Building a list- so much reading for dyslexic kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I might add in Conn College and (Hobart) and William Smith.

They are smaller - but I think might be interesting to consider.

Stats are too low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your approach is terrible and will bring nothing but frustration to you both.

As the adult who will be responsible for paying, you and your spouse need to sit down and figure out your budget including travel costs.

Then narrow down how realistically far from home you and your child want to be. Then consider culture and size of school and school location - very rural , suburban, etc , Christian school ok? schools with big greek life and small student population? etc

Use online tools to narrow down choices

Has your child had specific reading instruction for dyslexic students preferably by a private provider bc schools generally provide poor remediation. If not do that now. Also get access to audiobook services.

We realize we need a better approach which is why we are asking for help.

DD’s reading is fully remediated (identified in K and OG through 8th), but she will always be a slower and more effortful reader than her peers. She uses a full suite of tools including screen readers, audiobooks, Grammarly etc. She is now working on her foreign language requirement instead of exempting it. She anticipates having to take a foreign language in college so she sees this as good preparation. We are doing OG-style home support for the language learning.

As a military family it is really hard to know where our home will be when she starts college. Whether or not I can work is also a big unknown (depends on location). So we are relying on GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon program as more conservative funding options. We also don’t want to prematurely rule out schools which might be a great fit on money alone as we do have college savings, but she was hoping to use those for grad school.

We were hoping to build a bigger list and then narrow down with those geographic and cultural features you mentioned. That is why we spent our time in the US last summer touring different types of schools.

Frustration is nothing new to parents of kids with learning differences. I appreciate all of the helpful suggestions we’ve received so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your approach is terrible and will bring nothing but frustration to you both.

As the adult who will be responsible for paying, you and your spouse need to sit down and figure out your budget including travel costs.

Then narrow down how realistically far from home you and your child want to be. Then consider culture and size of school and school location - very rural , suburban, etc , Christian school ok? schools with big greek life and small student population? etc

Use online tools to narrow down choices

Has your child had specific reading instruction for dyslexic students preferably by a private provider bc schools generally provide poor remediation. If not do that now. Also get access to audiobook services.

We realize we need a better approach which is why we are asking for help.

DD’s reading is fully remediated (identified in K and OG through 8th), but she will always be a slower and more effortful reader than her peers. She uses a full suite of tools including screen readers, audiobooks, Grammarly etc. She is now working on her foreign language requirement instead of exempting it. She anticipates having to take a foreign language in college so she sees this as good preparation. We are doing OG-style home support for the language learning.

As a military family it is really hard to know where our home will be when she starts college. Whether or not I can work is also a big unknown (depends on location). So we are relying on GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon program as more conservative funding options. We also don’t want to prematurely rule out schools which might be a great fit on money alone as we do have college savings, but she was hoping to use those for grad school.

We were hoping to build a bigger list and then narrow down with those geographic and cultural features you mentioned. That is why we spent our time in the US last summer touring different types of schools.

Frustration is nothing new to parents of kids with learning differences. I appreciate all of the helpful suggestions we’ve received so far.

Does she an intellectual environment with good supports, or something with lower demand overall? This has always been the dilemma for our DC

[Anonymous]

^ left out “need” or “want” when sling re a certain type of environment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your approach is terrible and will bring nothing but frustration to you both.

As the adult who will be responsible for paying, you and your spouse need to sit down and figure out your budget including travel costs.

Then narrow down how realistically far from home you and your child want to be. Then consider culture and size of school and school location - very rural , suburban, etc , Christian school ok? schools with big greek life and small student population? etc

Use online tools to narrow down choices

Has your child had specific reading instruction for dyslexic students preferably by a private provider bc schools generally provide poor remediation. If not do that now. Also get access to audiobook services.

We realize we need a better approach which is why we are asking for help.

DD’s reading is fully remediated (identified in K and OG through 8th), but she will always be a slower and more effortful reader than her peers. She uses a full suite of tools including screen readers, audiobooks, Grammarly etc. She is now working on her foreign language requirement instead of exempting it. She anticipates having to take a foreign language in college so she sees this as good preparation. We are doing OG-style home support for the language learning.

As a military family it is really hard to know where our home will be when she starts college. Whether or not I can work is also a big unknown (depends on location). So we are relying on GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon program as more conservative funding options. We also don’t want to prematurely rule out schools which might be a great fit on money alone as we do have college savings, but she was hoping to use those for grad school.

