What do I look for?

You might want to join the dyslexiasupport2 list at http://groups.yahoo.com. That is an active list of parents who have quite a bit of experience with schools, testing, and therapy.

I’m not familiar with Canada so don’t know exactly how they test. However, the CTOPP and LAC are two tests that are very good at determining phonemic awareness. Poor PA skills are the most common reason for a 7yo to be not progressing in reading, and they are fairly easy to remediate at that age with specialized instructional techniques.

If you have not yet done so, I would recommend getting a copy of “Reading Reflex” by McGuinness. (Most libraries have it, as well as most bookstores.) Read the first three chapters and then give your dd the assessments. That will tell you a lot about where her PA skills are.

There is no single definitive means of diagnosing dyslexia, and it is now thought that there are different underlying causes for difficulty learning to read. Phonemic awareness skills are an excellent starting point, though, because they can easily be tested and usually can be remediated fairly quickly with appropriate therapy.

I would also say it is much better to start testing and remediating at 7yo rather than waiting.

Do not simply repeat her. If the teaching methods didn’t work this year, by what magic will they work next year?

**IF** there were better teaching of skills in the followup year, then retention would be a good idea. But if it is just more of the same of what didn’t work the last time, that is a recipe for frustration and a cycle of failure.

Far too many schools hope and pray that some magical maturity gene will kick into action, while the child loses another year and develops a habit of failure and a negative self-image. **IF** your school has REAL interventions in place, great; if not, repetition will just put her one more year behnd the eight-ball.

I teach students who have this kind of problem, working as a private tutor. I am in Montreal — where are you?

What you need to do is find out *reasearch-based* methods of reading. The first place to look is the LD In Depth page on this site (if it is up and running yet after the recent changeover) where you will find the National Reading Panel’s report, summarizing fifty years and more of reading research.
To give a very quick outline, *effective* reading instruction includes the following three strands: systematic synthetic phonics (no substitutes), guided ORAL reading (with error correction and feedback), and teaching of vocabulary and comprehension in a variety of ways. Those of us who work in the area also include writing, first handwriting skills and directionality training, then spelling linked to the phonics, and then (and only after die preparation) expressive writing.

You want a program that includes this. Your school may or may not be able or willing to provide real remediation. If it is, good. If not, you have to ddo it yourself. Either you can teach yourself to be a reading tutor — not impossible, if you are willing to read and study and follow directions — or if you have more money than time, you can hire a private tutor.

I have collected all my old internet posts on how to tutor, plus a couple of other people’s, now up to a large book-in-progress, and will email the package to anyone who requests it. Just send a request to [email protected]

[color=darkblue][/color]Thank you both for your responses. My main problem that as a mom I [b]want answers and action NOW,[/b] bit as an educator I know it takes time. I am not familiar with who tests for what and what specific test are, as a T.A. I don’t ask for testing or reviewing, just work with them after. Luckily, our school, (k-12, my husband and I both work at the same school as our kids, just different grade levels), has access to excellent resources and is kean on helping special ed. areas. Any other tips you or others may have, or LDs that resemble dyslexia that I should be asking about, please let me know. Thanks, Kim

You might not want to call it dyslexia - just call it a learning disability that makes reading harder. (For one thing, dyslexia can look very different in girls, and they’re going to have different strengths to work with.) What are her strengths? And what seems to be stalling her out?

If you suspect dyslexia, I highly recommend Sally Shaywitz’s book, Overcoming Dyslexia. It is fantastic! I also advise having your daughter privately evaluated by someone who specializes in the diagnosing of dyslexia. To find someone who does, try calling your local branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

[color=darkred][/color][code][/code]Today I found out something I already know - after doing a standard testing to see what grade level they are at the time in various areas - year.month (i.e. 1.3, which would be grade 1 & 3 months into program expectations). There has been no change. They seem to think she is too young to test her accurately and it best to wait and see, but I’m not convinced. Luckily (I guess) we have access to a number of specialist due to my son (dysgraphia, sensory intergration disorder, and possibly some form of dopamine-seritonin imbalalnce - still working on it). Anyways, I think I am going to call the pychologist he has seen (once, but he works with his psyciatrist) and pick his brain. Just ask if she is too young for testing, his opinion on such, etc. He is a very approachable Irishman so it would be easy to get a couple of minutes of his time. He is in Edmonton so it is a major center and would have more upto date info than a regular special ed teacher in a small town. I hope. I am not ready to do the wait and see thing yet.
Thanks for the support from a Newbie!

Kim,

Neither the CTOPP or the LAC require the ability to read even. These tests examine the underlying skills necessary to read. For example, neither my son or daughter could read by the end of kindergarten. I didn’t think much of it with my son because his sister learned to read just fine in first grade. But what I realized later is that my daughter had the prereading skills in place and my son did not.

I would not wait and see. These two tests are most commonly performed by speech and language therapists.

Beth

Have you had your daughter screened for auditory processing? Many children with dyslexic type LD’s also have APD as an underlying aggravating factor. Sometimes getting AIT can help the child begin to overcome the reading problems. Canada I believe will offer AIT for qualifying children (unlike the US where we just act like APD doesn’t really exist or is untreatable).

If your child truly is dyslexic, the Scottish Rite Masons offer free O-G. This is subject to available slots, so begin looking now.

Good luck to you.

AN attorney would tell you GET YOUR OWN INDEPENDENT TESTING. If you absolutely can’t afford it try a univeristy or via medical practitionaers. Some pediatricians now become experts on learning disabilities. You can collect observations and facts as parent, but you can’t do a complete diagnosis. I agree don’t use term dyslexia. Some people play diagnosis as BINGO! The school says that’s it and stops looking further. She has some speech deficits and some type of visual processing deficit which may be a learning disability. You want to go to the school meetings with a parent document listing strengths,etc. Next you list weaknesses- next to each is the evidence and what expert supplied the evidence. You are an expert, teachers are experts, medical professionals are experts, even some organizations are experts. After the evidence list what accommodations are appropriate for each deficit. It is an added extra to put the legal cite of where in the law it says your child is entitled to this, be it more testing, tutoring, whatever. You need to do research for services that match a deficit. End with charts and statistics such as poor / declining grades, social withdrawal, anything that can be presented visually that shows the student’s struggle. I write for the US market but see [url]www.biggerboat4iep.com for some tips, etc. Good luck.