Reply to 2nd grade son refusing help from special ed staff (dyslexia)

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "2nd grade son refusing help from special ed staff (dyslexia)"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If the existing reading interventions are not working well -- ask your school to order an updated educational assessment and assistive technology (AT)assessment.  With AT think - books being read aloud to child on a small laptop or an iPad.  AT supports are very powerful and I see so much benefit in the classroom!!![/quote]

Are you a teacher?

I am a big supporter of AT, but I am NOT a supporter of AT being used to fix an instructional problem.  I am in MCPS, and all too often I see teachers insist on applying their own version of "specialized instruction" for struggling readers.  This version is usually NOT a specific program, NOT systematic, NOT explicit enough and NOT research-proven.  It is usually merely general education provided more intensively with more supports and lower expectations.

Struggling readers who are dyslexic need (and have a legal right to) research-proven instruction in reading like OG, Phonographix, Wilson, etc.  All too often, I see IEP teams fail to provide research-proven instruction, and when the child does not progress, the teachers assume something is wrong with the child (or the parent, for having expectations that are "too high").  Then the IEP team just provides AT as a substitute, with the result that the child never actually learns to read because they never actually got the right kind of instruction, i.e. instruction "appropriate" to the student's neuropsychological needs/profile.

AT is good to allow struggling readers to access on grade level material so that the struggling reader doesn't fall behind peers in terms of access to and acquisition of new substantive knowledge.  An example here would be giving an audiobook of To Kill a Mockingbird to a HS child to make it easier and more efficient for that HS child to keep up with the class reading/discussion in English.  AT is also good to allow kids to enjoy reading of all kinds at their intellectual level when their reading level doesn't match their intellectual ability level.  An example would be a bright 4th grader who reads on a 2nd grade level which is not high enough to allow him to enjoyably read the Harry Potter series that his peers love.

AT is also good to provide modeling in fluency and decoding when human assistance isn't available or when the assistance needed is minor and sporadic.  A kid who uses an audiobook with a natural voice reader is hearing good fluency to model.  A kid who is largely able to read a book but just needs help every few pages or so on decoding a new vocabulary word is getting assistance where he/she might not otherwise.

But, AT is NOT a substitute for intensive, explicit, appropriate instruction.

Here is an analogy -- your child is born with a congenital leg problem which makes it difficult to walk.  With a lot of instruction/therapy, the child can strengthen muscles and walk.  It's critical to the child's development and life opportunities and access to be able to walk to some degree.  Assistive technology, like a wheelchair or crutches might be necessary if the child has to do a lot of walking which would make them so tired that that effort could be better used elsewhere.  But, it would be criminal if a school system or a doctor said, "I will not give you the instruction/therapy that will help you walk, because you can just use a wheelchair all the time instead."

That example explains how I often see AT used in the classroom, because it is easier and cheaper for the teacher and the system to use AT than to provide appropriate instruction.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics