Dyslexia in Fcps

[Anonymous]

Hello, my second grader was diagnosed with weak phonological awareness. What's the level of Fcps services to children with dyslexia? Do they use Wilson/OG reading intervention programs? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. It depends what school you are in, but the answer is probably no, they don't do O-G. I can almost guarantee that nowhere does Wilson. Unfortunately, FFX only recognizes dyslexia as one of many learning disorders, so your child will be pulled out and given instructional time with all the other children who have learning disabilities. You may even find that your special education teacher will use a reading program (which is not O-G per se, but may be multi-sensory at least) and then a year later, switch programs. They may or may not be trained well on whatever reading program they use.

In summary, you may receive a high level of services (we do), and the teachers likely have very good intentions (ours do), but FFX county doesn't facilitate services specific to dyslexia. Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but that's been my experience. That said, I love our school and our teachers, but they don't have the tools available to them to help my dyslexic 2nd grader.

You can find tutors that are Wilson trained, and there are special needs schools whose entire curriculums are based on the Wilson method. I'd encourage you to look into one or both of those options so you can make a more deliberate decision about which setting is best for your child.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

I have a junior in HS who was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia in 2nd grade. He also received his first IEP at that time. When he was in 2nd grade, Wilson was the "it" reading program and they were using part of it in the general ed classroom to boot. Many teachers were trained in it. There have been many "it" programs since. He received Wilson instruction from 2nd grade to the end of 6th. We had to fight hard to keep Wilson as his main program. We also supplemented 2-3 times a week with a reading tutor from 2nd grade to mid7th grade. He took a reading class in 7thgrade and one in 8th grade. He now utilizes technology and has all of his textbooks in electronic form. He also has a reader and a scribe for all assessments. We concentrated on typing skills in the summers. Until he was up to snuff, I was his scribe for homework in ES, MS and this lasted into 10th grade- but near the end it was more if the technology was acting up.

It is a long slow slog. Many very small incremental achievements that add up over time. Think tortoise and not hare. Audio books at his cognitive level were wonderful. It saved our voices and allowed him to progress with language and increasingly complex plot and character developments. We always have one in the car too. Newberry Medal and Honors lists are great to mine in ES.

DC is profoundly dyslexic and he will never read fluently - although he does much better than I had ever hoped, so ymmv.

There is an active group that is lobbying at the county and state level on issues relating to dyslexia. It is called Decoding Dyslexia VA. I encourage you to join and go to their sporatic meetings. https://www.facebook.com/DecodingDyslexiaVirginia

Good luck, it takes quite a bit of time and patience to do it. Hugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. It depends what school you are in, but the answer is probably no, they don't do O-G. I can almost guarantee that nowhere does Wilson. Unfortunately, FFX only recognizes dyslexia as one of many learning disorders, so your child will be pulled out and given instructional time with all the other children who have learning disabilities. You may even find that your special education teacher will use a reading program (which is not O-G per se, but may be multi-sensory at least) and then a year later, switch programs. They may or may not be trained well on whatever reading program they use.

In summary, you may receive a high level of services (we do), and the teachers likely have very good intentions (ours do), but FFX county doesn't facilitate services specific to dyslexia. Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but that's been my experience. That said, I love our school and our teachers, but they don't have the tools available to them to help my dyslexic 2nd grader.

You can find tutors that are Wilson trained, and there are special needs schools whose entire curriculums are based on the Wilson method. I'd encourage you to look into one or both of those options so you can make a more deliberate decision about which setting is best for your child.

Best of luck!

Actually, FCPS endorses and uses a variety of specialized reading programs, including the one listed below:

*FUNdations®
www.fundations.com
Grades K-3
RI=Tier 2
? Supplemental reading program based on Wilson Reading System principles
? Used as prevention/intervention program for teaching decoding, spelling, handwriting, and study of word structure
? Recommended instructional time: 30 min/day
? Direct instruction
? Systematic and explicit
? Orton-Gillingham based principles
? Multi-sensory
? Mastery learning
? Progress monitoring

The program focuses primarily on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics/Decoding, but also covers some elements of Fluency and Comprehension. Both general education and special education teachers use it and must attend training in order to use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. It depends what school you are in, but the answer is probably no, they don't do O-G. I can almost guarantee that nowhere does Wilson. Unfortunately, FFX only recognizes dyslexia as one of many learning disorders, so your child will be pulled out and given instructional time with all the other children who have learning disabilities. You may even find that your special education teacher will use a reading program (which is not O-G per se, but may be multi-sensory at least) and then a year later, switch programs. They may or may not be trained well on whatever reading program they use.

