dyslexia/reading therapist

[Anonymous]

My child has just been diagnosed with dyslexia. She is 7, and has a ton of difficulty sounding out basic primer words. Additionally, it seems her tracking is "off" and she can't keep her eyes on the page. I've been instructed to get her "vision therapy" but I would like her to receive reading therapy via a specialist. Who in this area is the best? Are there any speech-language pathologists that have reading as their absolute specialty?

[Anonymous]

Whew are you?

Your child (in my non-specialist opinion but as the parent of a child with dyslexia who could not sound out basic short-vowel words 7 months ago) will need a reading/spelling therapist so she can process sounds. The progress my son has made is so amazing that I am nearly brought to tears when I think of how far he has come.

The Orton-Gillingham system is THE BEST for dyslexic kids. There are various programs/systems that are OG; all will work.

My child is receiving reading and spelling tutoring through a wonderful lady in Olney. She is a certified tutor with the Barton System. You can request a list of Barton tutors through http://www.dys-add.com/ Click on "List of tutors".

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Have you considered trying to get services through the school as well? If your daughter has a diagnosed LD, school should provide services (not that it's always that easy).

Our DS has struggled with reading but testing has not shown he has dyslexia. School services have made a huge difference. He also is doing OT for visual processing issues. An ophthalmologist (not a developmental optometrist) DX'd tracking issues (as did an OT evaluation) - Ophthalmologist believes that, while vision therapy could help with these issues, OT would be at least as effective as vision therapy, while also being covered by insurance.

Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

Things that help our 8 y.o. dyslexic DD, with similar symptoms:

Enlarge font when you can (ask for this as accommodation on your IEP or 504 plan)

Use and index card or lucite "highlighter bar" to help with tracking when reading (the latter you can find in the reading glasses section of CVS)

Do exercises at home to address the specific areas of visual processing that are weaknesses for your child. Get the book Developing Ocular Motor and Visual Perceptual Skills, by Kenneth Lane. We've also found the worksheets from the website Visual Learning For Life to be helpful. There are also lots of vision therapy exercise videos on YouTube.

Get a book to teach your child spelling patterns and sight words. We use the Wilson Just Words program, but be aware that it will require planning lessons on your part. Or, hire an O-G tutor (when we used a tutor, we went through asdec.org). Also very useful, fun and easy to understand is Reading Horizons.com. DD prefers that over live tutoring

Consider purchasing the Jingle Spells CD and listen to the spelling pattern songs over and over. DD is an auditory learner, so this works very well for her.

Have her read books that are slightly lower than her reading level, so that she's an empowered reader, then gradually build up.

Our DD went from reading simple Magic Tree House type books in second grade to reading Percy Jackson, the Rangers Apprentice series, etc. In third. This is all very possible if you identify the specific areas of weakness and map out a plan to address them It's time consuming (ideally do some reading/spelling practice most days each week - repetition is key), but as a PP said, the difference can be amazing. GL!

[Anonymous]

Things that help our 8 y.o. dyslexic DD, with similar symptoms:

Enlarge font when you can (ask for this as accommodation on your IEP or 504 plan)

Use and index card or lucite "highlighter bar" to help with tracking when reading (the latter can be found in the reading glasses section of CVS)

Do exercises at home to address the specific areas of visual processing that are weaknesses for your child. Get the book Developing Ocular Motor and Visual Perceptual Skills, by Kenneth Lane. We've also found the worksheets from the website Visual Learning For Life to be helpful. There are also lots of vision therapy exercise videos on YouTube.

Get a workbook to teach your child spelling patterns and sight words. We use the Wilson Just Words program, but be aware that it will require planning lessons on your part. Or, hire an O-G tutor (when we used a tutor, we went through asdec.org). Also very useful, fun and easy to understand is Reading Horizons.com. DD prefers that over live tutoring

Consider purchasing the Jingle Spells CD and listen to the spelling pattern songs over and over. DD is an auditory learner, so this works very well for her.

