you and your child. This is why the push-back is hard.

STEP 2 - YOUR CHILD'S TEST RESULTS

Don’t let the district cherry pick your child’s test results or conduct partial testing so the results look more favorable than they are. If they do an assessment and you don’t agree with the findings, you can ask for your child to be tested privately and the district may be required to pay for it.

STEP 2 - BEWARE OF SNAKE OIL SALESMEN

Beware of vision therapy or physical therapists who say they can cure dyslexia. It’s a great idea to get your child’s sight and hearing tested to rule out any other issues, however no amount of ‘vision therapy’ cures dyslexia. In order to help children with dyslexia, you must actually teach them to read. “Most experts believe that dyslexia is a language-based disorder. Vision problems can interfere with the process of learning; however, vision problems are not the cause of primary dyslexia or learning disabilities. Scientific evidence does not support the efficacy of eye exercises, behavioral vision therapy, or special tinted filters or lenses for improving the long-term educational performance in these complex pediatric neurocognitive conditions. Diagnostic and treatment approaches that lack scientific evidence of efficacy, including eye, behavioral vision therapy, or special tinted filters or lenses, are not endorsed and should not be recommended.”

Pediatrics 2009;124:837–844

STEP 2 - GET YOUR CHILD HELP ASAP

Get your child as much help as you can afford ASAP, even if you have to pay for it. Time is not on your side. You may have to pay for testing and tutoring. You can always go after the district later for reimbursement. This is still probably cheaper than sending them to a private school for dyslexia.

STEP 2 - CRITICAL TRAINING FOR YOUR CHILD'S INTERVENTION SPECIALIST

The Intervention Specialist (IS) must be trained with fidelity. Research the intervention program the district is using with your child and make sure the program training and time to complete the training is sufficient. Many districts do ‘bits and pieces’ of programs which will not achieve the results the programs were designed to achieve. Orton-Gillingham practicums are critical. Upper Arlington IS’s have a 100 hour practicum at the Children’s Dyslexia Center.