surviving third grade with dyslexia

[Anonymous]

DD has significant difficulty reading and we have long suspected she is at least mildly dyslexic. In the past her teachers have all worked to bring her up to grade level with her classmates, and she has managed to float at or near grade level. We work with her every night and try to employ word decoding strategies and other techniques, and she really is making progress, but probably not enough to make her ready for the read-to-learn shift that comes with third grade. As a parent I'm nervous that the read-to-learn setting is going to set her up for failure. Socially, being left behind this year would be a nightmare. I would be interested in hearing from other parents who have faced this and what strategies they used to power through (or, I guess, when the reality check set in that powering through wasn't realistic).

[Anonymous]

Does she have an IEP?

Is she working with a tutor outside of school?

[Anonymous]

I recommend a tutor - just a little boost will instill confidence at school -- and one one one tutoring really makes for faster improvement than school.

[Anonymous]

DS is in 4th grade and has severe dyslexia, ASD, and ADHD. I worked with him at home for a while and we started an outside tutor at the beginning of the summer. Last year, after I'd worked with him for most of the year, he started picking up non-fiction books in his interest area. A lot of fact books or non-fiction books for young readers have small sections and blurbs with lots of pictures. It's a lot less intimidating than facing a page full of text, so DS spent a lot more time actually reading and practicing his decoding skills.

DS is pretty sensitive about his disability. We are very open and matter of fact with him about it and very adamant that it doesn't make him stupid, but he still struggles with self-esteem. The thing is, he has a mind like a trap for all kinds of facts so in science and social studies he's way ahead of other kids. We try to provide him other avenues to practice independence and build his self-esteem but it is a struggle for him.

If you have an IEP, I would push for your DD not to be called on to read aloud in a group setting. For homework that is not specifically for building her reading skills, I would read it to her or assist her in decoding. For example, if she has a short paragraph that she's supposed to read and answer questions about, I view it as a comprehension exercise, not a reading exercise. DS already does a LOT of work outside of school on learning to read, so I have no compunction about reading the paragraph to him so long as he answers on his own.

We also continue to read to DS every evening at his cognitive level and get audiobooks from the library so he can also learn to track character and plot development and think critically about information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is in 4th grade and has severe dyslexia, ASD, and ADHD. I worked with him at home for a while and we started an outside tutor at the beginning of the summer. Last year, after I'd worked with him for most of the year, he started picking up non-fiction books in his interest area. A lot of fact books or non-fiction books for young readers have small sections and blurbs with lots of pictures. It's a lot less intimidating than facing a page full of text, so DS spent a lot more time actually reading and practicing his decoding skills.

DS is pretty sensitive about his disability. We are very open and matter of fact with him about it and very adamant that it doesn't make him stupid, but he still struggles with self-esteem. The thing is, he has a mind like a trap for all kinds of facts so in science and social studies he's way ahead of other kids. We try to provide him other avenues to practice independence and build his self-esteem but it is a struggle for him.

If you have an IEP, I would push for your DD not to be called on to read aloud in a group setting. For homework that is not specifically for building her reading skills, I would read it to her or assist her in decoding. For example, if she has a short paragraph that she's supposed to read and answer questions about, I view it as a comprehension exercise, not a reading exercise. DS already does a LOT of work outside of school on learning to read, so I have no compunction about reading the paragraph to him so long as he answers on his own.

We also continue to read to DS every evening at his cognitive level and get audiobooks from the library so he can also learn to track character and plot development and think critically about information.

How did you go about finding a tutor, and does the tutoring integrate work coming home from school or is it just 100% focusing on reading strategies?

[Anonymous]

Have her evaluated, request it from the school first.

[Anonymous]

Have you had any testing?

[Anonymous]

If she's at or near grade level, it's probably not dyslexia. You should really get her tested if you are concerned -- there's so many things that could be going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she's at or near grade level, it's probably not dyslexia. You should really get her tested if you are concerned -- there's so many things that could be going on.

I agree OP should have her daughter tested. It's actually not true that kids who are at grade level probably aren't dyslexic - a kid's other strengths and smarts can often mask the weaknesses, and so their dyslexia doesn't show up until later (like in 3rd grade). Its true that a profoundly dyslexic kid is unlikely to be able to compensate and stay on grade level that long, but its totally possible for mild or moderate dyslexia to stay hidden by other strengths. My son is a master at listening to other kids describe plot points in a book first in a group discussion, then make some insightful comment that ties it all together and his teacher things he actually, you know, understood the book. Or he'll be able to understand enough of a sentence or page to guess at the rest, using context to make extrapolations. Cool, useful skills...but he's pretty darn dyslexic still.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she's at or near grade level, it's probably not dyslexia. You should really get her tested if you are concerned -- there's so many things that could be going on.

I agree OP should have her daughter tested. It's actually not true that kids who are at grade level probably aren't dyslexic - a kid's other strengths and smarts can often mask the weaknesses, and so their dyslexia doesn't show up until later (like in 3rd grade). Its true that a profoundly dyslexic kid is unlikely to be able to compensate and stay on grade level that long, but its totally possible for mild or moderate dyslexia to stay hidden by other strengths. My son is a master at listening to other kids describe plot points in a book first in a group discussion, then make some insightful comment that ties it all together and his teacher things he actually, you know, understood the book. Or he'll be able to understand enough of a sentence or page to guess at the rest, using context to make extrapolations. Cool, useful skills...but he's pretty darn dyslexic still.

