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Getting dyslexia evaluation for DD & feeling like DD has to be convinced
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(Needing to talk this out since I really don’t have anyone else around right now and kind of needing a little support)
After posting a question the other week about what it is called when a child changes a word after just sounding it out and reading some of the responses dyslexia was brought up. I have been reading now for the last few days about dyslexia and my DD6 hits about 85 to 90% of all the indicators. I have found a place I want to take her to for testing and evaluation, and if needed then training. Learning Technics in Boise.
My husband has been out of town for the last couple of weeks and will be out of town for a bit more. I have mentioned my concerns to him about DD6 and first he sounded almost sad, I can understand honestly I felt the same way, almost helpless at that moment for my child. When we spoke a little more today about it and trying to find a place he said,”Maybe she is just playing around.” My mommy gut says “No” something is off, I have been seeing it in her work but honestly I thought it was grade level mistakes like switching the letters, writing them backwards, switching the words just after sounding it out perfectly, familiar words like our names she gets most the time but will switch her “n” and “r” around and a hard time rhyming.
I called a few places and found out the prices, ugh! $3000 for 12 weeks of training and that doesn’t include the testing and evaluation. I told my husband about it and he said no, I understand, especially since the people didn’t really seem competent, full of information, or really wanting to spend any extra time speaking to me. But when I found the Learning Technics in Boise, I was able to speak on end with the tester/trainer. She seemed very competent and explained many aspects of the program. They take a whole brain approach rather than just a reading adjustment approach. The center wants to help retrain the parts of the brain that aren’t firing correctly for hearing and reading and language. The cost for this center is $2895, minus $300 if paid up front, and is 26 weeks. The test and evaluation is $150. I scheduled the testing for this Friday w/o talking to my husband since he was in classes and it wasn’t possible.
My mommy gut says take her, something is off. With my husband almost discounting all the indicators I think he is going to try to not have me take her. I have Auditory Processing Problem, I know what it is to have a really hard time, hearing the words right, spelling them correctly, reading with any kind of speed and trying to function day to day. I received diagnosis and training when I was 11/12 yrs and it helped me greatly. It gave me techniques to use and I used them all the way through college and I still use them today. It has never gotten easier but at least I was given ways to cope with it and make it work for me. I do not want to wait to the point that my child is ready to quit school, like me in 8th grade, because it is so frustrating and defeating. I want to give her the tools Now so they will come more naturally to her and before she recognizes she has a different way of learning.
Half of me says tell my husband and the other half says don’t tell him and give him the test results Friday evening when we pick him up. And then another part says to reschedule so that he can be there and hear the woman herself tell us about any issues together and what should be done.
Like I said I think at this point I need some support, I have no family on up my side and no friends that live near us any longer. I am feeling a little lost right now.
The title should say DH not DD, but I wasn’t able to correct it once I posted.
The center also trains the parent to teach the material so they can be the trainer for years to come.
I also question should I still get a reading program like the Susan Barton rewind and spelling program
Thoughts?
I don’t have much advice, but just wanted to say that I followed along your other thread and this one as I am also debating on testing my DD as well, but she is 8. I didn’t even know anything about dyslexia when she was 6 and wished I’d known more sooner. I am still figuring out where to do testing and the cost and whether to give our current OG reading program more time or order Barton.
Does your DH understand the struggles you went through as a child? Maybe he would be fine with getting the $150 testing and then deciding for sure to go from there? Do they test for anything other than dyslexia or APD? My understanding is that it is not uncommon for dyslexics to have other learning challanges thrown in as well and certain testing will help determine all areas to make sure the right approach can be taken after the testing to help remediate.
As for Barton, I have emailed them a couple times and Susan was quick to respond. If you are considering Barton, you have to make sure you can pass the tutor screening before you can tutor your child. If you pass that test, there is a student screening to administer to make sure your child is ready for Barton. It is not uncommon for children to need to start LiPS before Barton if they can’t hear all the sounds correctly.
