I am beginning this blog specifically to address the issue of children with disabilities in the public school system. My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD and Mood Disorder at the age of 5. When she reached first grade she encountered a whole new dilemma......learning to read.
As many of you know the relationship between the parents of a special need child and the public school systems can often become strained. It is a very emotional and draining process having to advocate for your child.
When my daughter was first dealing with these difficulties in reading she was already on an I.E.P for her ADHD and mood disorder. The I.E.P took over a year to get because I had to fight for that. We had a communication book in which the teacher would often write things like "Your daughter needs more practice at home." Over and over again. There were times we couldn't make it through her homework or just getting her to copy down her spelling words again and again seemed excruciating. I felt under attack by the school because we would go over the material again and again and my daughter just could not retain any of it. Her teachers (classroom and special education) were constantly emphasing the "lack of attention" she was getting "at home".
Finally I did have an emotional reaction and it got heated and I demanded that my daughter receive less homework and less spelling words so that the amount of homework was not so overwhelming. The teacher responded "It is the expectation that the parent study the spelling words and do the homework with the student".
I responded...then you come to my house and watch how long it takes to do that. I admit that I was a little defensive. My daughter could not get it. She was also writing her letters, numbers, and even entire words from right to left and backwards!
One day I picked up a copy of parenting magazine and read an article about Dyslexia. Upon reading this article I realized that my daughter had many of the symptoms!! With this new information I called the director of special education at the public school and told the school I wanted my daughter tested for Dyslexia. The school psychologist replied by saying "Dyslexia is a medical condition and the test must be given by a medical doctor. "
This absolutely infuriated me. Upon researching more about Dyslexia I learned that Dyslexia is the most common learning disability with regards to reading that there is. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me but it is estimated something like 20% of all children have Dyslexia and most are undiagnosed. I wrote a letter to the superintendent of schools were I live and asked "Why wouldn't the school be able to test for the most common learning disability there is?" I never received an answer to this.
I attempted a few times to obtain private testing for my daughter and realized the pricing for those types of tests can range from $1000-$3000 dollars!!! I almost had a heart attack.
Eventually, to make a long story short, I was able to get my daughter the testing (ironically my insurance ended up covering it). The evaluator didn't even wait to write up his answer. "In my professional opinion she is definitely displaying signs of Dyslexia". At the time of the testing she was just a few weeks shy of seven. Most doctors won't want to do a dyslexia evaluation until 2nd or 3rd grade. However, Dyslexia has tendencies that can be evident even earlier then kindergarten.
My daughter can barely read three letter words and she is halfway through first grade. She can draw, make up stories, and is super smart. Reading is just something that she does not get. She has mastered a few of the kindergarten sight words as of right now and can sometimes sound out some words to a degree, but she is far behind other first grades and reads at a early kindergarten level.
If you think that your child has any of the signs of dyslexia get an evaluation. Although not curable, with intervention, Dyslexics can learn to read if taught the correct way. Often Dyslexic children can "fake" being able to read because they are strong in their imaginations and learn to use pictures and context clues to be able to make a guess at what the words are.
As many of you know the relationship between the parents of a special need child and the public school systems can often become strained. It is a very emotional and draining process having to advocate for your child.
When my daughter was first dealing with these difficulties in reading she was already on an I.E.P for her ADHD and mood disorder. The I.E.P took over a year to get because I had to fight for that. We had a communication book in which the teacher would often write things like "Your daughter needs more practice at home." Over and over again. There were times we couldn't make it through her homework or just getting her to copy down her spelling words again and again seemed excruciating. I felt under attack by the school because we would go over the material again and again and my daughter just could not retain any of it. Her teachers (classroom and special education) were constantly emphasing the "lack of attention" she was getting "at home".
Finally I did have an emotional reaction and it got heated and I demanded that my daughter receive less homework and less spelling words so that the amount of homework was not so overwhelming. The teacher responded "It is the expectation that the parent study the spelling words and do the homework with the student".
I responded...then you come to my house and watch how long it takes to do that. I admit that I was a little defensive. My daughter could not get it. She was also writing her letters, numbers, and even entire words from right to left and backwards!
One day I picked up a copy of parenting magazine and read an article about Dyslexia. Upon reading this article I realized that my daughter had many of the symptoms!! With this new information I called the director of special education at the public school and told the school I wanted my daughter tested for Dyslexia. The school psychologist replied by saying "Dyslexia is a medical condition and the test must be given by a medical doctor. "
This absolutely infuriated me. Upon researching more about Dyslexia I learned that Dyslexia is the most common learning disability with regards to reading that there is. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me but it is estimated something like 20% of all children have Dyslexia and most are undiagnosed. I wrote a letter to the superintendent of schools were I live and asked "Why wouldn't the school be able to test for the most common learning disability there is?" I never received an answer to this.
I attempted a few times to obtain private testing for my daughter and realized the pricing for those types of tests can range from $1000-$3000 dollars!!! I almost had a heart attack.
Eventually, to make a long story short, I was able to get my daughter the testing (ironically my insurance ended up covering it). The evaluator didn't even wait to write up his answer. "In my professional opinion she is definitely displaying signs of Dyslexia". At the time of the testing she was just a few weeks shy of seven. Most doctors won't want to do a dyslexia evaluation until 2nd or 3rd grade. However, Dyslexia has tendencies that can be evident even earlier then kindergarten.
My daughter can barely read three letter words and she is halfway through first grade. She can draw, make up stories, and is super smart. Reading is just something that she does not get. She has mastered a few of the kindergarten sight words as of right now and can sometimes sound out some words to a degree, but she is far behind other first grades and reads at a early kindergarten level.
If you think that your child has any of the signs of dyslexia get an evaluation. Although not curable, with intervention, Dyslexics can learn to read if taught the correct way. Often Dyslexic children can "fake" being able to read because they are strong in their imaginations and learn to use pictures and context clues to be able to make a guess at what the words are.
