Seeking Dyslexia Support Group in Collin County/N. Dallas Area

My 14-year-old daughter is dyslexic, ADHD and has several other learning differences. She has been attending Shelton School(Hillcrest & Arapaho)since kindergarten. I can't say enough about the place. They offer tons of parent education and support. The other parents also form a fabulous support system as their children all have the same issues. It is the oldest & largest school for learning differences in the country and other educators come from all over for training. I highly recommend checking it out. www.shelton.org Best to you!

I don't have a recommendation, but I wanted to give you some words of encouragement from a personal experience point of view. My 17 yr old grandson was diagnosed with mild dyslexia when he was 7. He had gone to private kindergarten and first grade and was very smart we knew. He did not learn to read, even though his first grade class had only 6 students. When he transferred to Round Rock schools, his birthday was 9/14 and he was not 7 till then. RR said he had to go into first grade again. Family upset; however that was a blessing. His first grade teacher suspected dyslexia early on, but waited a couple semesters before referring him. The last 6 weeks of school a dyslexia specialist worked with him and 6 weeks in the summer. In the fall, she dismissed him at the end of 6 weeks. He has been reading constantly ever since. Hard stuff. He is in Advanced Placement classes in high school and doing great in all but English and does OK in there.

Google (or use a new search engine www.cuil.com) dyslexia support groups North Dallas and I'm sure you will find one. As for school, fight for 504 designation. If you had him privately tested and got the formal diagnosis, ask for an appointment with the teacher and principal and tell them what you want. The 504 protects him and he can get immediate help and support (such as being able to tape lectures, or have a computer in class) whenever he needs it without going through a whole "thing" every time he needs extra support all throughout school. My grandson has it and so far hasn't needed it. I'm surprised at PISD. They are usually an excellent system to deal with, but hang in there. It may be you have to become a squeaky wheel. God bless you and your family.

Just thought of this: when you put him back in public school, the system should provide a dyslexia specialist. Be sure the person is really trained specifically in dyslexia remediation, not just a general special ed teacher. However, as one person suggested, if you have the financial resources, you may want to hire someone privately. I affirm you for doing it now, so that he doesn't have to struggle with the language arts aspect of his education every day. The teachers knew my grandson was very intelligent because he talked constantly and was very knowledgeable, but he couln't read nor write well. As a child he watched Learning Channel and Discovery Channel constantly, so knew a lot of stuff. Good luck.

Hi A.,
I, too have a dyslexic daughter who was diagnosed too late in my opinion, 3rd grade. Alot of frustration with public school and we now are in private school as well. There are not alot of support groups in the area except for a large one in Plano based out of PISD, there is another in Dallas. I have most of my support thru my daughters tutor and Occupational therapist. I sense that you feel there is more of an urgency than the response you are getting in return, I get the "oh yea she is dyslexic, no big deal there are alot of people who are" answer and that is frustrating to me because dyslexia is nothing more than a word that is an unbrella for many other diagnosis. If you would like to chat further please email me at ____@____.com. I have alot of resources as now my daughter is going into 5th grade and we have done all our services ourselves. The private school she attends does not have a program. Good Luck, I know it is frustrating, K.
I am a mom to 2 great children, wife to a hard working guy

Hi A.-
I am a chiropractor. I am doing nutrition response testing in my clinic. I currently have an 8 year old dyslexic boy I am treating. Just after 1 week he is doing great. I also have a couple of autistic children that are doing incredible just after 10 days. Its absolutely amazing. I am so excited about it. It usually consists of removing the metals out of the body. But, let me tell you it works! Call our office ###-###-####.

Hi there. I do not know of any support groups however I do have 2 sons ages 10 & 11 that are both dyslexic. My best advice is to support, encourage, and advocate for your son. It has been a struggle however both of my boys have become great readers and successful students. I can reccommend several fabulous dsylexia specialists if your son needs any additional tutoring.