Anyone have experience with MS magnets and 2e — gifted and mild dyslexia?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. Wondering if OP has ruled out the GTLD program which is supposed to be geared to 2E.

OP here - my impression is that it would be really hard to get DC into GT/LD program with mild dyslexia but I will dig a bit deeper

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Magnets don't accommodate that I don't think - have you tried posting in the Special needs forum?

This poster is absolutely wrong. There are accommodations for students with learning disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

OP again - I would have had the same thought before DC was diagnosed with dyslexia. But in fact DC is quite gifted verbally (WISC-V VCI 99th percentile) and reading comprehension (MAP-R 95th percentile). Difficulty is with written expression (especially when writing by hand) and taking longer to read printed text. To access material at their level, DC needs extended time, speech to text, and audio text accommodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

OP again - I would have had the same thought before DC was diagnosed with dyslexia. But in fact DC is quite gifted verbally (WISC-V VCI 99th percentile) and reading comprehension (MAP-R 95th percentile). Difficulty is with written expression (especially when writing by hand) and taking longer to read printed text. To access material at their level, DC needs extended time, speech to text, and audio text accommodations.

It honestly sounds like a magnet program requiring extensive reading and writing is not for them. I'm not sure why you'd push it, especially when there are solid other MCPS options. My 2E kid is the strongest reader in his entire class and I'm not pushing him into a magnet because he will struggle physically with writing and emotionally. "Difficulty with written expression" and "magnet program requiring extensive writing" just don't match up, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

OP again - I would have had the same thought before DC was diagnosed with dyslexia. But in fact DC is quite gifted verbally (WISC-V VCI 99th percentile) and reading comprehension (MAP-R 95th percentile). Difficulty is with written expression (especially when writing by hand) and taking longer to read printed text. To access material at their level, DC needs extended time, speech to text, and audio text accommodations.

It honestly sounds like a magnet program requiring extensive reading and writing is not for them. I'm not sure why you'd push it, especially when there are solid other MCPS options. My 2E kid is the strongest reader in his entire class and I'm not pushing him into a magnet because he will struggle physically with writing and emotionally. "Difficulty with written expression" and "magnet program requiring extensive writing" just don't match up, sorry.

PP, has your son ever tried speech to text tools? They have been a game changer for my 2E kid with dyslexia. They went from writing three-word sentences to writing full paragraph essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. Wondering if OP has ruled out the GTLD program which is supposed to be geared to 2E.

OP here - my impression is that it would be really hard to get DC into GT/LD program with mild dyslexia but I will dig a bit deeper

We were told that the GTLD program would not be a good fit for our gifted kids. They said the work really isn’t as advanced as the advanced classes for mainstream kids and they’d be better in the regular classes with accommodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

OP again - I would have had the same thought before DC was diagnosed with dyslexia. But in fact DC is quite gifted verbally (WISC-V VCI 99th percentile) and reading comprehension (MAP-R 95th percentile). Difficulty is with written expression (especially when writing by hand) and taking longer to read printed text. To access material at their level, DC needs extended time, speech to text, and audio text accommodations.

It honestly sounds like a magnet program requiring extensive reading and writing is not for them. I'm not sure why you'd push it, especially when there are solid other MCPS options. My 2E kid is the strongest reader in his entire class and I'm not pushing him into a magnet because he will struggle physically with writing and emotionally. "Difficulty with written expression" and "magnet program requiring extensive writing" just don't match up, sorry.

PP, has your son ever tried speech to text tools? They have been a game changer for my 2E kid with dyslexia. They went from writing three-word sentences to writing full paragraph essays.

He struggles physically due to fine motor and gets anxious even if he types. I wouldn’t put him in a high pressure magnet program despite his actual giftedness …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. Wondering if OP has ruled out the GTLD program which is supposed to be geared to 2E.

OP here - my impression is that it would be really hard to get DC into GT/LD program with mild dyslexia but I will dig a bit deeper

We were told that the GTLD program would not be a good fit for our gifted kids. They said the work really isn’t as advanced as the advanced classes for mainstream kids and they’d be better in the regular classes with accommodations.

right, the option for kids like yours and mine is mainstream w/good IEP. Not a magnet with a huge workload doable only if you don’t need supports. I suppose you could try to get an accomodation of reduced workload, but not totally sure what the point of a magnet would be then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

OP again - I would have had the same thought before DC was diagnosed with dyslexia. But in fact DC is quite gifted verbally (WISC-V VCI 99th percentile) and reading comprehension (MAP-R 95th percentile). Difficulty is with written expression (especially when writing by hand) and taking longer to read printed text. To access material at their level, DC needs extended time, speech to text, and audio text accommodations.

