Reply to New Dyslexia Diagnosis - any advice welcome

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My son was diagnosed at age 6, had an IEP, and I had to pull him out at the beginning of third grade because he was still reading at the beginning of a kindergarten level. My mother and I taught him at home and he's now reading where he should be, so I sent him back to public this year, where they allowed him to skip a grade. We worked very closely with him at home because while he was in early elementary, I could not keep up at night enough to help him with what he was not being taught during the day. My advice is to watch closely and make sure that your child isn't slipping through the cracks. My husband is dyslexic, but he just retired from law enforcement. My son uses him as a role model, because he realizes that he can be anything that he wants to be. Someone just has to care enough to work closely with them. [/quote]

My son is now in third grade and I am at the point that I am seriously thinking that I need to pull him out to homeschool him in reading, spelling, and writing intensely for a year. I thought I really wanted my son in special education thinking naively that they would help and it has ended up being far worse than if he never got in. Last year he was lumped in with all the special education students (students with dyslexia, autism, intellectual disabilty, adhd, speech issues)  in one general education classroom with a part time special ed teacher and full time aide. The teacher and aide just dealt with behavior problems and rarely got around to teaching reading. The did a great deal of patting themselves on their back about - Inclusion works!  Isn't it great!  I requested in writing a pull out reading program but then during the IEP meeting the special education teacher couldn't adequately explain how she would teach reading or what curriculum she would use. I respectfully said that I know they don't have to include the methodology in the IEP but it would be helpful for me to get a sense of where to supplement. I realized the only option to get adequate help would be for him to stagnate for a couple of years, hire a lawyer and sue for a private placement. However, I don't want my child to not learn and we don't have money for a lawyer. At that meeting I told the team to exit him from special ed and to put him in  504 plan and the following year do not place him in the inclusion class. This year his teacher is so much better than last year, there aren't major behavior problems in the classroom, and he gets more help because he gets help from a general education reading specialist.

That being said, he is not on grade level in reading yet, despite having a very high verbal IQ. I bought the Wilson reading system and have been using it at home. It works but it takes an hour or more a day to complete one lesson. We made a lot of progress in the summer because he was not tired from the school day. I think if I could work with him intensely for a year he would really take off. So OP if you can throw money at the problem and hire an OG tutor, or buy Wilson or Barton reading, or send him to Linda Mood Bell ($10,000), the sooner you do it the better.  If not the gap just gets wider.  The other thing that helps is that I read books to him for 30 to 45  minutes a day above his reading level - so around 5th to 6th grade so he hears the vocabulary and longer sentence structure.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but realistically don't expect much from the most public schools.  [/quote]

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