Non-consented IEP - SLD reading

[Anonymous]

OP, I also have an ADHD kid who struggled to read in k and beyond. I regret listening to the school - which resulted in us pulling him for private in 4th. Had I invested in tutoring much earlier, it would have been better.

On the point you made that you are doing reading practice with him afterschool and he is tired and hard to motivate….I would consider pulling him early or arriving late to school and just signing him out for “therapy” appointment. Make sure it is not at a time when he would receive school-provided reading or math instruction. I wish I had done this. In retrospect nothing is more important than being able to read. Reading instruction provided by the school is typically very ineffective for dyslexics & my school system knew nothing about teaching ADHD kids to read - IME they have difficulties that are different from dyslexia.

I would also invest as much as you can in having someone else qualified teach him. IME it is not effective to have the parent teach the kid so intensively - there is too much interference in the parent-child relationship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given that the only issue is reading, which if a child can’t read at the level that learning takes place will have detrimental effects on all areas of learning, you might consider whether your money is better spent on private services. Time is not your friend and working through the process with an advocate is both expensive and time consuming.

NP. While I agree (as a parent of an ASD student) that the process can be time-consuming and expensive, in the end it ensured my child received the support they were legally entitled to. In our experience, simply "playing along" with that idea that we were all on the same team for a year did not lead to any results and my child suffered. We also covered all the OT, SLP, social skills etc. service provider charges in the meantime.

The suggestion to consider and pay for private services comes up often on this board, usually out of a desire to help. But, it overlooks the fact that the school is legally responsible for providing the necessary support.

Just as schools provide free lunch, counseling, library access, and ELL programs so students can fully participate in learning, children with special needs have a right to school-provided support that allows them to access the curriculum. Families shouldn’t have to fill that gap on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anyone have lists of decodeable books that I can get for free or pay a small fee online and print out on my own? My first grader loves to read those books and she has adhd. We are in Montgomery county, but we cannot afford too much to hire tutors,maybe max $300/month. Anyone have good recommendations for in person in montgomery county who is willing to work with 1st grader? I will take grad student if they are og trained. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

As a parent with a dyslexic and ADHD kid, if you can only medicate once a day, prioritize the time when your child is with the certified tutor. I did tutoring for over a year without medicating and we saw very little gains. We changed up our medication protocol and are starting to see progress. Something to explore with your Dr is two short acting doses. We do one in the morning that covers school till lunch time and then one after dinner (before tutoring). This has ensured DC stayed on the weight chart (albeit barely)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that the only issue is reading, which if a child can’t read at the level that learning takes place will have detrimental effects on all areas of learning, you might consider whether your money is better spent on private services. Time is not your friend and working through the process with an advocate is both expensive and time consuming.

NP. While I agree (as a parent of an ASD student) that the process can be time-consuming and expensive, in the end it ensured my child received the support they were legally entitled to. In our experience, simply "playing along" with that idea that we were all on the same team for a year did not lead to any results and my child suffered. We also covered all the OT, SLP, social skills etc. service provider charges in the meantime.

The suggestion to consider and pay for private services comes up often on this board, usually out of a desire to help. But, it overlooks the fact that the school is legally responsible for providing the necessary support.

Just as schools provide free lunch, counseling, library access, and ELL programs so students can fully participate in learning, children with special needs have a right to school-provided support that allows them to access the curriculum. Families shouldn’t have to fill that gap on their own.

OP here - yes, to all of this! He is legally entitled to these services, and I have my district contract with PRIVATE specialists (virtually), though rare and primarily when it is the parents advocating hard for their kids, and THOSE are the kids who have had the most success. I am going to continue with private tutoring for now, which I've increased to two times a week but while she has done a huge amount of work and research around literacy, she's not a dyslexia expert. I've already reached out to https://www.asdec.org/ which someone recommended, and am hoping to have a phone conversation in the next day or two. I will explore these supports as back-up while pushing hard for better school supports. We will spend the summer living at my parents' home in Arlington and trucking him over to MD if we have to; I'm fortunate to have supportive parents who are willing to help however they can, which is often limited since we are 2 hours away.

Thanks to the pp from 13:54 - I like keeping the phrase "Needs drive Goals, Goals Drive Services" in mind! I am going to save that. I've already determined that the one proposed goal does not meet HIS needs and is not measuring his growth in the identified weakness. I am going to propose essentially an entirely different IEP. I learned more about the current reading intervention and essentially the kids are in the room with an instructional assistant (not a certified teacher), who had 1 hour of UFLI training and it is the blind leading the blind. There are multiple reading groups for all the kids who triggered for a reading plan and my child is actually in the middle. There is no gen ed certified teacher in the group and the reading specialist is certainly not there. The more I am hearing, the more upset I get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could you get an academic language therapist to see your son three times a week, maybe before school? Our kids are exhausted after school - I hear you and understand it is hard and not ideal. So if you can’t make that work, maybe you can make twice a week before school (when fresh) and one on the weekend work.