We were hoping to build a bigger list and then narrow down with those geographic and cultural features you mentioned. That is why we spent our time in the US last summer touring different types of schools.

Frustration is nothing new to parents of kids with learning differences. I appreciate all of the helpful suggestions we’ve received so far.

Does she an intellectual environment with good supports, or something with lower demand overall? This has always been the dilemma for our DC

That is a really interesting question. She is 2E but also has anxiety, ADHD, and dyscalculia, so school has never been her happy place. Her performing arts interests have provided for her bright and quirky friends who don’t judge her spelling.

This is the first year she has been taking classes with the kids I would consider her more natural cohort based on intellectual capacity. She is enjoying the rich intellectual discussions and debates (based on DD and teacher feedback). She is able to hold her own in the discussions, and thrives in the presentations but timed writing activities are still challenging.

It has been fun watching her discover this part of herself. She has realized that when she feels real connection to her teachers, she is more willing to take risks in class discussions. And she has to put the work in to build the relationships with the teachers by scheduling conference times etc. That is what is behind wanting an undergrad teaching focus.

So I would say she would be best suited for a somewhat intellectual environment as long as it wasn’t aggressively competitive. I have no idea how to identify this yet, I’m hoping once we have a short list we can dig into available data and squeeze in some tours. I think an honors dorm would be a great option, but I am not sure if her stats would support that.

Of course this week, after doing a bunch of summative assessments, she just wants an easy college where she can slack off and still graduate.

[Anonymous]

Our DC’s college counselor recommend calling the offices of disabilities services at each college and inquiring about the supports. I found it surprising how much attitudes and practices vary from school to school. A deep dive into disability policies and procedures on their website is also valuable.
The school we eventually selected was more competitive than many of the others, but we found that it had well defined criteria for eligibility for an alternate pathway for foreign language. That was a feature that our dyslexic dc needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your approach is terrible and will bring nothing but frustration to you both.

As the adult who will be responsible for paying, you and your spouse need to sit down and figure out your budget including travel costs.

Then narrow down how realistically far from home you and your child want to be. Then consider culture and size of school and school location - very rural , suburban, etc , Christian school ok? schools with big greek life and small student population? etc

Use online tools to narrow down choices

Has your child had specific reading instruction for dyslexic students preferably by a private provider bc schools generally provide poor remediation. If not do that now. Also get access to audiobook services.

We realize we need a better approach which is why we are asking for help.

DD’s reading is fully remediated (identified in K and OG through 8th), but she will always be a slower and more effortful reader than her peers. She uses a full suite of tools including screen readers, audiobooks, Grammarly etc. She is now working on her foreign language requirement instead of exempting it. She anticipates having to take a foreign language in college so she sees this as good preparation. We are doing OG-style home support for the language learning.

As a military family it is really hard to know where our home will be when she starts college. Whether or not I can work is also a big unknown (depends on location). So we are relying on GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon program as more conservative funding options. We also don’t want to prematurely rule out schools which might be a great fit on money alone as we do have college savings, but she was hoping to use those for grad school.

We were hoping to build a bigger list and then narrow down with those geographic and cultural features you mentioned. That is why we spent our time in the US last summer touring different types of schools.

Frustration is nothing new to parents of kids with learning differences. I appreciate all of the helpful suggestions we’ve received so far.

Does she an intellectual environment with good supports, or something with lower demand overall? This has always been the dilemma for our DC

That is a really interesting question. She is 2E but also has anxiety, ADHD, and dyscalculia, so school has never been her happy place. Her performing arts interests have provided for her bright and quirky friends who don’t judge her spelling.

This is the first year she has been taking classes with the kids I would consider her more natural cohort based on intellectual capacity. She is enjoying the rich intellectual discussions and debates (based on DD and teacher feedback). She is able to hold her own in the discussions, and thrives in the presentations but timed writing activities are still challenging.

It has been fun watching her discover this part of herself. She has realized that when she feels real connection to her teachers, she is more willing to take risks in class discussions. And she has to put the work in to build the relationships with the teachers by scheduling conference times etc. That is what is behind wanting an undergrad teaching focus.

So I would say she would be best suited for a somewhat intellectual environment as long as it wasn’t aggressively competitive. I have no idea how to identify this yet, I’m hoping once we have a short list we can dig into available data and squeeze in some tours. I think an honors dorm would be a great option, but I am not sure if her stats would support that.

