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[quote=Anonymous]My DC went to Siena in ES.  We pulled him at MS because he had an opportunity to go to a MCPS MS magnet in his area of interest.  He has a language processing disorder (not technically dyslexia, but reading disorder NOS was diagnosed), but he also had ADHD, so being at a school that was structured to allow him to go deeper into things was helpful to the ADHD side of him, but MCPS sucks at language special instruction and dyslexia (which is why we placed him at Siena in  ES) although in recent years they are trying to do more but I think it might not reach the high school level yet.  Check with MoCo Decoding Dyslexia for more comparative experiences in MCPS.

My DC clearly learned to read at Siena, but what I didn't realize when I pulled him at the end of ES was that there is a lot of upper level reading, grammar and writing instruction that is still happening in MS and HS that he probably needed.  He can decode, but he doesn't love to read and basically won't do it, which was a disaster in HS.  I don't think that was Siena's fault, and more homework wouldn't have helped.  There are also some kids whose dyslexia is such that they will never become fluent readers because it just takes so much cognitive energy.  These students really have to learn how to use accommodations to get through written material.

The magnet program clearly benefited DC in terms of math and science - but for that, he would have gotten depressed and failed out much earlier.  Our experience in MCPS was terrible in terms of IEP compliance, both in MS and HS. Every year there were teachers who were non-compliant and IEP teams that made illegal decisions.  Things got better when I indicated that I would take legal action and documented in writing each failure to provide accommodations.  Curiously, my kid initially didn't want me to do it, but once he saw that I viewed the failure to accommodate disability as the serious civil rights violation that it is, he actually started using his extra time.

In MCPS, there is a team called HIAT - High Incidence Assisted Technology - you should call an IEP meeting ASAP to capture the difficulty that your DD is having and insist that HIAT participate to assist the school team (technically they only assist the school team) in exploring what kinds of assistive technology your DD should have.  Ask for this:

1) qualified for Bookshare so she can have all books and textbooks on audio.  The readers are getting better.

2) Once you are qualified for Bookshare, you can also purchase Learning Ally for about $150.  This gives her access to lots of books by audio with good reading voices.

3) Copies of class notes for all classes -- this means BOTH access to  the teacher copy of any whiteboard presentation which she can then download and access for review at home, PLUS permission to use her iPhone or iPad to take pictures of whiteboards in class and use a note taking device like Notability which records the lecture and transcribes and allows her to take notes of some sort which she can then tap to hear what was being said later.   (BTW, there is no expectation of privacy in a public school classroom, so recording the classroom is not forbidden from a privacy perspective, especially if DC keeps the recording and transcript private for her own use for studying.)

4) extra time -- minimum 50% and if her dyslexia is severe 100%

5) ability to reschedule deadlines - because if you have 50% time on everything, then by definition you cannot meet all deadlines.

6) access to computer to write everything, predictive spellers, writing organizers and speech to text and text to speech.

Along with the above, HIAT can be scheduled to give her "special instruction" in how to use the technology effectively.

Do not let the school tell you any of this is not possible.  My DC had all of the above as accommodations and used it all at various times but not all at once every day. HS was seriously depressing for us all - still lots of teachers who were very negative and discriminatory.  Some good ones though.  He made it through HS, but grades were not great.  He did get accepted to college, where he struggled the 2nd year, but ultimately made it through (despite some Ds) and then found something he loved which didn't require tons of reading and paper-writing.  He is doing very well and is on track to graduate and has excellent work experience that will carry him in to a stable career (knock on wood).

All that is a long way of saying - get tough with the school, hang in there, and be positive and encourage your kid.  She doesn't have to have straight As to go to college.  9th and even 10th grade can be for focusing on learning how to use the tools that will help her learn.  Abbreviate her schedule if necessary so she can do tutoring (and therapy if she is becoming anxious or depressed).  Try to allow her to focus on classes and subjects she gets some enjoyment out of, i.e. don't force foreign languages longer than the minimum or find some alternatives like sign language. Focus on helping her learn in whatever way she can about stuff that she is truly interested in even if it is outside school.

We had a educational advocate who said early - when we were considering the math and science magnet - that parents are really focused on remediation, but that what carries a kid through life is supporting them in the things they love and are good at. It turned out to be very true for us.

And, before I get flamed, I've mentioned the magnet here.  I know not everyone has that opportunity, but I am also a tutor and have seen all kinds of kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia, and what I said holds true whatever level your kid is at -- focus on getting through not on being perfect and use as many accommodations as she needs to learn as much as she can in whatever way she can. [/quote]

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