Thank you for your response Bookworm4. I have read more now and seen that researchers/professionals are saying activating the whole mind doesnt help with the dyslexic part. Ahh! I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars and it not actually be working.
I haven’t really told my husband about my issues or really much anyone else because I have always Hated having people think I’m different and I rarely ever took the accommodations in school. I think I just learned to function with what I have and I have left it at that. I will have to let him know though so that he can understand my frustration and difficulties and that I can see and understand how our child acts, thinks and feels due to some of her difficulties and that I need help knowing how to help her, that would be a main one since I am going to be the teacher through this journey.
I have a daughter who struggles with dyslexia. We have tried many things. We have worked and agonized. It does affect all areas of school. But, the one thing that I wish I had done when she was 6 or even older is to just stop all reading instruction and expectations. Most children who have difficulty learning to read are right-brained. A person who is right-brained has brain development opposite of a person who is left-brained. School standards and the way of teaching are geared to a left-brained child’s developmental time frame and abilities. We expect children to learn to read between the ages of 5 and 7, but a right-brained child isn’t ready to process symbols and the art of reading until between the ages of 8 and 10 (occasionally later). I would encourage you to take a break. Do some self-education on right-brained learners and their developmental time frame. I highly suggest reading Cindy Gaddis’ book “The Right-Side of Normal.” If I had read her book sooner, our early years could’ve been so much more peaceful instead of daily rounds of torture for both my DD and myself. I haven’t personally read, but have heard recommended the book “Better Late than Early” by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Cindy Gaddis’ refers to parts of the Moore’s book and I think it would also be a good read. When my DD was younger, “Better Late than Early” was recommended to me but no one took the time to explain why. All I could think was that each year she was further and further behind. But, I was causing her to have more struggles and a hatred for school by continuing to insist that she learn something her brain wasn’t ready for. So, I didn’t read the book and kept trying different programs and reading remediation. We’ve spent countless hours and a lot of money on these programs. Now I wish I had just given it a break, let her brain develop the way she was created to be and let reading happen at a later date. My younger DD taught herself to read at age 4. Learning to read a couple years younger than her peers has not given her a current advantage or helped her to be “smarter.” Just the same, our right-brained children won’t be at a disadvantage or less intelligent to read a couple of years later. You will actually have the advantage of enjoying the younger years and enjoying learning that you won’t have if you push something she isn’t ready for. I know that stopping reading instruction for now is totally out-of-the-box and goes against everything we’ve been taught for education and the expectations we have for children. But, that is one of the benefits of homeschooling, isn’t it? We can be out-of-the-box. We can teach the child. We can let them grow and develop as they were made to be. Give her some time and she’ll learn to read and properly write her letters with ease.
Pangit- Thank you! I needed to hear that it is ok that my DD is not on level with other 6 yr olds and that it is ok we aren’t strong on the reading and writing areas. I have all but given up writing and reading right now. It is more than a struggle so we just go with her reading maybe once a day and I make it a big deal that she is reading to me and I let her take all the time and help she needs/wants. I am going to look into those books you suggested, I need to gain better understanding even though I deal with so many of the exact things.
Today my daughter told me that the words go in her head get hooked in there and she sees the pictures in her head. My DD3 is already starting to figure out letters and sounds and getting them together. DD6 is already having the heartbreak of knowing she can’t read very well at all and she sees her little sister catching up fast. DD3 has great control of objects in her hand too so her writing is happening fast. I don’t want DD6 to get discouraged by the advancement of her little sister. Any suggestions anyone?
The other day I was reading about how to help and I remember thinking oh my gosh she would do awful in regular school with the ADD and Dyslexia and the Lord opened my eyes so wide at that moment as to why He called me to homeschool our children because we can be flexible and we can make it work for us.
As for the learning centers I still don’t know if it is worth it. It is sooo expensive. we have now found a range of $3000 to almost $12,000. Is it worth it or are there plenty of ways parents can help their child cope and succeed without having to spend up to near 1/4 of our families yearly income.