In summary, you may receive a high level of services (we do), and the teachers likely have very good intentions (ours do), but FFX county doesn't facilitate services specific to dyslexia. Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but that's been my experience. That said, I love our school and our teachers, but they don't have the tools available to them to help my dyslexic 2nd grader.

You can find tutors that are Wilson trained, and there are special needs schools whose entire curriculums are based on the Wilson method. I'd encourage you to look into one or both of those options so you can make a more deliberate decision about which setting is best for your child.

Best of luck!

Actually, FCPS endorses and uses a variety of specialized reading programs, including the one listed below:

*FUNdations®
www.fundations.com
Grades K-3
RI=Tier 2
? Supplemental reading program based on Wilson Reading System principles
? Used as prevention/intervention program for teaching decoding, spelling, handwriting, and study of word structure
? Recommended instructional time: 30 min/day
? Direct instruction
? Systematic and explicit
? Orton-Gillingham based principles
? Multi-sensory
? Mastery learning
? Progress monitoring

The program focuses primarily on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics/Decoding, but also covers some elements of Fluency and Comprehension. Both general education and special education teachers use it and must attend training in order to use it.

Fundations is meant for the general Ed classroom and while good, is not meant for the type of reading remediation required for a student with dyslexia. The formal Wilson Reading Program is more in line for a student diagnosed with dyslexia and it requires longer and more specialized training. There are two level of certification for the Wilson Reading Program.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have an older dc with SN and all the families we know who have had dc with dyslexia had to supplement heavily with outside tutoring. None were happy with what FCPS provided.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 kids with dyslexia and dygraphia in FCPS elementary- they get nothing. NADA.

They are pleased with my kids' performance since they are not failing. We pay $2000 a month for private reading tutoring (this after the cost of 2 private neuropyschs). It's so expensive and really hurts us financially but it's what they need to succeed.

We're not willing to wait until they get into upper grades where can no longer compensate and fail. Unfortunately, that's the only plan of action FCPS has for them.

Having some programs listed on the FCPS website is worthless if there is no one in the school properly trained to implement dyslexia specific reading help.

[Anonymous]

The FCPS schools that are using Literacy Labs have students rotate in and out so they can work with teachers who are really trained in dyslexia in a quiet environment. It takes a principal who is willing to staff it and teachers who can do it. I would ask for the Procedural Support Liasion to be at every IEP meeting if I had a severely dyslexic child and I would insist that the amount of direct instruction by a trained and licensed teacher was specified in the IEP. I would also insist on an IEP meeting at least twice a year to go over progress face to face.

[Anonymous]

I know this is more a pipe dream, but if schools aren't going to offer instruction proven effective for kids with dyslexia, aren't they required by FAPE to reimburse O-G tutoring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this is more a pipe dream, but if schools aren't going to offer instruction proven effective for kids with dyslexia, aren't they required by FAPE to reimburse O-G tutoring?

Where does it say in the legislation that O-G is required for reading for a child with dyslexia to be considered FAPE? The programs they do use are "multi-sensory".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this is more a pipe dream, but if schools aren't going to offer instruction proven effective for kids with dyslexia, aren't they required by FAPE to reimburse O-G tutoring?

Where does it say in the legislation that O-G is required for reading for a child with dyslexia to be considered FAPE? The programs they do use are "multi-sensory".

Plus, it can cost more to sue for FAPE denial, with little chance of success, than to just pay for the tutor. If you can't afford to pay a tutor, then you can't afford to sue. The county counts on that.

[Anonymous]

PP- Could you share your tutor details? DC was DX with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and add. High IQ so has been able to compensate and school missed it. (Did neuro on our own.)

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

MCPS is no better..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP- Could you share your tutor details? DC was DX with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and add. High IQ so has been able to compensate and school missed it. (Did neuro on our own.)

Thanks!

I am the second PP with a DC with a similar make up and a large enough gap that he qualified for services. We found our Wilson certified tutor through the reading specialist at our school. She led me to a fellow reading specialist at a nearby school and we contracted with her privately. She was also experienced in many other reading programs and took DC on because of his profound issues. If the local reading specialists do not know, they can ask around their professional circle. DC went to her 2-3 times a week from 2nd grade to mid-7th. I would also recommend getting your DC up on keyboarding and scribing homework that DC can copy to practice keyboarding.

Whoever did the assessment is also a person to ask to get a recommendation for a tutor.

[Anonymous]

The Lab School posts a list of tutors with their training and certifications. Thought it might be helpful http://www.labschool.org/Page/Services/Tutoring