So, I am pretty sure I have asked this before and if so bear with me if I already said this. My 8yo dd is a struggling reader. She can read 2-letter words and SOME 3-letter words and that is IT. She HATES reading and fights me on it so much. I am starting to wonder if she has a LD. Do any of your kids have a LD that effects their reading?? How did you go about getting it diagnosed? I know she is only 8 and some kids don't learn to read until later, but I seriously doubt she is a late bloomer on this. I think there is something else going on. Any advice or help would be appreciated.
You can get an evaluation for free through the school system. They have to evaluate all kids in their district on request, from birth through age 22. They might not be real quick about it... although they're not supposed to delay. There are certain timelines they have to follow, starting with their receipt of the request. They might try to give you some guff about how she has to be enrolled, but that's not so, neither before nor after. If they find a significant result, they'll try to get you to enroll her -- they get more money for SN students than for regular students. You do not have to accept their suggestion. Have you had her eyes checked recently? It will likely be more helpful to use a developmental optometrist rather just the guy at WalMart, because there can be 20/20 vision but muscle balance things or other stuff going on that doesn't necessarily get picked up on in a standard vision check.
YES, What Lindina said about the eyes thing.. My daughter was reversing her letters in 1st grade and the school district did an evaluation for dyslexia and diagnosed her.. I didn't buy it and was told that sometimes there's issues with eyes that are not detected in a normal vision test.. Sure enough, my daughter has some muscle issues with her eyes. One was stronger than the other and she was prescribed tracking activities to help strengthen them.. She was always complaining that one of her eyes weren't working or that she was seeing colors in her eyes.. Anyway, once we started doing tracking exercises She stopped the letter reversals and the color thing stopped happening as often. I never knew that this existed and I'm quick to tell everyone who has children diagnosed with dyslexia to have their eyes evaluated.... The schools do have to test, but I would have her eyes looked at first.. I don't know if it's the same there, but here IF your child is diagnosed with a learning disorder they have to give services even though they are homeschooled.. I know two homeschoolers who go to classes at the school to help with their learning disability..
Whether or not the school district will test her depends on your state. I tried to get my son tested when we lived in Michigan and they wouldn't do it. If you do it privately an educational psychologist would be the one to see for testing. I would make sure to get one who has plenty of experience with dyslexia and one who is not against homeschooling. I asked the educational psychologist what he thought of homeschooling before I considering using him. He said he was neutral and was more concerned about the child's needs being met. I agree with getting eyes checked. You may want a comprehensive evaluation from a developmental optometrist if you haven't had one (http://www.covd.org/).
If you do it privately with an ed-psych, be prepared to pay through the nose! When I retired from PS (in 2001), the private evaluators were charging between $500-$1000, depending on how elaborate they were going to get. I don't think the school team gets to tell you no.
We have crappy insurance but I scheduled an eye appointment a few weeks ago and they couldn't get her in until the end of the month. :roll: I scheduled an appointment with her pedi for tomorrow since we will need a referal for a specialist in order for the insurance to cover it. I went in to talk to the school about testing her today and they said I have to go through the district. So I called the district and they told me to go to the school. :roll: I left a message with the principal and hopefully she will call me back this week. I guess at this point it's just a waiting game until we find out something.
About four years ago we did private testing with an educational psychologist for my middle daughter and we paid out a little over $1000. It was worth it though. My DD has more issues though- Aspergers among others. However, the ed psych did not dx the Aspergers and they did list other things that are not accurate. Hmmmm..... maybe it wasn't worth it now that I type it all out! :lol:
Am sorry to read that you have to wait. But I hope you soon find out how to resolve the situation with your daughter. I don't think she has LD. I'll have to agree with the others that it might be her eyes or perhaps finding a topic or story she's really mega interested in. I have a 9 yr old son who can reads fairly well but I have to find a book or topic that really hooks him.t
If nothing major comes up through eye testing and evaluation you might try audio books. Have her follow along with her finger as the audio plays. Sometimes it is a "disconnect" between putting the sounds together and visualizing them. My friend's son began sounding out words and reading better after doing audio books for a little while. It just helps something click. Just a thought... MT3
I have tried books she is interested in and audio books. The minute she starts to follow along she instantly hates the book and won't even finish. I have tried having her sit with me and follow along as I read. When I read to her I run my finger under each word. She gets angry because she can't process it as fast as I read. I have tried slowing way down to no avail. Shes a smart girl and I have never had to deal with this before. My oldest who is super stubborn and took the longest to learn to read took 6 months. I figure 2 years is too long to be stuck at the same place with NO progress. We will see what her pedi says today.
I got a call today from the optometrists office that there had been a cancellation and they could bump my dd's appointment to today so I took her in and WOWZA!!! She can't see!!! She had her eyes checked about 3ish years ago and she was fine, but today she wasn't able to see up close or far away! No wonder she can't read!!!! She got a prescription and we are waiting for them to be done in about a week. I hope that was the only real problem as to why she can't read! I also took her to her pedi today to see what he recommended as far as seeing if she is dyslixic and he recommended a few things and also told me to go to the school and get them to assess her and diagnose her. He knows we homeschool and he is very supportive and he knew why we were coming and in and did all the research as to what was available to us BEFORE we came in! He even said that if the school gave me the run around he would call them and tell them the law and that she really needs this...Doctor's orders! So we are on the path to helping her and I finally see a light at the end of this tunnel with her!!
Kids' eyes should be checked every year -- they can change so fast! And the thing is, they have no idea that they can't see; they think what they see is what everybody sees. I'm so glad you found this out! I bet she zooms after this... When I started first grade at age 5, I could already read (somewhat), but by second grade, I could do my book work but not any board work or things the teacher held up in front of the class like a clock for learning time. If mom or dad asked me to tell them what time it was, I'd stand there and stare at the clock on the wall - they thought I just couldn't tell time yet. As we'd drive through the countryside, I'd ask whether those animals in the field were cows or horses, and I never saw a rabbit run across the road. But it never dawned on them that I couldn't SEE them!
Wow! you have a great Dr... I hope the school gets back with you soon.. I know what it feels like when a child can't see. My youngest was like that 3 yrs ago.. the Dr told me she will never have complete 20 20 vision because of her lazy eye. She has trouble reading long words ... but that is another post.
I just glad we figured it out! I will agree her Dr is great. He is the only one I have ever dealt with that actually cared what the parent thought and was not pushy. There is another dr in the same office that we will NOT see because he thinks he is god and acts accordingly. I will be headed back to the school tomorrow to tell them they have to test her. Wish me luck!
Sounds like you are getting things worked out! My dd is dyslexic. You can try this link: http://www.dys-add.com/resources/RecentResearch/DysWarningSigns.pdf It is a checklist of warning signs for dyslexia from Susan Barton's website, Bright Solutions. She is a dyslexia specialist. Our state will not yet test for dyslexia. When dd was in ps, they would not even say the word! They tested her and said she has a "written expression disorder". We pulled her out to homeschool and had her tested privately ($500). Moderately severe dyslexia, among other dys's! Good luck to you as you advocate for your dd!
