Well the topic header pretty much says it all. My little 9 year old daughter was officially diagnosed yesterday with a Communication LD—specifically Reading and Writing issues. Her twin and an older sibling both have IQ’s in the mid to high end of the Superior range. My nine year old daughter however has struggled … works like a real trooper and just never gets decent results. Honestly, I think we convinced ourselves that this was just “her” and that she probably did not have as high a potential as her siblings. She also suffers from some minor medical issues due to a genetic condition. Little did we know! It turns out that she has the EXACT same IQ as her siblings but is achieving well below her grade level and probably years below her potential. We have been set up with a tutor. The Psychologist suggested we consider some assisted technologies. She also said that we should request the IPRC and not just an IEP. In my first conversation with the teacher I got the impression that my chances for an IPRC would be slim even though it is in the official report.
Any info at all on whether you had problems getting an IPRC or info on the laptop type devices would be absolutely appreciated. I am sure I will think of other questions as time goes on. Feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment.
Many thanks
Cindy
New and confused
Hi Jim,
Thank-you so much for responding. I was absolutely thrilled to see that you dictated using the Dragon Naturally Speaking program. This is one of the programs that was recommended to us by the Psychologist who tested our daughter. When I mentioned this to the school they didn’t seem to know much about it. I would love any information you can share. Mostly, thanks for the hope you’ve given me.
Kind regards
Cindy
Re: New and confused
Hello Cindy:
Here on my website I have a small demonstration about Dragon NaturallySpeaking:
http://www.geocities.com/jnuttallphd/Dragon.html
I have also prepared a CD with about a dozen short lessons on how to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Just e-mail me and give me your address and I will be glad to send the CD to you, obviously no charge.
[email protected]
Jim Nuttall — Michigan
Dictated with speech recognition software Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.1.
www.geocities.com/jnuttallphd
You might like to look at the following book which is available both in paperback and audio format (CD) from Amazon.com. Sally E. Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level. This book covers the topics of dyslexia, reading, studying, IEP help and technology assistance. Many children who are highly intelligent and have reading and writing problems are categorized as learning disabled by the schools. Some prefer to call this dyslexia.
You might consider some basic tutoring in reading/phonics on a one-on-one basis. There are also lots of technology options. There are text-to-speech programs that can read material on a computer to you. I use these types of programs myself. If you are interested in the technology options I can post them in an additional post.
By the way I am very dyslexic and earned a Ph.D. in psychology. It is true that people with dyslexia who have difficulty with reading often have to work harder than other people to succeed. Many people with learning disabilities/dyslexia have succeeded both academically and professionally.
Jim Nuttall — Michigan
Dictated with speech recognition software Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.1.
www.geocities.com/jnuttallphd