This is 10:42. A big clue with DS was he would substitute words that were spelled completely different but were appropriate in the context of the sentence. Think 'Earth' instead of 'planet' or 'dog' instead of 'puppy'. He's gotten so used to guessing and looking to an adult for confirmation that his tutor has to keep directing him towards looking at the sentence instead of at her.

To answer PPs question ... we found the tutor through a DDVA meeting. She is not a homework tutor but works with him on reading, writing, and spelling. She's did a lot of initial work on getting his letter formation to a point where he's very legible. They're working on that still a little bit every session, but now they're mostly working on vowel teams and silent letters. DS is in a self-contained classroom for 70% of the day, including language arts, and the teacher is very accommodating in regards to homework. We have spelling words come home every week for review and one other worksheet, so it's really manageable right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she's at or near grade level, it's probably not dyslexia. You should really get her tested if you are concerned -- there's so many things that could be going on.

I agree OP should have her daughter tested. It's actually not true that kids who are at grade level probably aren't dyslexic - a kid's other strengths and smarts can often mask the weaknesses, and so their dyslexia doesn't show up until later (like in 3rd grade). Its true that a profoundly dyslexic kid is unlikely to be able to compensate and stay on grade level that long, but its totally possible for mild or moderate dyslexia to stay hidden by other strengths. My son is a master at listening to other kids describe plot points in a book first in a group discussion, then make some insightful comment that ties it all together and his teacher things he actually, you know, understood the book. Or he'll be able to understand enough of a sentence or page to guess at the rest, using context to make extrapolations. Cool, useful skills...but he's pretty darn dyslexic still.

This is 10:42. A big clue with DS was he would substitute words that were spelled completely different but were appropriate in the context of the sentence. Think 'Earth' instead of 'planet' or 'dog' instead of 'puppy'. He's gotten so used to guessing and looking to an adult for confirmation that his tutor has to keep directing him towards looking at the sentence instead of at her.

To answer PPs question ... we found the tutor through a DDVA meeting. She is not a homework tutor but works with him on reading, writing, and spelling. She's did a lot of initial work on getting his letter formation to a point where he's very legible. They're working on that still a little bit every session, but now they're mostly working on vowel teams and silent letters. DS is in a self-contained classroom for 70% of the day, including language arts, and the teacher is very accommodating in regards to homework. We have spelling words come home every week for review and one other worksheet, so it's really manageable right now.

But why no testing? The best way to find out what is going on is to get him tested.

[Anonymous]

OP here - the answer to the question of why we haven't done testing: (1) because she ultimately met her benchmarks, the school strongly steered us away from testing (to the extent they would have done the testing); (2) the private testing is very expensive; and (3) denial / fear of stigmatizing her with a diagnosis and somehow inviting a clinical dynamic into something that just needs a little more focus at home. That's the honest answer. I recognize it's not an awesome answer and we're obviously avoiding some difficult realities, but there you have it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she's at or near grade level, it's probably not dyslexia. You should really get her tested if you are concerned -- there's so many things that could be going on.

This isn't true at all. I know a boy who was at or just slightly below grade level through third grade due to consistent, hard work from family, and an incredible work ethic from child. Also child is obviously very bright. Finally tested in third grade and he is profoundly dyslexic. School discouraged testing for years. So much time wasted that he will never get back!

Also, I have two kids who are mildly dyslexic (along with other issues) and have always tested above grade level by the school. One has always tested as high as the testing goes for the grade above him. When he undergoes more sophisticated testing though, huge discrepancies in his reading abilities show that there is a very severe underlying language-based learning difference. For him, it affects his writing much more than reading but, the older he gets, the more I have started to notice that it is affecting comprehension.

OP, please do your child a favor and talk to people who really know about learning differences. It is shocking how little the schools/teachers know. If i were you I would get child a psycho-educational evaluation with a good provider. You can also call the wonderfully helpful people at ASDEC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - the answer to the question of why we haven't done testing: (1) because she ultimately met her benchmarks, the school strongly steered us away from testing (to the extent they would have done the testing); (2) the private testing is very expensive; and (3) denial / fear of stigmatizing her with a diagnosis and somehow inviting a clinical dynamic into something that just needs a little more focus at home. That's the honest answer. I recognize it's not an awesome answer and we're obviously avoiding some difficult realities, but there you have it.

Testing is expensive. However, it's worth it to find out what is going on. You are right, the school is not going to test because your child is at grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - the answer to the question of why we haven't done testing: (1) because she ultimately met her benchmarks, the school strongly steered us away from testing (to the extent they would have done the testing); (2) the private testing is very expensive; and (3) denial / fear of stigmatizing her with a diagnosis and somehow inviting a clinical dynamic into something that just needs a little more focus at home. That's the honest answer. I recognize it's not an awesome answer and we're obviously avoiding some difficult realities, but there you have it.

Testing is expensive. However, it's worth it to find out what is going on. You are right, the school is not going to test because your child is at grade level.

Request testing through your local public school. Refer to Wrights Law website on initiating the IEP process.

You can find appropriate tutoring through SLPs who've been trained in specific programs that are evidence based like Orton Gillingham, Wilson, Linda mood bell etc. SN schools that specialize in dyslexia like Sienna, Lab, Commonwealth, Kingsbury offer tutoring, assessments, and summer programs.