Dyslexia, 5th grade son is in public school & has dylexia and dysgraphia?

Question

He is in pull out classes 3.5 hours every day, but he is in regular science and history (modified grading). I am told because Federal funding guidelines say if pulled out more, school would loose funding. He is dyslexic, how is he expected to do the classroom work with no frustration at grade level when he is 2 grade levels behind? No Summer school is available to him either. He is being moved to 6th grade (he was already held back once) and I'm concerned. Are there any outside help or things you have tried with success that we can be doing with him at home or in the summer? Money is a factor, the private school in our home town charges $16,000 per year, I know it is surely worth it and they are paying staff a fair wage, but we can't pay anything.

Answer 1

He definitely needs special attention and if the schools aren't going to give it to him then you as the parent needs to be the one as I'm sure you already are. I don't know what your current situation is but you might want to think about home schooling him because your the one who has his best interest at heart. Schools are great but unfortunately they are limited in what they can do.

Answer 2

He will continue with frustration in school. He needs to be learning strategies to level the playing field for him. I hope his pull-out time includes multi-disciplinary reading instruction from a person well-versed in this method. But I've got to say 90 minutes pull-out is enough for this. The longer he is out of the classroom, the more he misses there.

If he is two grade levels behind, how about extended school year (ESY)? He should qualify if he significantly loses ground over school breaks. This is addressed annually at his IEP team meeting. If you do not recall it, request a meeting before school is out for summer. Find out how this is measured at his school. You should know that even if the school provides this summer service, it does not mean daily instruction, but some type of scheduled instruction is worked out. Your son probably needs multi-disciplinary reading instruction 3 times per week for one-hour minimum, 90 minutes would be better. This would not cost you anything except the meeting time & place. (time out of your day and maybe gas to get there)

As far as classroom work frustrations now, his classroom accommodations could include extended time on tests, dictation to a scribe (for written pieces), use of word processor with spell-check and grammar check, no penalty for spelling errors except on spelling tests, modified assignments with minimized written requirements and shortened reading assignments, and a home set of textbooks.

I read aloud my son's textbooks at home through high school and occasionally read some articles during his required first two-year's of college. Reading for one-hour is as physically exhausting to dyslexic students as taking a five-mile hike. That's pretty demanding.

Your child needs to be writing in cursive so he knows where words begin and end. My son uses D'Neillian cursive letter formation. It has fewer loops and squiggles and lower case letters are taught with connector lines so letters naturally flow to the next to form words. Students don't have to think about how the letters join. Even though students read manuscript lettered words, cursive is important for your son because it helps his flow of joining sounds together to make words. Even if he has difficulty "hearing" certain sounds, he can learn to interpret them and write them using this strategy.

You might qualify for a grant to get a computer at home with read aloud capability. Check with local altruistic groups like Rotary club members, Key Club members, or the Junior Service League. Have you looked online at recordings for blind and dyslexic?

NOTE: a multi-disciplinary approach to reading includes sounding out syllable aloud, writing letters for these sounds, stringing them together to make words, and reading what is written. I have been trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach which requires no pre-packaged stuff, but SRA Reading Mastery, SRA Corrective Reading, Read 180, or Wilson Language are all multi-disciplinary and teachers must be trained.

Answer 3

He should have In Class Support (specialed teacher) in the mainstream classes to reduce the frustration.

The In Class Support teacher can modify assignments/tests or coach your son through them.

Answer 4

Changing school will not help him. As a mother if u know he is 2 grades behind i.e. u know where to start from don't  worry about the current grades.

begin from the grade 1 basics in other words start from what he knows.

gradually give him little more in a very playful way. Give him simple question to think. ( if u think he is losing interest or getting confused prompt him to think better.)

Let this go on till he reaches to the current level of knowledge.

As a mother u need to have lot of patience.  mother is the nearest and the dearest person to the child.  Constant and continuous observation is required. no doctors required to observe or guide. mother's own instinct and understanding is one thing that requires.

Note:  If not mother than father. one more important thing do not pressurise the child and do not expect too much from the child. Even if he shows little improvement do not try to get 100 % perfection . be little easy.

have patience. this will work. have patience get the victory.

