Severe Dyslexia- Outside School Support

[Anonymous]

Is there anyway you can go back to the school and say that 30 min 3 times a week is not adequate?

That Needs (current reading level) drive Goals
and Goals drive services

That you child is not making adequate progress and at a minimum services should be __________ (60 min a day 5 days a week)

[Anonymous]

The "best" option, as others have already noted, is also going to be the most expensive--5x a week with a specialized private OG tutor. In theory, you'd think you could find a tutor to come 1x a week, and give you lesson plans to follow for the other 4 days, but I've never heard a tutor suggest that. You'd also think the school would work with you, so that you could coordinate your lessons with their pull outs, but public schools won't want to acknowledge that their instruction time is insufficient. 

So, the other option is to tutor your own child, using materials you pick out. You're getting a lot of program names thrown at you--from general umbrella terms (OG) to a specific workbook series (Dancing Bears). One of the main differences between programs is how remedial vs. general audience they are.  If you have a child who you think needs intensive intervention, and can't afford a tutor, Wilson and Barton are both programs you can buy online, and use as a parent. (By contrast, if you want to do ASDEC, for example, you'll need to find one of their tutors, or take the training yourself.) Wilson and Barton's materials will be extremely detailed and structured--that's the entire point of the programs. Using Wilson or Barton all the way through will be a real time commitment--5x a week, for years. You'd never use these programs for a child without a language based disability. The "good" is that they can work. The "bad" is that they're a slog. 

You can also try to start with a less intensive program.  All About Reading (and its companion, All About Spelling) is also OG based--explicit, structured, phonetic based instruction. You can buy online, and the teacher guide will provide detailed, easy to follow instructions. But, it's not as slow and intensive. It can be good for kids with dyslexia, but is also targeted for a general audience, so the "downside" can be that it might be less effective, and your child might ultimately need a more intensive program. 

I'm saying all of this as the parent of a child with (then-undiagnosed) dyslexia who was in first grade when Covid hit, and in-person tutors weren't an option.  We threw everything at the wall. We did the random workbooks, the oral reading, the Dancing Bears, Lexia, All About Spelling, Lindamood Bell.  Not to mention attempts with online tutors--not usually a great option for a young kid. (Of these, I would only recommend All About Spelling.) 

 In hindsight, and this is also what any OG tutor (including those at ASDEC) will tell you--it's best to pick one program, one approach, and stick with it. Which is hard--when you don't know which approach will work best, or how much intensive help is needed!
It's also a question of what time commitment you can make, and how well suited your temperament is to tutoring your child.

[Anonymous]

My child with dyslexia really struggled from 4th through 7th grade, because that is when reading becomes important across all subjects, so it's not surprising that you are seeing increased challenges now. My child did straight OG tutoring 2x week during school and 5x a week in the summer.
One little tip I have is that I was totally ok with bribing my kid to do the tutoring (which is a TOTAL grind). The tutor was the one that suggested it, because it is HARD WORK, and we needed to do whatever we could to get compliance. Now my kiddo is a sophomore in HS, reads and writes at or above grade level, and reads occasionally for pleasure. Worlds away from the struggles of elementary school! You will find the right path for your child!

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry you are struggling. I was once where you are but my DS had severe dysgraphia. I knew something was wrong in 1st but the school denied it. Fortunately he was in OT for the handwriting piece and the OT did some intervention. 2nd grade was horrible. DS was not able to do the work in the classroom and became very sad. The school tested and continued to deny LD. The teacher refused to even follow the IEP. I explored private school but we didn’t get enough financial aid. I felt so trapped i considered homeschooling. In 3rd grade we made our final atempt at diagnosis privately through Childrens. The neuropsych attended our next meeting along with an advocate. We finally got pullout but there was no structured program which broke me after all the effort. We enrolled in a summer intervention program at the McLean School which finally led to some progress. Then I read everything i could in SN groups and worked with him. It was slow. I know your child needs even more specialized help like OG so perhaps contact ASDEC (asdec.org). The therapists have to provide hours under supervision to be certified. Perhaps you can get in with one for a discounted rate. Or see if McLean School has a summer program. I accepted I couldn’t afford to provide the gold standard but I also recognized any progress is progress so I did what I could where I could.