I am using the Barton program with my dyslexic daughter – and we love it. My daughter can even see for herself the progress she is making. She still balks sometimes at having to “do Barton”, but it is such a great program.
Have you explained your struggles to Susan Barton? She is such a good support, and I have come to trust her implicitly when it comes to dyslexia and reading/spelling troubles.
Perhaps you could find a Barton tutor in your area to tutor your daughter for you – that is definitely more expensive than tutoring her yourself, but might be your best option.
If you can pass the tutor screening, spending the $300 on each level is SO MUCH worth your money and your time to tutor your daughter hourself.
I would encourage you to seek Susan Barton’s advice.
Best wishes!
Pangit is right on with her suggestion about waiting to teach reading. Also, I would encourage you not to rush into expensive evaluations and training, expecially if your mommy-sense is telling you not to jump into it. She is only 6, so it won’t hurt to start the process in a few months or so.
When I was at the Teach Them Diligently convention in May, I attended a couple of workshops held by Jan Bedell, who started Little Giant Steps. She is not in favor of labeling children, but she does promote brain training as opposed to simply addressing the individual learning difficulty alone. My 15yo DD has good coping skills when it comes to reading, so we were not sure exactly what was up with her until last year. I believe she has dyslexia, and it does slow her down now that she is reading high school level texts and materials.
We are planning to utilize Little Giant Steps to conquer DD’s dyslexia. It should cost us a lot less then $3000 and can be implemented at home. Here is a link to their page that addresses dyslexia: http://www.littlegiantsteps.com/dyslexia/
I hope you find what you need for you daughter and what you feel comfortable with.
Blessings,
Sue
My advice is to read “The Right Side of Normal ” and to study your child, not a reading program that you are trying to fit her into.
Pray for wisdom, and figure out how your child learns.
For example my dd7 resists reading books and readers, but she enjoys writing words and reading those. Writing is her unique path to reading. I am using Abecedarian with her for reading, but we take it slowly and don’t do it every day. She also likes Spelling You See level B because of the nursery rhymes and writing. Again, this is her unique path.
She loves audio books that have a book with them, including the Read With Me Bible.
I tried several reading programs with her until I figured her preferences out. We also use lots of games.
There are many resources for dyslexia, and some are even cost effective. I would not rush to testing and expensive programs at this point.
I bought a lot of curriculum over the years, but my children with reading struggles were on the mild side, so we were able to help them without too much cost.
Be encouraged. You have lots of time.
HSLDA has a resource page and the website Lexercise is suggested. They have a free initial screening tool you can use which should identify red flags. After the initial screening, they can do full testing online for I believe $300. They also offer live, online tutoring and the price for that is pretty affordable. There are several homeschool blogs that have reviewed their experience and they are very helpful and positive. I highly recommend checking them out. I had my daughter do the initial screening after having some similar concerns, and was very happy with the experience.
You could also check your area for Scottish Rites-they run a program that offers free and/or low cost dyslexia testing/tutoring. W have one in our area. Ours doesn’t have testing, (some do, some don’t) but they do free tutoring-even if your child hasn’t been formally tested for dyslexia.
I just looked at Lexercise, and I was wrong-their full evaluation is actually $645. They do still have the free initial test though.
Thank you all so much! What a great source of information. Retrofam- you are so right, I need to pray for wisdom and guidance from the Lord on this issue. I think my brain saw a problem and forgot to hit the brakes and talk to God about all this and ask His guidance. I am very grateful to each of you for the information you have shared with me 🙂 I don’t feel so alone right now and that there are ways to help my child learn well in ways that at right for her.