Answer 5

Move somewhere else if education is that important.  Private schools and homeschooling are the bomb diggity I can attest to this.

Answer 6

The pull out is not favorable statistically.  At the IEP or request another get full inclusion.  There should be a lot of accommodations to address your son's disability.  Appropriate accommodations include at least some of the following. For Dyslexia Books on tape.  Steck-Vaughn is a publishing company that makes grade level books k-12 on lower reading levels.  For dysgraphia he should be able to scribe, use the computer, and have paper accommodations.  My son uses highlighted paper, he benefits from the visual cues. This can be purchased at http://thetherapyshoppe.com.  Also my son has a slantboard, and a weighted pencil.  He receives OT.  His reading instruction should be multi-sensory.  Multi-sensory approach I see others calling it multi disciplinary are Orton-Gillingham, the association method, Reading assist, The spaulding method, lindamood-bell, and EdMark to name a few.  Also, you could check into Irlen Lenses.  Where we are there are not screening facilities for a couple hundred miles but most people are closer to a sight than that.  Vision therapy.  I had glasses with prisms in them to make my eyes work together.  This is very tiring.  I have had it and it was only co-pays to pay.  If the school doesn't give you more of what you want go the due process route.  Where we are educational lawyers take the cases pro bono.  Also he should be able to get ESY.  (extended school year)

Answer 7

Both my daughter & I have dyslexia & dyscalculia, my daughter also has dysgraphia. We both still have problems with dyslexia but have learnt strategies to cope or manage the dyslexia, when studying.

I found out I was dyslexic when my daughter was diagnosed as having dyslexia, which explained my poor education, I was unable to read until I was about 14, I left school with out having passed form 5, because I was made to feel stupid.

With support and learning how our dyslexia affects us, we found some strategies to help manage the dyslexia, especially when in the class room and at home.

What we found help was the following;

Keeping a dictionary on hand to check words that we don't know or new words, and write them down in a note book to help remember them.

Print off a copy of the most common spelling mistakes, and frequently confused words (which get me all the time).

Spelling rules such as I before E except after C (I only learnt this a few years ago).

Homophones is handy too, as it is not unusual to confuse similar sounding words such weather/ whether. I would laminate them and keep a copy on the fridge, and his reader.

If we have to hand write anything, and unsure of how to spell a word underline it and try to find it in the dictionary.

For reading try different coloured overlays, to see if it make reading easier. My daughter has Irlens lenses which we noticed made a huge difference.

Learn the letters of the alphabet using bright coloured magnetic letters, and learn their placement in the alphabet, and their sounds and practice spelling basic words.

Teacher and classroom support using the above but also the below tips;

Write each paragraph written on the board in different colours, this makes it easier to keep if copying from the board. (some teachers are more than happy to do this, others not so willing).

Handout notes to be on coloured paper (my daughter and I both read better with cream/buff coloured paper). You will need to experiment with different colours.

A list of the most commonly misspelt words, as well as list of words that dyslexics often mix up.

Avoid making dyslexic children doing spelling tests, (this is setting the child up to fail). How I would deal with this, is have the student the write spelling words down into a note book with the meaning, which the student had found in the dictionary, they are learning what the word means, they are learning how to use a dictionary and they are seen to be working like any other child.

Have aide or willing parent help the student in the class, when it reading or spelling time.

Higher primary & high school years

Where possible use a computer to do assignments etc, ensuring we use spell check to keep spelling mistakes in check.

When given an assignment start them as soon as possible, so you do a little bit each day, rather than leave it until the last minute.

If it were not from the support of the lectures/teachers I would not have gained my qualifications, as a Youth & Disability support worker, they were supportive and would over look my mixing up similar sounding words, such as which, witch, flour, flower etc.

I think the educations system does not support students with dyslexia and Learning Disabilities, which is sad. As many of these kids are very smart, and just need to be taught in an alternative way. However it is getting better, and many more teachers are prepared to help, especially if their is parental support.