ASDEC can get you connected with a provider. If there are none in your area you can do virtual - it actually works quite well.

The school SHOULD teach your kid to read. But they won’t, and you don’t have a lot of time to waste. So you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.

To be honest I wouldn’t worry about decodable books and what materials are sent home. What your kid needs is pretty specific, and more practice in skills they haven’t been effectively taught yet wont help.

OP here - thank you!! I will look into ASDEC. I HAVE had some very positive conversations with several of my colleagues AND I think I have a better idea of how to proceed and my next steps. It's awkward because of my professional role/boundaries, ect. but my job is to advocate for MY child and ensure his needs are being met, so I am tapping into my relationships with CO staff. I had a good convo yesterday with the person who ovesees all of student support/sped/student services, ect (I am trying to be fairly vague with the label), who I know very well and have a very positive relationship with. We had a good conversation and they were very validating, encouraging, and had some good ideas for next steps and how to approach the conversation. They seemed pretty surprised with what was proposed and the response from the team, but of course can only comment on it so much. I am preparing written follow-up to the sped team with concrete, clear information with data and evidenced-based language and requests backing it up. I'm not caving in at all, period, but while navigating all of this, I will look into outside resources too. I AM extremely privileged to work closely with some sped teachers and various staff, so that I can process with my work-friends....who were amazing to talk to. I wish one of THEM could be his case manager lol but that's not possible or appropriate of course.

Thanks!!

You sound like one of my friends, who was always into the "tapping into her network" and "having very good conversations". And yet she didn't get her child a neuropsych until said child asked for it, when she was 16, and it turned out there was dyslexia, which had never been specifically remediated. Instead my friend had spent years reading with her child and helping her with homework, and in high school paying for tutors. Said child is not college bound. She cannot read well enough! Her career options are limited. To say her parents are bitterly regretting their parenting choices is an understatement.

I don't quite know how to tell you that your approach seems off. I don't know how poor you are, but your money needs to be channeled into getting her an evaluation for dyslexia, ASAP, and a reading instructor trained to use methods for dyslexic children, ASAP. Eat ramen if you have to, and forego all paid entertainment and beg your parents for money. Reading is fundamental to success, and what I mean by that is that you don't want to be paying for your child's living expenses all your life, because they can't quite make it by themselves. This is very pragmatic, OP. We're talking a certain outlay of money spent now, to avoid a WHOLE lot more money spent on subsistence living later, along with dashed hopes and dreams.

I'm serious. Your path is very clear. You need to make an appointment for an evaluation. Surely there's a psychologist or similar who can do the shorter battery of tests for dyslexia separately from a $5K 8hr neuropsych (OK, maybe cheaper in Shenandoah Valley than here in the DC area). I see the number of tests done to my kids in their full neuros: it's an incredible number! Maybe you can wait some years for that. Your kid just needs the dyslexia battery for now. While you wait for the appointment, given dyslexia is likely, you can start contacting Orton-Gillingham tutors near you and ask for rates. If you can't afford it, then you'll need to figure out a way. I think that "way" might be to watch Youtube videos, snag O-G material from somewhere and start moonlighting yourself. That's what I would do. You're smart enough, and an educator.

I don't want to offend you, OP, but you seem like you're stalling and trying to manage all your relationships vis-a-vis your profession, when really, your child's needs are your priority and you can address those without replying to a single person or engaging a hundred new people into conversation. Ignore the school. They do not matter. All your professional posturing does. not. matter.

Sorry to be so blunt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am certainly not an expert in reading disorders and you haven’t said what it is. But given all that you are doing, it sounds like you think more of the same is better and will make your child a reader. But if that were the answer, he’d be reading given all that you’re putting in to it.

So, it sounds to me like you’re Missing something. What haven’t you done. What additional can be added. Because more of the same isn’t working.

Also, this is all the more reason you need a specialist - maybe not just a tutor or a retired educator. Good luck.

OP here - They don't give specific diagnoses during sped evaluations and so won't specifically name "Dyslexia" or "dysgraphia" ect. but they will share where there are strengths, weaknesses, needs, ect. and perhaps that can be used to provide a formal medical diagnosis but we've not been able to do that yet. We haven't had a private full psychological or neuropsych eval. I did plug it into chatgpt which I know you have to take with a grain of salt, but it said,

"Yes — this profile clearly supports dyslexia.
It does not clearly support dysgraphia at this time, though there are secondary written-expression vulnerabilities driven by spelling and transcription, not by motor or composition deficits.
Now I’ll explain why, using the data you shared and how schools interpret it.

