I have a 7 year old neice that I pick up from school. She is in the second grade. Her grandmother -my mother- and her dad -my brother- both have dislexia. Her dad has it worse b/c he never learned to understand why he couldn't read like others. I believe his insecurity about reading is being passed to her. She is a very smart child and she CAN read. She can sometimes pronounce words that take me a minute to figure out. She reads everyday after school for about 10 to 15 minutes, as it is part of her homework. Here lately she has totaly gone down hill. When she reads she skippes words, doesn't pronounce words out, or puts in her own words. My brother is trying to start his own business, so he doesn't have the money to pay for a tutor. I being a stay at home mom with one income, I surely can't afford it. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to help my neice keep her reading up. I really don't believe she is acting out for attention.
I honestly don't have a good answer for you, but I just wanted to give kudos to you for caring so much about this little girl! :)
My husband also has dyslexia. However, he attended The New Community School where he was taught special learning techniques to help overcome it. It's a very caring environment. The school was instituted specifically to help children with dyslexia. Many of my husband's friends went on to college earning both bachelors and masters degrees in various fields such as film production, architecture and industrial design. They are located in Richmond and I highly recommend contacting them at www.tncs.org
There address is: 4211 Hermitage Rd
Richmond, VA 23227
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A.,
Have you spoken to your brother about what you are seeing in your niece? If so, he should consult with her teachers and see if there is something that they could suggest. Teachers are great resources for things like this. If they can not help, maybe talking to her pediatrician would help. I hope this helps!
T.
It's wonderful your niece has a concerned aunt. Do you ever take turns reading to each other, to help make it more fun for her? Have you or her other relatives discussed concerns with her teacher? A lot of reading skills are new at her age, and maybe some of her errors are just common. But there is also a lot more expected once students are in second or third grade, and some learning and attentional disorders are never picked up until then. If she continues to struggle, or if the teacher shares concerns, her father could write a letter to the principal requesting she receive a multi-factored evaluation, to rule-out any learning issues. This testing, and any recommended in-class support, would be paid for by the school/state. He would have to be the one to sign the letter requesting the testing, and if it was deemed at all necessary, I believe the school would have to do so within a few months. In the meantime, sometimes there is an intervention assistance team that can brainstorm ideas for support. Good luck.
I don't know much about dislexia but I think your neice is very luck to have a caring Aunt. I would do some research on the internet I'm sure there are some "at home" things you can do to help. Being supportive and not giving up will be important. Hang in there.
Has she been tested at school? Does she get any kind of special services (IEP,etc). Have you had a conference with the teacher and/or principal explaining the situation and does the school have a reading specialist? Please let the school know that you are concerned, during the conference ask the teacher to request a child study which should allow testing. Ask about additional school services to assist or accomodations with school/homework. Follow thru as soon as possible since some of this takes time, but the teacher/principal will be aware and should provide additional help until the red-tape is complete. I am a retired ( having a dual certification in special ed. and general ed.) elementary teacher in the state of VA. Some school districts handle these issues differently, but this is pretty standard advice. Keep me posted. W
Hi Ashely, although my son didn't have dislexia, he was a big problem reader. I purchased "Hooked on Phonics" which not only develops phonic skills but advances the student to reading comprehension all the way through the 12th grade. Back in the day, they used cassette tapes (now it's on CD) and set the course to soft repetitive music. It's not a program to just plop her down to do alone or she'll lose interest. But if you do it with her, she'll enjoy it more. Reading comprehension portion is something you could easily read ahead of her to help her with answering the questions. I felt it was a great program and worth the money and even the teacher noticed improvement. I used the program on all of my kids who are now grown. However, there are all sorts of programs out there like this, a neighbor liked the Leap Frog program. Maybe other moms can recommend something they like better.
