My 7 Year Old Is Being Considered for Retention Because of Reading

First let me say I am sorry you are going through this and secondly that I know how you feel. My oldest has had problems since about 4th grade with a learning disablity and the only advice I can give is to fight for your child! Unless your child is in a private school there is funding for children with learning disabilities. You can check out Sylvan or Huntington for tutoring, but I would check out the website for the district your children attend and see where summer school is being offered. Also go to the Texas Education website---the state website for all Texas schools. There you will find out more information about how the schools should handle students with learning disabilities. Good luck and hang in there.

Hi A.,
My son is 7 and was retained in his 1st grade class for the same reason. The school had a reading recovery class that they had just taken away the year before which my daughter was in. It helped her tremendously.Unfortunately he was unable to receive the same help as my daughter received.He is doing much better now that he repeated.

Also,I feel like the teachers play a huge role in our kids and how quickly they will learn. In summer school my son had a teacher that was a little more strict and he did very well with her. Actually he learned quite a bit more in that short period with her than he did with his primary teacher. My best advice would be is to have him in a reading recovery class if possible. I say if he is held back it's better now than later. It'll give him the chance to be ahead of the kids in his class as well as boost his confidence. Wish you two the best of luck =)

Call The Joy School. ###-###-####
http://thejoyschool.org/

Sounds exactly like my son, except the testing (private) indicated dyslexia and dysgraphia (trouble writing) early on. He attended summer school at The Joy School last summer and learned more there in his first week than he did in all of kindergarden. He is finishing first grade there as well.

I know they have some openings in second session summer school. The school is focused on kids with learning differences. The teachers are incredible. They are located bt downtown and the med center, just off Montrose.

R. Myers

I hear your frustration. My daughter used to struggle with reading but I taught her myself how to read between lst and 2nd grade. I now homeschool because I got tired of the school district and their broken promises, the schools not doing anything. I love homeschool. I will probably homeschool her until she graduates from high school.

We also live in east Houston.

M. M. Murdoch

I am a teacher and it sounds like you need to take your son to get tested for dyslexia somewhere other than your school district. If this district is lacking in the funds I wounder how accurate their sreening process for dyslexia is. Have you expressed your concerns to your peditrician? If his reading hasn't improved all year what is thier reasoning for holding him back? Do they think he will pick up on it spending another year in 2nd. Don't worry you are doing everything you can. You are the mother and I know that you have to approve of the retention in order for it to happen. I would also ask if they offer summer school in your district. I wouldn't sign anything until after the summer so you can see if your son can catch up to the level he needs to be on. Have you had his vision checked? Just a thought. Hang in there. I will ask around about reading centers for you.

Try Neuhaus in Houston: http://www.neuhaus.org/
They do a great job of education and referrals.
Don't try to push you son to the next level if he is not ready. Learning cannot become a chore, it needs to stay 'fun'.
Also you can try Kumon Center for tutoring. They will work with your son at his level.
Also UT in the medical center does wonderful testing (much better than any school counselor would), but is is very pricey. Just an idea because your son MAY be dyslexic, or he may have another type of learning disability (for instance the way the information is retained by the brain, not the order of the letters, etc).
Good luck and patience.

A.,

I am really sorry for you and your son. It sounds as if the school isn't doing their part. Legally they aren't allowed to not provide what your son needs based on funding. Have you had other testing done besides that for dyslexia? If not, I would recommed requesting a Full Individual Evaluation (FIE). A parent can request that the school do this. You would need to contact the diagnostician on your son's campus. Since he does well in other subjects and just seems to be struggling in reading it is possible that he has a learning disability in the area of reading. If that is the case then he would qualify for help through special education or under 504 (federal law). It is possible to have a learning disability in reading that is not related to being dyslexic. I have a son who has an IQ in the gifted range but has a learning disability in written expression and is dysgraphic. I went through this with him. I knew that I needed to advocate for him so that he got the help that he needed. I requested an FIE. His teachers were suprised that I had done this since he is gifted. But, since he was failing composition and handwriting repeatedly and couldn't get thoughts down on paper, I truly felt that something wasn't right. Now, he has fallen under section 504 and is receiving the accomodations necessary to be successful. Do not give up. Hold the school accountable for his education. If he qualifies for special education or 504, they have a legal obligation to service his needs. If you need further information or help please let me know. God bless and good luck!

A.

I don't know of a summer reading program in your area but may I recommend a book that has helped my daughter? It is called "Reading Reflex" by Carmen McGuiness. Perhaps it may help you with your son. Also, you are probably doing this already, but read to him aloud at least 15 minutes a day. It helps children so much with their own reading skills. A good website for information on reading help and finding a therapist is www.readamerica.net.

I don't know of any good programs but I can tell you what we did when my oldest had a problem. Luckily our district was able to provide her with help during school hours but we augmented that with a personal tutor. The tutor was a retired teacher who gave her the one on one help she needed. Now she reads everything she can get her hands on. She is now in 8th grade and was recognized for scoring a perfect score on the reading portion of her TAKS test.

Hi A. A!

Reading your post made me FURIOUS! According Texas AND Federal law, your school MUST provide special education for your son! You may check the law here:

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products/dyshdbook2001...

Your school district has a vested interest in NOT labeling your son as dyslexic. If they have even ONE child with dyslexia in his school, by law they have to provide him with special education or loose both federal and state funding. You need to have him tested outside your school district. I can suggest one or two resources. Please be warned - it's EXPENSIVE but your child is worth it!

A., you are going to have to FIGHT for your son! I had a similar experience when my daughter was in the third grade. Her teached complained repeatedly that she was "behind in her reading". A friend of mine said "Could she have a learning disability?" The thought had never occurred to me! I took her to a local (Baytown) psychologist's office and had her tested myself. While she didn't fit into the school district's definition of dyselxia, she DEFINITELY had it (albeit, a rare form of it). The school district had a program but didn't have a teacher and didn't know when they would get one. With one other mother, we wrote letters to the school district and to the TEA (Texas Education Agency). We met with the Superintendent of the school district and demanded that they follow the law or we would file a lawsuit! They got a teacher and implemented their program within the week!

I would love to talk to you about this. I will send you a private message with my phone number.

Regards,
L.

P.S. - Take heart. The psychologist that tested my daughter told me, "You can get to San Antonio on I10 in a Corvette in three hours. You can get there in a Chevrolet in 4. In a beat-up old Yugo, you might get there in 5 hours. The "gifted" kids have Corvettes. Kids with normal intelligence have Chevrolets. Kids who have less than normal intelligence have a Yugo. Your daughter has a Corvette. She just doesn't have I10!"

First off the school system doesn't like to test until 3rd grade. That is when the brain can't remember anymore words and they Dyslexia starts shining through. You can get a referal to Texas Childrens and they can do the screening for you. Often times even if the child has been diagnoised (sp) the school system likes to do their own testing. You should know that the school districts get grant money from the state to do the testing and to put them into programs. If you are in the private school system the public school system has to test them. We went straight to the principal. I pulled him aside told him what the deal was and he said call the counselor and tell her I said to put you daughter on the list. Sometimes you have to go over the counselors head. I have lots of links I can give you and programs your child can join at reasonable costs if you would like to email me. ____@____.com I look forward to hearing from you.