Various LD/ADHD Therapies

Hi, everyone! I've been lurking on the forums for a while, now. My 8-year old son recently barely didn't qualify for services, but everyone's guess is that as soon as the academics get more strenuous in 3rd grade, he'll present as LD.

Will is a former micro-preemie, and perhaps as a result, has had gross and fine motor delays, poor core strength, and balance issues practically his whole life. He's had private OT, which we'd taken a break from for a bit, and now I'm back to looking at therapies which might address the balance/motor and hopefully the processing/focus issues as well.

My question (long-winded though it is) is this: It seems like there are about a zillion therapies out there. I've checked out Balametrics, Neuronet, integrated metronome, PACE and a host of others. Is there some book or clearing house that covers them all with pros and cons? And if not, is that a need that could be met? I'm a writer by trade, so would appreciate any feedback on if this is a project that would help families out there, and any concerns or advice people might have.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I wasted $6,500 on the Davis dyslexia method, because it was recommended by a neuropsychologist, of all people!
From that experience, I learned that you have to be really careful who you believe. I KNEW that there was not one shred of scientific evidence showing the Davis method is effective, but I decided to trust the neuropsych.
So, one thing you can do is go to www.pubmed.gov, which is the National Library of Medicine's medical literature web site. It has abstracts of articles published in thousands of medical journals, including psychological and school journals. I found a couple abstracts on interactive metronome that found that it is not effective in control group clinical trials.
My young adult child, dx with dyslexia and ADHD after high school graduation, is going to start doing the Cogmed program. This program, that aims to increase working memory, has several clinical trials showing its effectiveness for improving working memory and processing speed, even up to a year after finishing training. It is now endorsed by the American Medical Association. I am hopeful that will help my dtr's function with working memory.
It is a wild west on the internet regarding the number of "programs" to "fix" your kid. There are so many claims and testimonials. When I was actively looking around, I'd find 2-3 new web sites per week of vendors selling their "fix" for Ld's. Practically none of these have controlled clinical trials, only "testimonials." The testimonial giver may be the company owner's cousin. Also, there can be a strong placebo effect. My dtr had a strong placebo effect from the Davis method at first. But the improvement wore off fast, and the Davis officials said the problem was that my dtr did not try hard enough to work their program, that she was not motivated enough. This was B.S.
If all these programs are so great, why do the creators not do scientific, statistical research on their methods?

I am a parent interested in helping my 19 yo dtr, newly dx with dyslexia and working memory problems, start and be successful in college.