I did contact Susan Barton last night and received a response from her today, I was impressed with the quickness and information of her response. I think I will be starting with prayer before anymore steps are taken. 🙂
Hi, Renee. My youngest, 7 yo boy, has only JUST started reading in the last few weeks. The proverbial light bulb just went off. I had gone to a homeschool conference in May, specifically to hear a speaker who specializes in dyslexia and learning disorders. She had said that she does not even test until 7 years old. So, I figured since he had just had a birthday, I would give it another six months. He was even struggling with remembering recognizing individual letters, but literally, overnight, he began reading. He may still progress slowly, but what I thought my gut was saying, did in fact, change. Of course, you know your daughter best, and we need to bring things to the Lord and go with His leading, but I would agree to hold off just a little bit, especially on very costly programs just yet. I might also suggest being open with your husband, with as much as you can. It sounds like it would really be beneficial for your husband to know, to be given the blessing to be your encourager.
One of our daughters is adopted from China (she was almost 5 years old when we brought her home). We have always suspected that she had some processing issues, but things would sometimes wax and wane and morph into another issue. She has recently been diagnosed with auditory processing and she’ll be having a full speech and language eval next week. Initially, it was difficult for her when we would talk about getting diagnosed. She also has repaired cleft lip/palate and has had many surgeries, therapies and doctor appointments, all of which she has handled with strength and grace. But for some reason, a “thinking” issue (as we were calling her problems), was much more personal for her. But the more we talked about it as matter-of-fact, the better she has accepted that she would benefit from help.
No matter what the diagnosis, may the Lord bless you and strengthen you to help your daughter, while using your own experiences to come alongside her.
It can be difficult when the younger sibling catches and passes the older child in ability of a skill. It is even more difficult if that skill is made a big deal of and made to seem like something that the older child should be doing. Our younger DD is ahead in reading, math and spelling. She has memorized all her states/capitals (even the ones we haven’t studied yet). It is frustrating to our older daughter. Some things that I think help are: Don’t make a big deal about it. Remind the older child of her strengths/things she is better at. Tell her that her brain is processing things different and it is okay not to be reading yet; she is right where she should be; she will start reading when her brain is ready. Try to keep the ability to compare at a minimum (I started taking their math out of the book and putting it into a folder so it wasn’t always so obvious). Find what works for your daughter to help her grasp and remember things (ex: have her draw pictures to go with scripture verses so there is a picture to connect it to, etc).
I would hold off on the testing and diagnosis. I would give her several more years for her brain to develop before giving her a diagnosis for life. I would save the money ’cause she will probably start reading on her own with time.
The program that we have found the most helpful is Davis Dyslexia (http://davisdyslexia.com/index.html , http://www.dyslexia.com/) In the long run it is more cost effective than other programs. It has quicker results. It has an initial week working with a tutor and then working at home together with phone/email access to the tutor and follow-up visits if needed. The man who developed the program has written a book called “The Gift of Dyslexia” by Ron Davis. It is also an excellent book. Some kids have jumped multiple grade levels of reading in the initial week. Our daughter probably jumped 1.5 to 2 grade levels during that first week.
As much as I have found Davis to be helpful and if anyone needed a program would highly recommend it, I would still wait with your daughter and give her time. If I had done that with my DD, we may not have needed Davis. The continual pushing of reading and phonics before the brain is ready can cause more confusion and make a problem when there wouldn’t have been one if the child had been given time. I really wish I had known what I do now when my DD was 6!
The author of “The Right-Side of Normal” reminds us that a child has a large window of time that is accepted as normal for learning to walk. Some children learn at 9 months (occasionally before) and some are a year and a half or older. No one worries about it. It is all okay. But, when it comes to reading we aren’t so ready to let the child develop at their pace. If they haven’t learned to read by 5 or 6, we start trying to “fix” them. She also states some statistics of reading “disability” percentages when the mandatory school age was 8 versus now when it is 6 or 7. It is interesting that the amount of reading “disabilities” increased when the age was decreased. Maybe those kids just need more time?
Take your time to pray about it, do some research into right-brained learning/development and dyslexia (Share that research with your DH so he can understand what your thinking and why and so that he can support you. Also, if he understands what is going on, he will better be able to explain to you what he is thinking and why.), and then make a decision.
Blessings to you on this journey. I pray that you will have peace and confidence in your decision.
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