Of course this week, after doing a bunch of summative assessments, she just wants an easy college where she can slack off and still graduate.

I have to say that this really makes me think that a CTCL would be a good fit. My niece and several family friends’ kids went to McDaniel in MD. Although it’s small and rural, it provided students with free buses and tickets to activities in Baltimore and DC every weekend. Definitely has a good theater program. Open classes, so shifting around until you find your fit in major wasn’t hard. Small classes with very supportive professors. My niece was a good student but not a superstar in HS. She made Dean’s list every year because she really took advantage of academic supports and had a couple very encouraging professors. Don’t let the private school price tag fool you. She got a lot of merit aid- they have deep pockets. Also good connections to alumni in Baltimore for internships. I’ve heard similar things about Juniata.

[Anonymous]

You can use text to speach readers that read everything on the page out loud. Often used as accommodations. Might help her take in the information. Some of them take some time to get accustomed to but it might be good for her to practice with them now to help with using the tech for all the readings in university.

[Anonymous]

McDaniel is a good idea, based on some kids I know.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for sharing all of the helpful suggestions and personal experiences!

We’ve instituted a “no college talk” rule for the Thanksgiving holiday. But I am grateful I have some pretty clear strategies to pursue next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Anonymous]

Also- someone earlier in the thread said her stats were too low for Conn College. I have a lower GPA senior and our independent college counselor encouraged us to apply. A 3.8 as a junior who did a part of their HS abroad is a very interesting student for many schools to consider.
Please do not get hung up on GPA - telling the story of the journey is as important as the #s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for sharing all of the helpful suggestions and personal experiences!

We’ve instituted a “no college talk” rule for the Thanksgiving holiday. But I am grateful I have some pretty clear strategies to pursue next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love that! I think our house might adopt the same!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also- someone earlier in the thread said her stats were too low for Conn College. I have a lower GPA senior and our independent college counselor encouraged us to apply. A 3.8 as a junior who did a part of their HS abroad is a very interesting student for many schools to consider.
Please do not get hung up on GPA - telling the story of the journey is as important as the #s.

Not many people submit test scores to Conn. I had extensive discussions with them about LD support last year and it sounded good but rigorous. For example, they assign students to a weekly meeting with a professional support person to help them stay on track rather than giving extensions to LD students. They don’t say it, but I am guessing they have a fair number of very bright students with LD. Just be aware that it has an intellectual vibe and is a serious school in spite of being a very supportive environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also- someone earlier in the thread said her stats were too low for Conn College. I have a lower GPA senior and our independent college counselor encouraged us to apply. A 3.8 as a junior who did a part of their HS abroad is a very interesting student for many schools to consider.
Please do not get hung up on GPA - telling the story of the journey is as important as the #s.

Not many people submit test scores to Conn. I had extensive discussions with them about LD support last year and it sounded good but rigorous. For example, they assign students to a weekly meeting with a professional support person to help them stay on track rather than giving extensions to LD students. They don’t say it, but I am guessing they have a fair number of very bright students with LD. Just be aware that it has an intellectual vibe and is a serious school in spite of being a very supportive environment.

This is great to know! DD does best with a weekly check in for her academic plan and then she uses body doubling/ accountability partner with friends to study. I have been wondering how she could use those tools at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also- someone earlier in the thread said her stats were too low for Conn College. I have a lower GPA senior and our independent college counselor encouraged us to apply. A 3.8 as a junior who did a part of their HS abroad is a very interesting student for many schools to consider.
Please do not get hung up on GPA - telling the story of the journey is as important as the #s.

Not many people submit test scores to Conn. I had extensive discussions with them about LD support last year and it sounded good but rigorous. For example, they assign students to a weekly meeting with a professional support person to help them stay on track rather than giving extensions to LD students. They don’t say it, but I am guessing they have a fair number of very bright students with LD. Just be aware that it has an intellectual vibe and is a serious school in spite of being a very supportive environment.

This is great to know! DD does best with a weekly check in for her academic plan and then she uses body doubling/ accountability partner with friends to study. I have been wondering how she could use those tools at school.

Caviat: This was last year. Of course you would want to talk to the disability office yourself to confirm that they have the same this year and it would meet your DCs needs.