It honestly sounds like a magnet program requiring extensive reading and writing is not for them. I'm not sure why you'd push it, especially when there are solid other MCPS options. My 2E kid is the strongest reader in his entire class and I'm not pushing him into a magnet because he will struggle physically with writing and emotionally. "Difficulty with written expression" and "magnet program requiring extensive writing" just don't match up, sorry.

PP, has your son ever tried speech to text tools? They have been a game changer for my 2E kid with dyslexia. They went from writing three-word sentences to writing full paragraph essays.

He struggles physically due to fine motor and gets anxious even if he types. I wouldn’t put him in a high pressure magnet program despite his actual giftedness …

(that is to say - he is not dyslexic, he just cannot easily produce a lot of writing despite high reading/verbal scores).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

OP again - I would have had the same thought before DC was diagnosed with dyslexia. But in fact DC is quite gifted verbally (WISC-V VCI 99th percentile) and reading comprehension (MAP-R 95th percentile). Difficulty is with written expression (especially when writing by hand) and taking longer to read printed text. To access material at their level, DC needs extended time, speech to text, and audio text accommodations.

It honestly sounds like a magnet program requiring extensive reading and writing is not for them. I'm not sure why you'd push it, especially when there are solid other MCPS options. My 2E kid is the strongest reader in his entire class and I'm not pushing him into a magnet because he will struggle physically with writing and emotionally. "Difficulty with written expression" and "magnet program requiring extensive writing" just don't match up, sorry.

NP. Please don’t judge. Dysgraphia is very complex. For some kids it is a motor/production problem, for others a language processing, for others executive function problem. The student can have dysgraphia and still be a good writer because they have good things to say, but they just need more time to say it. It is also difficult to balance the needs of a 2E child – sometimes putting them in a classroom which is not challenging is worse emotionally than being in a program where they need accommodations. Our DC suffers more when bored. Far better to have accommodations to read HS or college level books at EMS than to be stuck with on level reading at home school. It is easier for DC to write 10 pages about a topic of interest than two pages about, “what I did last summer.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. Wondering if OP has ruled out the GTLD program which is supposed to be geared to 2E.

OP here - my impression is that it would be really hard to get DC into GT/LD program with mild dyslexia but I will dig a bit deeper

We were told that the GTLD program would not be a good fit for our gifted kids. They said the work really isn’t as advanced as the advanced classes for mainstream kids and they’d be better in the regular classes with accommodations.

right, the option for kids like yours and mine is mainstream w/good IEP. Not a magnet with a huge workload doable only if you don’t need supports. I suppose you could try to get an accomodation of reduced workload, but not totally sure what the point of a magnet would be then?

I’m the previous poster and one of my 2E kids is actually in a HS magnet, doing well with accommodations. She gets extra time which she doesn’t always use but it is helpful for her conditions to know he time is a possibility. She has some other accommodations that don’t affect the type or nature of the work. I think it’s hard to make blanket statements. Also one of the best writers and most talented humanities majors I ever knew was dyslexic—I was surprised when he told me, but he mentioned it because he was jealous of how quickly I plowed through a novel. I think his retention was much better than mine but he was an admittedly slower reader. He majored in history at an Ivy so it can be done, but he was also a hard worker and committed. I think you have to know your kid, which can be hard when they are changing every day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with Eastern Magnet and accommodations is that there are alot of group projects and group work. Our DC was been able to advocate for extended time on individual assignments when needed, but for group projects it was much harder because other students are involved and being impacted.

This is a great point. Eastern is heavily reliant on group projects, at first with groups assigned and later more likely to have groups chosen. Because teachers can't tell other kids who gets extra time (obviously, and correctly), then the kids who need more time end up with frustrated group members. I can see how it would be really frustrating for a child who uses audiobooks, for example, to be on a group call with other kids flipping through texts to find the answer to a question together.

I'm not dissuading a 2e Humanities kid from trying, but just noting that the social dynamics might be a little challenging in addition to the academic ones, or they would bleed together.

+1 Agree wholeheartedly.

How could you be in a humanities magnet and have to use exclusively audio texts? That makes no sense. Reading texts seems like the basic qualification for being in a humanities magnet. My kid is 2E and not strong at math (but very strong reading/writing). I would never send him to a math magnet.

OP again - I would have had the same thought before DC was diagnosed with dyslexia. But in fact DC is quite gifted verbally (WISC-V VCI 99th percentile) and reading comprehension (MAP-R 95th percentile). Difficulty is with written expression (especially when writing by hand) and taking longer to read printed text. To access material at their level, DC needs extended time, speech to text, and audio text accommodations.

It honestly sounds like a magnet program requiring extensive reading and writing is not for them. I'm not sure why you'd push it, especially when there are solid other MCPS options. My 2E kid is the strongest reader in his entire class and I'm not pushing him into a magnet because he will struggle physically with writing and emotionally. "Difficulty with written expression" and "magnet program requiring extensive writing" just don't match up, sorry.

