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biggest issue regarding education

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

Hi Everyone, I am a mother of an 8yr old add/dyslexic son. I am well aware of the many issues we face in getting the best education for our children. I am wondering what the biggest issue you have faced in the education process and how you overcame it.

I just started Grad school and need to do a very informal paper on other’s solutions to their biggest problems. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Submitted by annette10dance on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 7:00 PM

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I think the biggest issue for me was the Learning To Read Program the school uses. My son also might be dyslexic. We just completed a vision therapy program for him and he is doing well.

He was in a private tutoring program at Cooper Learning Center. They used the Ortan-Gillingham method of learning to read which is CVC.

The school uses SRA. I wasn’t too impressed with his progress when he was in second grade. He is in third grade and they are using Horizon SRA for reading and math. The teacher says he is reading well. I don’t see all this progress at home. Just because the highlighted blue vocabulary words get smaller in size, doesn’t mean he can read. The teacher insists her class will read this whole book by the end of the school year. I have yet to see it.

I guess my next arguement with the school would be to change his reading program to the Wilson method or Ortan-Gillingham. It uses a multisensory approach. There are so many different reading programs out there. Unless your child is using a multi-sensory approach, the reading programs are considered “enrichment” programs.

I hope this information helps you. Good luck on your research paper.

Submitted by Goodysbaby on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 3:50 PM

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I learned that special education was not there to prepare my son for college. Special education is set up to meet goals set forth by the state and federal not to get my child ready for college. Once I understood that issue it was an aha moment.

Submitted by teresa on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 9:57 PM

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I am a teacher and have recently learned about the Wilson approach to reading. If your child is behind in reading he may benefit from this systematic approach to phonics instruction.

Submitted by master of none on Sat, 03/21/2009 - 11:31 PM

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Dysgraphic gifted: IDEA 2004 changed things so no longer do schools need to consider a gap in achievement vs abiltiy, but instead need to consider achievement vs grade level. This really makes it hard for gifted kids with LDs to get appropriate challenge because their disabilities hold them back to grade level work

Submitted by Testaclese on Thu, 04/02/2009 - 4:19 AM

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Dyslexics respond well to meclazine and benydryl in combination. Try some of that on the week ends. Both meds can make people sleepy.

Meclazine is an OTC motions sickness medication AKA Dramamine. Antivert is another motion sickness medication as is Bonine.

I have dyslexia and I don’t like the drowsiness caused by Dramamine so I take ginger which seems to help.

http://newideas.net/book/export/html/283

There is a study that says Dramamine does not help dyslexia but I question its motives. Dramamine is inexpensive and otc therefore big pharma can’t profit from it.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3940485.html

The above is a patented method used to treat dyslexia. Don’t bother asking your deity oops I mean doctor about it because your doctor wouldn’t have a clue.

From the patent:

The downside is that one of the medications used is ritalin but the dosage is small. You may want to try other safer psycho stimulants like caffeine or ephedra. Caution should be used when using psycho stimulants. I recommend vitamin B complex supplementation to reduce the chance of adrenal burn out.

Submitted by spedexaminer on Fri, 04/10/2009 - 7:44 PM

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For my dyslexic child the biggest issue was finding out the school didn’t have the trained personell ot help him.
here is my blog:
http://www.examiner.com/x-4959-SF-Special-Education-Examiner~y2009m3d29-The-best-kept-secret-in-special-education

Submitted by Mandi on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 12:19 AM

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I am sorry, the title of this is a bit ambiguous. Do you mean biggest education issue for *you* while you were in schooll for *you* in dealing with schools to get your child what they need or do you mean for your *child*? Because the answers to those 3 questions may be alot different. If you mean the last one maybe before you respond you should sit down and ask your child otherwise you may mistake the middle answer for the last answer, that is if the last question was the one this post is meant to adress. Because i doubt the biggest issue for your child is really what you think it is. It usually isn’t. And as well as you know your kid if you aren’t literally in their brain with them, well you can’t know.

Submitted by Angela in CA on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 7:17 PM

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Reading the responses you have gotten to your question leads me to say that one of the biggest problems is the lack of a sequence or protocal that parents can use to guide them. Now, everyone will always say, ..”each child is different…,” but recognizing that there are very few resources parents can turn to to guide them in helping their child learn to read. There are lots of $1000 programs out there and as a parent you don’t mind spending the money if it is going to help, but very few people can give you that kind of information. As both a parent and a special ed teacher, I negotiated the maze to find help for my son. Most research says that children can be taught to read with an intensive, sequential program provided by a well-trained teacher. Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Shaywitz is one of the few books that will tell names of research based reading programs. If my child had an illness, the doctor would give the most widely used remedy as a first course of treatment. If that didn’t work, the doctor would go to other treatments and finally to experimental treatment. There would be a plan and a course of treatment. Parents cannot find such a course of treatment for a reading difficulty. The school doesn’t want to tell you treatments because they will have to pay for them. The medical community wants to refer you to the school. Parents are left looking and hoping to make the best use of their money and time. I have done many programs and have found that they add to the stair-step progress my son needed to make. For the money, our best results came from Read Right.

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