Educational consultant for dyslexic rising 4th grader?

[Anonymous]

My daughter has been in parochial school since K but was just diagnosed with "stealth dyslexia" this year (3rd grade). She is doing a Lindamood Bell program this summer (her first intervention) but I have to make a decision as to what to do with her for next year, 4th grade. I am going around and around in circles trying to figure out if she can still do her regular school (with or without tutoring?), if she should go to a school like Oakwood (this is where her summer program is being held), if I should home-school her, if I should move her to the public school (I did go through the IEP process for her this past year, though, b/c they are still legally required by law to say what she would qualify for, and they would give her nothing, b/c she is still apparently doing too well in school, ugh), etc.

I feel like a need an educational consultant to guide me through these weeds. Has anyone done this for their dyslexic child? Can you recommend anyone? Or of course I am open to any other advice.

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Martha Ein @ Stixrud. She was great when we used her for my DD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Martha Ein @ Stixrud. She was great when we used her for my DD.

Thank you so much! We are in Virginia (western Fairfax County). Do you think that matters or does she know VA also?

[Anonymous]

Can you say more about your daughter? Most dyslexic kids don't need a special school - I say this as a dyslexic myself and the mother of a dyslexic rising 5th grader. If she has covered her deficits thus far she probably isn't profoundly dyslexic, and my guess would be that you will be able to keep her in her normal school if she'd like.

The major danger with dyslexic kids is that they feel crappy about themselves and their abilities, since they have to work so hard and they think they are dumb. Get a kid help, let them know they have different brain wiring that comes with positives and negatives, and they are much more able to deal with the ups and downs.

Good luck, OP! Oh, and you might want to let your daughter check out the new Made by Dyslexia organization on Facebook - Richard Branson (dyslexic) started it to highlight the positive sides of dyslexia. My son likes seeing all the brilliant famous people who are also dyslexic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Martha Ein @ Stixrud. She was great when we used her for my DD.

Thank you so much! We are in Virginia (western Fairfax County). Do you think that matters or does she know VA also?

In general, it does matter if the advocate knows the area and the local school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Martha Ein @ Stixrud. She was great when we used her for my DD.

Thank you so much! We are in Virginia (western Fairfax County). Do you think that matters or does she know VA also?

In general, it does matter if the advocate knows the area and the local school system.

First PP here - yes, it does matter if the advocate knows the area. I don't know if Martha Ein knows VA. I'm sorry I didn't realize your location before. We know folks at Oakwood - they really like it. But their DC has autism, not sure about dyslexia.

[Anonymous]

If you're looking at private schools it's pretty much Oakwood or Commonwealth Academy.

Lab or Kingsbury if you want to venture into DC.

If you keep her in her current school, definitely get tutoring.

[Anonymous]

Talk to ASDEC to help you find tutors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're looking at private schools it's pretty much Oakwood or Commonwealth Academy.

Lab or Kingsbury if you want to venture into DC.

If you keep her in her current school, definitely get tutoring.

+1

[Anonymous]

Our therapist for the neuro-psych at Mindwell gave us school recommendations. It was in order from most to least recommended: homeschool for a year for intensive work was the first choice, then Commonwealth, then a small private school with tutors, then public was last choice. But our public is small and really really good with kids with special needs, so we're doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our therapist for the neuro-psych at Mindwell gave us school recommendations. It was in order from most to least recommended: homeschool for a year for intensive work was the first choice, then Commonwealth, then a small private school with tutors, then public was last choice. But our public is small and really really good with kids with special needs, so we're doing that.

OH, that's good. Our Mindwell therapist did not do that. Maybe b/c we told her our strong preference at that time was to keep her in her current school? So, she just gave us a list of recommended accommodations we should ask them for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talk to ASDEC to help you find tutors.

I have spoken with someone at ASDEC. They told me that their system is different from the LMB system, and therefore their tutors would not be "compatible"? Is this correct? I really did not understand the gist of that, to be quite honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Martha Ein @ Stixrud. She was great when we used her for my DD.

Thank you so much! We are in Virginia (western Fairfax County). Do you think that matters or does she know VA also?

In general, it does matter if the advocate knows the area and the local school system.

First PP here - yes, it does matter if the advocate knows the area. I don't know if Martha Ein knows VA. I'm sorry I didn't realize your location before. We know folks at Oakwood - they really like it. But their DC has autism, not sure about dyslexia.

Ok, thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you say more about your daughter? Most dyslexic kids don't need a special school - I say this as a dyslexic myself and the mother of a dyslexic rising 5th grader. If she has covered her deficits thus far she probably isn't profoundly dyslexic, and my guess would be that you will be able to keep her in her normal school if she'd like.

The major danger with dyslexic kids is that they feel crappy about themselves and their abilities, since they have to work so hard and they think they are dumb. Get a kid help, let them know they have different brain wiring that comes with positives and negatives, and they are much more able to deal with the ups and downs.

Good luck, OP! Oh, and you might want to let your daughter check out the new Made by Dyslexia organization on Facebook - Richard Branson (dyslexic) started it to highlight the positive sides of dyslexia. My son likes seeing all the brilliant famous people who are also dyslexic.

Thanks. She has a form of dyslexia called "stealth dyslexia" https://www.understood.org/en/community-events/blogs/the-inside-track/2015/03/04/stealth-dyslexia-how-some-dyslexic-students-escape-detection so, while she can keep up now, it will be (and is) getting harder and harder for her as reading texts become more complicated, and writing expectations get higher. So, while she is hanging on by the skin of her teeth now, it's only with a ton of my hand-holding and heavy-lifting each afternoon when we sit down to do homework together. We've got to address this now, before she gets older. I am thinking if she were to spend a year or two at a place like Oakwood, perhaps then she could mainstream back into a regular classroom? The other problem is: she's not doing badly enough to get any IEP (we tried) and we also tried with her (parochial) school, and they are not equipped to really give any accommodations - ugh! So, we're kind of falling through the cracks here, if that makes any sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you say more about your daughter? Most dyslexic kids don't need a special school - I say this as a dyslexic myself and the mother of a dyslexic rising 5th grader. If she has covered her deficits thus far she probably isn't profoundly dyslexic, and my guess would be that you will be able to keep her in her normal school if she'd like.

The major danger with dyslexic kids is that they feel crappy about themselves and their abilities, since they have to work so hard and they think they are dumb. Get a kid help, let them know they have different brain wiring that comes with positives and negatives, and they are much more able to deal with the ups and downs.

Good luck, OP! Oh, and you might want to let your daughter check out the new Made by Dyslexia organization on Facebook - Richard Branson (dyslexic) started it to highlight the positive sides of dyslexia. My son likes seeing all the brilliant famous people who are also dyslexic.

Thanks. She has a form of dyslexia called "stealth dyslexia" https://www.understood.org/en/community-events/blogs/the-inside-track/2015/03/04/stealth-dyslexia-how-some-dyslexic-students-escape-detection so, while she can keep up now, it will be (and is) getting harder and harder for her as reading texts become more complicated, and writing expectations get higher. So, while she is hanging on by the skin of her teeth now, it's only with a ton of my hand-holding and heavy-lifting each afternoon when we sit down to do homework together. We've got to address this now, before she gets older. I am thinking if she were to spend a year or two at a place like Oakwood, perhaps then she could mainstream back into a regular classroom? The other problem is: she's not doing badly enough to get any IEP (we tried) and we also tried with her (parochial) school, and they are not equipped to really give any accommodations - ugh! So, we're kind of falling through the cracks here, if that makes any sense.

I don't have any direct experience with Oakwood but I know people who swear by it. I would highly recommend you schedule a tour. Newton might also be an option if you're somewhere in that general area. Newton is not a school for LD but I'm pretty sure they use O-G based reading instruction and they integrate technology early.