Have her read books that are slightly lower than her reading level, so that she's an empowered reader, then gradually build up.

Our DD went from reading simple Magic Tree House type books in second grade to reading Percy Jackson, the Rangers Apprentice series, etc. In third. This is all very possible if you identify the specific areas of weakness and map out a plan to address them It's time consuming (ideally do some reading/spelling practice most days each week - repetition is key), but as a PP said, the difference can be amazing. GL!

[Anonymous]

The only place in the DC area that has an IMSLEC accredited program for Academic Language Therapy is the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center in Rockville, MD. They maintain referral lists for VA/MD/DC. (You can look up IMSLEC on-line as well.)

asdec.org

On-line, you can go to the International Dyslexia Association's (IDA) website and they also have referral lists: interdys.org

IDA also has great FACT Sheets that can help with hiring an academic language therapist.

ABSOLUTELY ask any practitioner for certifications. Barton and Wilson are ok for students with less significant struggles. There are much better programs for more significant issues (ASDEC's program is among the most comprehensive).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only place in the DC area that has an IMSLEC accredited program for Academic Language Therapy is the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center in Rockville, MD. They maintain referral lists for VA/MD/DC. (You can look up IMSLEC on-line as well.)

asdec.org

On-line, you can go to the International Dyslexia Association's (IDA) website and they also have referral lists: interdys.org

IDA also has great FACT Sheets that can help with hiring an academic language therapist.

ABSOLUTELY ask any practitioner for certifications. Barton and Wilson are ok for students with less significant struggles. There are much better programs for more significant issues (ASDEC's program is among the most comprehensive).

ditto

[Anonymous]

This is 22:21, I wanted to clarify that the issues our DD has are vision based (as opposed to problems with phonemic awareness, etc.). So the Barton/Wilson type methods work fine for her. I have read elsehwhere that if the child struggles with auditory processing of language (e.g., has trouble understanding that letters correspond with a particular sound) then a more intensive speech-oriented program may be in order. I've heard that Lindamood Bell LiPs has worked well for some, but don't have any firsthand experience. Also, as PPs mentioned, the tutors at asdec are great - I learned a lot by watching them work with DD.

[Anonymous]

We found a speech language pathologist in our area (College Park, MD) who was trained in Lindamood Bell methods. Our son has met with her weekly for 45 min since the beginning of the school year. It has made a HUGE difference in his reading confidence and he finally went from being below grade level to on grade level for reading. Now if only I could get the insurance to pay for it... He also has gotten extra help at school with reading but I think the one on one time with the SLP really paid off because she could hone in on exactly what he was having trouble with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We found a speech language pathologist in our area (College Park, MD) who was trained in Lindamood Bell methods. Our son has met with her weekly for 45 min since the beginning of the school year. It has made a HUGE difference in his reading confidence and he finally went from being below grade level to on grade level for reading. Now if only I could get the insurance to pay for it... He also has gotten extra help at school with reading but I think the one on one time with the SLP really paid off because she could hone in on exactly what he was having trouble with.

Where/how do you find an independent individual trained in Lindamood Bell? We were referred to the Lindamood Bell Center in Foxhall, but the program is so intensive in terms of time and cost. I would love to find an independent tutor.

[Anonymous]

Just a warning about Lindamood Bell: you can get great results, but all providers are not created equal. A lot of the providers are college students who are minimally trained and low paid. It is also incredibly expensive and not necessary unless there are significant issues with phonological awareness.

[Anonymous]

20:10 here -- we found the speech language pathologist after posting to our neighborhood listserv and she was highly recommended. So check with your local listserv or I bet the school special ed department would know of anyone local who comes in and works with the kids. Our first option was to get a student from the local university but then after getting the recommendation from another parent for the certified SLP, we went with her and she did a full diagnostic write up and uses a targeted program with him.