NP. Please don’t judge. Dysgraphia is very complex. For some kids it is a motor/production problem, for others a language processing, for others executive function problem. The student can have dysgraphia and still be a good writer because they have good things to say, but they just need more time to say it. It is also difficult to balance the needs of a 2E child – sometimes putting them in a classroom which is not challenging is worse emotionally than being in a program where they need accommodations. Our DC suffers more when bored. Far better to have accommodations to read HS or college level books at EMS than to be stuck with on level reading at home school. It is easier for DC to write 10 pages about a topic of interest than two pages about, “what I did last summer.”

I’m sure that’s true, but that doesn’t mean a magnet program with intensive writing is a sensible choice. It’s *writing* not “things to say”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. Wondering if OP has ruled out the GTLD program which is supposed to be geared to 2E.

OP here - my impression is that it would be really hard to get DC into GT/LD program with mild dyslexia but I will dig a bit deeper

We were told that the GTLD program would not be a good fit for our gifted kids. They said the work really isn’t as advanced as the advanced classes for mainstream kids and they’d be better in the regular classes with accommodations.

right, the option for kids like yours and mine is mainstream w/good IEP. Not a magnet with a huge workload doable only if you don’t need supports. I suppose you could try to get an accomodation of reduced workload, but not totally sure what the point of a magnet would be then?

I’m the previous poster and one of my 2E kids is actually in a HS magnet, doing well with accommodations. She gets extra time which she doesn’t always use but it is helpful for her conditions to know he time is a possibility. She has some other accommodations that don’t affect the type or nature of the work. I think it’s hard to make blanket statements. Also one of the best writers and most talented humanities majors I ever knew was dyslexic—I was surprised when he told me, but he mentioned it because he was jealous of how quickly I plowed through a novel. I think his retention was much better than mine but he was an admittedly slower reader. He majored in history at an Ivy so it can be done, but he was also a hard worker and committed. I think you have to know your kid, which can be hard when they are changing every day!

Look I have a 2E kid and know they can be brilliant. But I strongly question why you would put them in a program that emphasizes their weaknesses. Does not make a ton of sense. A little extra time on a test is one thing, but heavy writing requirements sounds like setting them up for failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. Wondering if OP has ruled out the GTLD program which is supposed to be geared to 2E.

OP here - my impression is that it would be really hard to get DC into GT/LD program with mild dyslexia but I will dig a bit deeper

We were told that the GTLD program would not be a good fit for our gifted kids. They said the work really isn’t as advanced as the advanced classes for mainstream kids and they’d be better in the regular classes with accommodations.

right, the option for kids like yours and mine is mainstream w/good IEP. Not a magnet with a huge workload doable only if you don’t need supports. I suppose you could try to get an accomodation of reduced workload, but not totally sure what the point of a magnet would be then?

I’m the previous poster and one of my 2E kids is actually in a HS magnet, doing well with accommodations. She gets extra time which she doesn’t always use but it is helpful for her conditions to know he time is a possibility. She has some other accommodations that don’t affect the type or nature of the work. I think it’s hard to make blanket statements. Also one of the best writers and most talented humanities majors I ever knew was dyslexic—I was surprised when he told me, but he mentioned it because he was jealous of how quickly I plowed through a novel. I think his retention was much better than mine but he was an admittedly slower reader. He majored in history at an Ivy so it can be done, but he was also a hard worker and committed. I think you have to know your kid, which can be hard when they are changing every day!

Look I have a 2E kid and know they can be brilliant. But I strongly question why you would put them in a program that emphasizes their weaknesses. Does not make a ton of sense. A little extra time on a test is one thing, but heavy writing requirements sounds like setting them up for failure.

Again, writing is a complex task. Your choice is fine for your family. I’m not sure why your casting aspersions on other people’s choices. My DC had a medical issue that unexpectedly impacted certain aspects of language, including writing, in 7th grade at EMS; DC needed heavy accommodations and that was the year to write IDRP, which is a tough experience for anyone. EMS refused to accommodate and even suggested that DC go back to homeschool (illegal) and we had to hire a lawyer. DC took longer and worked harder at IDRP than other students, but finished. DC says that EMS, including IDRP, was the best preparation for college and single best MCPS academic experience.

Sometimes working on your weakness is good. Sometimes working to your strength is good. For kids who love history and literature, EMS magnet IS working to a strength. The problems we encountered at EMS didn’t have to do with our pushing DC; rather, they were a function of the school’s unwillingness to comply with disability law.

There are many non-writing aspects to EMS (video production, research, etc.) plus a lot of group projects that allow students to compose groups that can manage each students strengths and weaknesses.

Question your own parenting - not other people’s.