[Anonymous]

Can you move? Or are you committed here? There are several states that have free schools for dyslexic kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you move? Or are you committed here? There are several states that have free schools for dyslexic kids.

NP. Which states?

[Anonymous]

The Scottish Rite (aka the Masons) offer FREE dyslexia remediation, although the closest office seems to be Baltimore (but that was quick google search so doublecheck)

https://www.childrensdyslexiacenters.org/

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "best" option, as others have already noted, is also going to be the most expensive--5x a week with a specialized private OG tutor. In theory, you'd think you could find a tutor to come 1x a week, and give you lesson plans to follow for the other 4 days, but I've never heard a tutor suggest that. You'd also think the school would work with you, so that you could coordinate your lessons with their pull outs, but public schools won't want to acknowledge that their instruction time is insufficient. 

So, the other option is to tutor your own child, using materials you pick out. You're getting a lot of program names thrown at you--from general umbrella terms (OG) to a specific workbook series (Dancing Bears). One of the main differences between programs is how remedial vs. general audience they are.  If you have a child who you think needs intensive intervention, and can't afford a tutor, Wilson and Barton are both programs you can buy online, and use as a parent. (By contrast, if you want to do ASDEC, for example, you'll need to find one of their tutors, or take the training yourself.) Wilson and Barton's materials will be extremely detailed and structured--that's the entire point of the programs. Using Wilson or Barton all the way through will be a real time commitment--5x a week, for years. You'd never use these programs for a child without a language based disability. The "good" is that they can work. The "bad" is that they're a slog. 

You can also try to start with a less intensive program.  All About Reading (and its companion, All About Spelling) is also OG based--explicit, structured, phonetic based instruction. You can buy online, and the teacher guide will provide detailed, easy to follow instructions. But, it's not as slow and intensive. It can be good for kids with dyslexia, but is also targeted for a general audience, so the "downside" can be that it might be less effective, and your child might ultimately need a more intensive program. 

I'm saying all of this as the parent of a child with (then-undiagnosed) dyslexia who was in first grade when Covid hit, and in-person tutors weren't an option.  We threw everything at the wall. We did the random workbooks, the oral reading, the Dancing Bears, Lexia, All About Spelling, Lindamood Bell.  Not to mention attempts with online tutors--not usually a great option for a young kid. (Of these, I would only recommend All About Spelling.) 

 In hindsight, and this is also what any OG tutor (including those at ASDEC) will tell you--it's best to pick one program, one approach, and stick with it. Which is hard--when you don't know which approach will work best, or how much intensive help is needed!
It's also a question of what time commitment you can make, and how well suited your temperament is to tutoring your child.

+1

Wife went to ASDEC. Can vouch for the program (though go in eyes wide open it’s a tough road so you may just want to parent - and go with Masons)

[Anonymous]

If you're tight on cash, check out colleges that focus on education. There might be a TA or student who studies the subject and plans to go into that line of work who would be willing to help at a reduced rate.

There might be some local free or reduced programs at local colleges as well.

If all else fails, invest in yourself- If you're going to spend the money, go get certified yourself and then maybe you can also pay it forward in the future or use it as a side hustle.

https://und.edu/programs/dyslexia-language-based-reading-disorders-undergraduate-certificate/index.html

[Anonymous]

We paid for Lindamood Bell during Covid. DS did 4 hours of tutoring online a day. It was expensive but drastically improved his reading. We were in Fairfax and despite having a teacher trained in OG at my son’s school, my son ended up with an inept reading specialist that kept suggesting inappropriate methods. My husband had to point to something the department of education put out to prove what she was suggesting was wrong. We reached out to the FCPS woman in charge of Dyslexia and she did nothing. We moved to Loudoun and the services are MUCH better.