Any mom's with dyslexic children out there?

Cathy - posted on 04/03/2013

My 7 year old son was officially diagnosed with Dyslexia last month. I felt the same way about Sylvan...spent hundred's of dollars there. I had two different doctors tell me he needed specialized training....I pulled him out of Public School for the remaining of the year to get him started on the Barton Program via a certified Barton tutor. He struggled way too much in class even though he had special services daily come into the classroom for him. The hardest part for him is knowing he's lacked the skills the other kids had and the other kids knew it. I plan to put him in a Private School that offers the Barton Program....but i know he will always struggle and i've read it's never really cured. I've also read to Homeschool....it's a lot to deal with alone...his dad died when he was 1...There's a great website called Brainpop jr....it's like a virtual text book with animated cartoons for every subject. There is a lot of info out there for all of us.

Siobhan - posted on 09/17/2012

My 8 year old son was diagnosed with Dyslexia a few months ago at the end of grade 3.

He is now just starting grade 4 and will be 9 next month. I am hoping for any feedback and resources from other parents.

I will be meeting with both his teacher and resouce teacher to go over his IPP next month and find out what I can do at home to help. What I do hear a lot of is read with him, make it fun, which I agree with but I also think I need to do more than that.

He has also being in a reading program at Sylvan learning and I question why, within the past year nobody there questioned if he was Dyslexic. I now need to decide if I should continue with this or try find something else that may be better suited for him. A program perhaps that is geared strickly to Dyslexia.

I am in the process of reading Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz and also They Dyslexia Checklit by Sandra Rief and Judith Stern which are both very helpful so far.

My son is extremely bright, Left handed and I believe either lazy or scared of what is going on. Also had speech problems- phonological articulation disorder which we have overcome through speech therapy.

Please HELP ME with any information or advice. I am a bit lost to be honest and of course worried about my son. Thanks

Julie - posted on 03/28/2009

I have 2 sons with dylexia, it takes a lot of time and energy, be encouraging but firm, praise also helps when they are feeling low, little bit of praise goes along way, they can find a away around it, through trial and error. Speak to your schools SENCO (special needs co-ordinator) they should be able to come up with strategies to help your child.

Hope that is of some help.

Julia - posted on 03/28/2009

There is a GREAT website made for Bill Cosby's son Ennis....Hello Friends.  great info for teachers, parents, etc.  They have great practical ideas--little things like using shaving creme on a tv tray to practice spelling words.....not only allowing them to "feel" the letters, but a lot more fun than writing them (dysgraphia was also a challenge for my daughter so writing was horrible)

My amazing daugher is 17 and about to graduate from high school.   I fought early for an IEP for her, and the outcome has been amazing.   The biggest struggle has been that she has never tested below grade level, so technically shouldn't have IEP services.   Turns out,  the TEAM can approve an IEP, even if the scores don't justify the services.  I wanted the IEP for the accommodations (extra time on testing, can't fail classes unless everything possible has been done to ensure she had support, quiet area for testing, etc)

I like the Gift of Dyslexia book because it focuses on what I think is the key to success for these children--their self esteem.  Since Hailie was very little we have always had a "favorite dyslexic" for everything..... When you have heroes like Walt Disney, Einstein, Edison, Charles Schwaab, Nolan Ryan,  etc. you can find someone as a role model in every area. 

http://www.dyslexia.com/qafame.htm has a great list!!! 

The other key factor for us was finding something she was good at.  She didn't like sports (too much shouting), so she took up dance & horseback riding.  Not without it challenges but you become creative.  For example when she had to learn riding patterns we would mark them in the dirt of the arena before she tried to execute them.  She couldn't visualize a figure 8, but once she saw it she would remember it. 

As a note, her favorite activity is reading & acting.  She has come through her teen years relatively unscathed (lol) and is going to college in the fall for acting.   She defies every stereotype out there of a child with her "disability" and I find she has educated a lot of her teachers throughout the years.  Dyslexia is very misunderstood in the educational system, and the school systems seem to do whatever they can to NOT acknowledge it.  (our special systems coordinator for the school district told me there were no other children in our district with an IEP for dyslexia....)

Early recognition, creativity, and a sense of humor all make the process easier.  Feel free to contact me with any questions that I might be able to help with.... and always remind them that most dyslexics have an above average IQ and a brilliant mind for "working around" their challenge.  

Autumn - posted on 03/25/2009

We suspect that my nephew may be dyslexic. He can recognize his written name, but writes it entirely upside down. He's 5 years old. His mom is concerned that he had difficulty naming a letter when it's shown to him (like A or B or C...) she thinks he's not 'seeing' them properly. I hope he doesn't have to wait til age 7 or grade 1 to get tested! He's in pre-K right now and is going to get speech therapy (some pronounced difficulty pronouncing words (yike instead of like, and more)

Alicia - posted on 03/24/2009

I have a lot of great books to tell you about and some websites that should answer a lot of questions.  I recommend "The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald Davis, Right Brained Child in a Left Brain World by Jeffery Freed.  These are great resources and the website that answered the most questions for me was www.diannecraft.com she has some materials and suggestions that I use in helping my daughter with reading and writing.  You can send me a message if you have any questions.  My daughter is 11 and was diagnosed at the age of 8.  Good luck and God Bless!!!

Alicia - posted on 03/24/2009

I have a lot of great books to tell you about and some websites that should answer a lot of questions.  I recommend "The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald Davis, Right Brained Child in a Left Brain World by Jeffery Freed.  These are great resources and the website that answered the most questions for me was www.diannecraft.com she has some materials and suggestions that I use in helping my daughter with reading and writing.  You can send me a message if you have any questions.  My daughter is 11 and was diagnosed at the age of 8.  Good luck and God Bless!!!

Alicia - posted on 03/24/2009

I have a lot of great books to tell you about and some websites that should answer a lot of questions.  I recommend "The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald Davis, Right Brained Child in a Left Brain World by Jeffery Freed.  These are great resources and the website that answered the most questions for me was www.diannecraft.com she has some materials and suggestions that I use in helping my daughter with reading and writing.  You can send me a message if you have any questions.  My daughter is 11 and was diagnosed at the age of 8.  Good luck and God Bless!!!

Darcie - posted on 03/23/2009

one of our children wrote perfectly mirror image until the end of grade one. with help from her class room teacher she self corrected, she to was left handed.
i have heard of a book called 'the gift of Dyslexia", it might be worth looking into.
As far as self esteem goes, that is the most important part to focus on. Who is this little person??what is special about him??what are his likes??gifts??what does he do well???

Beth - posted on 03/23/2009

Quoting Anita:

my 9 year old daughter is so bad, she not only writes backwards,  she writes from right to left and often times I find her turning her paper upside down and writing.  I homeschool my children so I work with her one on one at a pace for her, the other difficult thing is she is LEFT handed

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My son does almost the exact same things as your daughter.  Luckily he's right handed.  I don't have the luxury of homeschooling my children unfortunately, and the school wants me to medicate him for ADD.  I think that's ridiculous.  He's not ADD, he just can't quite keep up with the other kids.

Anita - posted on 03/23/2009

my 9 year old daughter is so bad, she not only writes backwards,  she writes from right to left and often times I find her turning her paper upside down and writing.  I homeschool my children so I work with her one on one at a pace for her, the other difficult thing is she is LEFT handed

Gail - posted on 03/23/2009

i have a 14 year old who is dislexic we have to put time in to him with his reading writing and home work to help him its hard but wqe have to be there for him