Recommendations For Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Tutor For 17 Year Old
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Anonymous
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My 17 DD was diagnosed with ADHD (Inattentive Type), Dyslexia and Dyscalculia this past fall. We have implemented a 504 plan with her high school, but they recommended not implementing an IEP. They said that DD has internal tools to function with dyslexia and dyscalculia and that being a junior in high school, would not benefit from small group instruction or any specific support. School said at this point, she's not going to benefit from trying to relearn to read. I refuse to believe there is nothing we can do to help support DD navigate dyslexia and dyscalculia being an older teenager. The 504 plan provides extra time, but nothing in terms of specific support.
She is taking two AP level courses, is maintaining As, Bs and a C, but has really been struggling to keep up. Her anxiety has increased and self esteem is shot and she feels inadequate because she has to work so hard to keep up. She is in therapy and we have an appointment scheduled with a psychiatrist to explore ADHD and anxiety medicine. I would like to find a tutor to help her navigate and implement tools for dyslexia and dyscalculia. Reading online I see most recommend is a Orton-Gillingham certified tutor. I don't know where to begin. We are in Northern Virginia. Can anyone provide recommendations for either local or online tutors? Also, are there any other resources available like support or teen groups for kids? None of her peers have similar challenges so she has no one in her age group to collaborate with. |
Anonymous
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ASDEC - Atlantic Seaboard dyslexic education center in Rockville for dyslexia tutor. But late in game - likely books on tape at double speed to keep up.
Hard to find good math tutor since there is no official remediation yet for dyscalculia. (We found Canadian program Jump Math for arithmetics to be helpful but likely getting a calculator written in 504 would be the path now. Stay positive. These kids have real strengths - often on athletic field. Big entrepreneur pool as well (Richard Branson). If truly having issues in high school there is Jemicy in Baltimore (for dyslexia. There is no equivalent high school or any school for dyscalculia). |
Anonymous
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Agree with ASDEC. Curious why PP recommended a school in Baltimore over the Lab School?
OP, I think when your child has gotten this far (through effort, natural intelligence, grit and a lot of other positive qualities), it would probably be painfully frustrating for her to start over with a new reading program like OG. What I think you can do though is look up all the best practices for educating kids with learning differences, which I am sure will involve making learning as multi-sensory as possible so that she retains information better. I don't know to what extent you can ask for this at school. Sure, any dyslexia-geared reading program is going to be multi-sensory but can they teach the AP History material in a multi-sensory way? That's where you would probably have to go to elsewhere... many privates would likely introduce information in a more varied and attention-grabbing way than most publics and Lab would probably teach in the most helpful way for a dyslexic though I am not sure whether they offer AP level classes. What I am trying to say is that these Learning Difference affect HOW a kid learns. Special education in elementary school (in an ideal situation) will use best practice methods to teach a kid to read. But, in my exprience, it is hard (impossible?) to get the same level of content in special education. I also think it can be extremely helpful for a kid to get an executive function tutor. Building these skills will help with EVERYTHING. I have two kids with language-based learning differences. One was so severe, he got an IEP in first. Honestly, useless and we pulled him out after 2nd. He homeschooled and then went to a mainstream private and is now doing very well at a top 25 college. Second wasn't diagnosed until much later and, like you, we were told it was "too late" for intervention. He never had anything but accommodations. He is doing fine but it has been a bumpy road. I wish we hadn't kept him at FCPS. |
Anonymous
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The program ASDEC trains in, Sounds in Syllables, was actually designed for teens so would be totally appropriate for your daughter. They also have a list of tutors trained in multisensory math. My son worked with his ASDEC trained math tutor from 3rd grade or so until junior year of high school (pre calc) and I bet he’ll continue to have his help for college math. If you’d like to post a throw away email address here I will email you his contact info. He is in Tennessee and so only works remotely.
I am myself an academic language therapist for dyslexia trained by ASDEC and I’d be happy to chat. I think it is fabulous your daughter will get support! |
Anonymous
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It’s never too late. But you need to prioritize what is most urgent right now.
I would start by making sure she has audiobook versions of all materials and also copies of class notes and note taking apps she can use in class. You may have to provide this, but something that allows her to take notes and then listen to them later will help with the workload. Since the school has essentially given up on fulfilling their special education obligations, the least they can do is make sure she has really excellent accommodations and the necessary tech training to use them. These skills will be key for college too. This assumes she is holding her own in academic classes. If she is struggling you will likely need to push in with tutors who can help her tailor efforts to exactly what she needs to learn and demonstrate in her classes. (There are often executive function challenges that go along with these diagnoses which make the workload even more overwhelming.) Over the summer I would do an intensive OG program with a skilled tutor. Since she is older, and likely motivated to make progress this can be really effective. Sounds in Syllables is an excellent program to start with. It is important to get the reading skills in place not just for English, but in case she wants to learn another language later. That is often required in college. |
Anonymous
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Lab school was once gold standard…a long time ago. What is sticker price these days? 80,000?
I recommended Jemicy because it truly follows the science (top dyslexic researcher from Georgetown on their board) and comes at more reasonable tuition. You could easily have said Sienna as well but you didn’t. DCUM keep on keeping on…. But I can’t let the lies of omission on dyscalculia stand. Caution. I repeat there is no Orton-Gillingham for math. Caveat Emptor. If you would like to give to the cause (we are basically in the 1920s in terms of research in dyscalculia) please consider supporting The Journal of Numerical Cognition! ASDEC is fabulous - but its math program has little to no science behind it (simply takes a multi sensory approach that works for reading to math. Unproven.). It’s better than nothing I suppose but not by much. Ray Cohen Kadosh at Oxford’s proved some effect with small electrical stimulation to left parietal side of brain before tests suspended now a decade ago given the history of shock therapy. Also small sample size, unfortunately) |
Anonymous
| I’m in NOVA. Trying to find an OG tutor since September. It’s like they don’t exist here and all I can find is Lab and Sienna but no private tutors. It’s so hard |
Anonymous
| Does Siena also run private tutoring? |
Anonymous
They exist, PP, I promise! Go to the website of the Academic Language Therapy Assiciation, www.altaread.org and put Virginia into their find a practitioner list. There are multiple in NOVA. Get on waiting lists, ask for recommendations. ASDEC trains two cohorts a year and those new academic language therapists will be looking for clients. |
Anonymous
| It is so hard to find a tutor with availability if you want in person! |
Anonymous
Where are you, PP? |
Anonymous
| PP -- I am in NE DC. My 6th grade kiddo has moderate dyslexia, but the bigger problem at this point is poor reading comprehension/difficulty understanding context clues for unknown vocabulary. |
Anonymous
| I know of a great OG tutor in Burke, VA if that’s helpful. Has done wonders for my child! |
Anonymous
Could you give ASDEC a call (if you haven’t already) and see if Sounds in Syllables is appropriate? Comprehension is built in, but I’m not sure how it is adapted for a child who reads well. |
Anonymous
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I bet there is someone in her friend group who is dyslexic too. My child discovered a good friend has it too and they study together and help each other out.
I would definitely contact ASDEC. I would think remediating reading issues would still be worth it. |