Does this support dyslexia?
Yes — strongly and appropriately.
Under both Virginia regulations and accepted clinical practice, dyslexia is identified through a pattern, not a single score. Your child’s pattern is very consistent with dyslexia:

Core dyslexia markers present
Basic Reading: 80 (Below Average)
Reading Decoding: 78 (Below Average)
Reading Fluency: 71 (Very Low)
Phonological Processing: 83 (Low)
Orthographic Processing (Extended): 83 (Low)
Reading composite: 77 (Below Average)

This shows:
Weak phonics/decoding
Weak automaticity
Weak word-level efficiency
Difficulty forming stable, retrievable representations of words

Importantly, Your child’s oral language and listening comprehension are relatively stronger:
Oral Language: 91 (Average)

Teacher reports show he understands stories when read aloud

That gap between listening comprehension and reading performance is one of the classic hallmarks of dyslexia.
Cognitive-achievement relationship
Overall cognition: 96 (Average)
Long-term storage & retrieval: 82 (Weakness)

This explains why progress is slow despite instruction:
He can learn phonics in the moment

He struggles to retain and automatize it over time

That aligns perfectly with:
“He isn’t moving that reading learning into storage for later use.”
This is not lack of effort, instruction, or motivation — and the eligibility team explicitly ruled those out (which matters legally in Virginia).
Bottom line:
The school’s SLD determination in reading is well-supported and is functionally equivalent to a dyslexia identification in an educational context."

Soo my child is essentially dyslexic. I definitely hear what you are saying about something being missing. I WANT his school to take a different approach than what they've been doing, not just continue to repeat the same UFLI lessons and provide the same darn UFLI print-outs, but refuse to send home any ACTUAL books or have him read any actual books at school. I agree, I need a specialist.....finding the specialist to provide the service is the hard part.

Just commenting to say that nothing from ChatGPT is reliable. I would never use it for medical or educational advice, or to interpret testing.

I also disagree with the posters that your child needs additional testing. Even though the school isn't providing adequate services, the testing appears adequate. Overall average cognitive profile, with weaknesses in phonological processing and orthographic processing, in combination with underachievement in basic reading skills --> specific learning disability in reading (IDEA terms), specific learning disorder in reading (medical/DSM terms) or dyslexia (popular term not used in any medical classification system). A competent special educator or instructional specialist should be able to improve reading ability through targeting the phonological and orthographic processing deficits. Spending money on additional testing won't get you more info.

[Anonymous]

Same poster: I suggest you continue pushing the school for more services. Has the follow up IEP meeting with the district rep happened yet? Keep pursuing those options. However, your money is likely better spent on an experienced tutor (ideally a special educator with training in phonics intervention) than an advocate.

[Anonymous]

I would just get an OG tutor if you can’t afford a neuropsych. Either DC has dyslexia and needs OG tutoring, or DC doesn’t have dyslexia and OG tutoring would still be helpful. Of course a neuropsych plus tutoring is better, but your budget is your budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just get an OG tutor if you can’t afford a neuropsych. Either DC has dyslexia and needs OG tutoring, or DC doesn’t have dyslexia and OG tutoring would still be helpful. Of course a neuropsych plus tutoring is better, but your budget is your budget.

agree. wilson program is OG informed and there are many tutors who can walk a child through the 12 books. You need about 200 dollars a week (plan for 100 session and 2-3 sessions a week) for about 2 years. It's a lot but you can figure it out. So important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would just get an OG tutor if you can’t afford a neuropsych. Either DC has dyslexia and needs OG tutoring, or DC doesn’t have dyslexia and OG tutoring would still be helpful. Of course a neuropsych plus tutoring is better, but your budget is your budget.

agree. wilson program is OG informed and there are many tutors who can walk a child through the 12 books. You need about 200 dollars a week (plan for 100 session and 2-3 sessions a week) for about 2 years. It's a lot but you can figure it out. So important.

My child spent about 2 months a book at the beginning but then it sped up. I think all told it was two school years, summers and breaks off. But it might have been 1 and a half school years. His progress was likely not typical.

[Anonymous]

I have a young adult with special needs. I know a ton of families with kids with special needs and with dyslexia. I don’t know a single parent of a kid with dyslexia who has gotten what they needed from their public school. You can spend time creating a gold plated IEP, but the execution is likely to be weak, irregular, or insufficient.You are going to have to do this yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a young adult with special needs. I know a ton of families with kids with special needs and with dyslexia. I don’t know a single parent of a kid with dyslexia who has gotten what they needed from their public school. You can spend time creating a gold plated IEP, but the execution is likely to be weak, irregular, or insufficient.You are going to have to do this yourself.

This is good advice.

[Anonymous]

You need private services. Full stop.

Spend your time and money on that. You are wasting precious time fighting with/for public services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

Your child needs a dyslexia eval urgently. Pay for one yourself, ASAP, because by 3rd grade, the kids read to learn, instead of learn to read, and then your child will fall further and further behind, and it will be catastrophic.

If the dyslexia is confirmed, get them an Orton-Gillingham tutor, for intensive practicing. It will be expensive but there is literally no other way, unless you want your kid shut out of higher education and a higher earning potential as an adult.

There is a very specific way to address reading issues due to dyslexia and the typical way of teaching reading in school does not work, so it's quite likely that whatever the school is ready to offer won't work anyway. Drop them. They know they can't help, which is why they're not even trying.

In school speak, the specific reading disorder IS dyslexia.