My daughter would have failed school had I not learnt as mush as possible about dyslexia and trying different strategies to help her both at home and school, and then pushed the school to do the above tips. I then utilized these tips to help myself become better educated, and I am now a qualified Youth & Disability support worker and sessional teacher, with a keen interest in teaching students with learning disabilities.

My daughter is a qualified Disability support worker, and is exceptionally good with young children.

I hope these tips help, and sorry this answer is so long.

Answer 8

Tell them to show you the policy/law in writing that states if child is pulled out more, they lose funding.

What a bunch of c**p! This is not true!

Special ed law IDEA states that a sped student must be in ALL reg ed classes when they first qualify for special ed services, with the PROPER help to help him/her suceed.

A sped child in reg ed classes is NOT suppose to do the work that the reg ed kids do. Is this what is happening?

He is suppose to be getting help from a special ed teacher IN the reg ed classroom, doing work that IS at HIS level.

If the child does not suceed in reg ed classes, THEN the child is to be moved to special ed classes.

YOu should not have to pay a dime to get outside help. You need to learn the special ed law IDEA and follow it. The school is just trying to brush you off, hoping you'll go away and not pursue making them help your child.

The best place for help is a message board called  www.schwabas.org

Answer 9

It does not sound like pulling him out for 3.5 hours a day is doing all that much good.  He probably needs more support IN the regular classroom.  The schools don't like this option because it takes more staffing, but it most often IS what the child needs.

With dyslexia and dysgraphia, your son should still be able to understand the information/concepts taught in the regular science and social studies classes.  In fact, he may be able to understand and learn the concepts in other subjects.   BUT, he should NOT be expected to DO the same reading and writing to SHOW what he knows.  He is understandably frustrated if he constantly is expected to show his knowledge in ways that are hard for him.  He should be given the reading material on tape, and tests should be given orally.  If they are heavily dependent on worksheets, he could be paired with another student who reads/writes pretty well but could use some help with the material itself.  Instead of written reports, he should be allowed to report orally or create a project that demonstrates the knowledge required.

The same kinds of things can be done in nearly any class; providing the modifications and accomodations he needs, not just slowing down his instruction or grading him easier on the same stuff.  

It sounds to me like the biggest issue is that he is not progressing, but rather is getting further behind.  That means he is not making "adequate yearly progress", which means the school needs to do something differently.    

You may want to state this at his IEP meeting.  If it has already happened, or will not be until Fall, then request an "additional meeting".  If they say he is making adequate yearly progress (say because he is not failing) then ask for an objective measure of his progress, like standardized achievement tests.  

I only have a basic knowledge of the laws and terminology you need to advocate for your son's needs.  (My son is in 5th, too)  But there is great information available online.  Do NOT wait for the school to tell you what they can do for him.  The system is not set up for that; it is set up for efficiency in terms of money and staffing time (which is limited by funding).  However, when you have documentation of his needs, and understand your/his rights, you will be better able to get his needs met.

Please check out http://www.wrightslaw.com/   (The BEST place for information to help you advocate for your son.)

and http://www.interdys.org/    (International Dyslexia Association)

There are also "Yahoo Groups" that deal specifically with special ed, dyslexia, and such.  They can be very, very helpful and supportive.

By the way, sometimes private schools are better in certain ways, but they are not always better at meeting the needs of kids who learn differently.  Sometimes they're worse; expecting everyone to learn the same way or go somewhere else.  (especially if they don't really depend on federal money)  It might be worth talking to the private schools in your area about your son's needs and about scholarships, but it won't be a magic fix.

I hope you will check out each of the links.  And, if you are even considering trying to pay for private school, you should consider a much smaller expense of having your son evaluated outside of the school.  Most of the time, that will give you and expert to come with you to IEP meetings to explain his needs.  I have done all my son's IEP/504 meetings myself (with DH and school staff, of course) until this year.  Having an "expert" present made a HUGE difference.  She said pretty much the same stuff I've been saying for years, but they didn't argue and dismiss what she said; they listened because she was the expert.  

Hang in there.  I know it's not easy, but your son is worth the effort.