Where do you have your child cored?

[Linda]

I think there is something going on too.

Anne I am curious about your question about the color blue

[charliegirl]

I think Annem is thinking of Irlen syndrome which is similar to dyslexia. Colored overlays or using a colored paper often makes reading easier.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotopic_Sensitivity_Syndrome

Irlen syndrome is sometimes categorised as a form of dyslexia. However, bestselling autistic author, Donna Williams, in her book Like Colour To The Blind wrote about her experience of tinted lenses after being diagnosed with scotopic sensitivity. In this book she described the lenses as enabling her to have cohesive, unfragmented vision, able to see faces, bodies and objects as a whole for the first time and reducing the extremity of experiences such as meaning-blindness, face blindness, inability to learn to read facial expression and body language and the social consequences of these impairments.

[lisacap]

After making numerous phone calls on Wednesday and Thursday, and basically getting no where, dates to be tested between Feb and June of 2008, I decided to pull some strings and call the local politicians in my area...well lo and behold, ( I think I had brain freeze or a severe ADD moment)...the politician must of thought I was insane, since he is the one who orginaly helped me get Justin in the public schools 2 years ago...I got some interesting news...
Justin already has a IEP through the Boston Public Schools, only it is a physical disability one...didn't even realize it. So anyway, I ended up talking to the Department of Education, got a extremely nice women, for the first time ever over there. Explained what was going on with Justin, explained how he needed a educational evaluation asap, that I would like him to be kept at Saint Mary's the private catholic school that he is in, that he was in the Boston Public School but placed in a spec ed class because of his physical disability, and was repeatedly being hit by the other children in the class so I pulled him...well, all I ended up having to do was reinstate him into the public school system. I will have an emergency "T" number for him by Wednesday, I already have the name of the women who will do the evaluation, and they only have 30 days to get it done...he can stay at the catholic school and they will have to take him out for special services if he needs it. I was extremely happy.
Now sorry the story goes on....and again something I never thought of, I was at my nephews baby shower yesterday, and was speaking to my cousin who is a kindergarten teacher in the public schools, I was telling her how Justin was doing, how he knew the sounds but not all the letters, how he could sound out the letters in a word but not run them together...she has also done special ed as well, but has a regular class this year. She told me and Katie this might help you as well because the boys seem to be the same in this, the teachers in Kindergarten now teach the sounds before the letters, it is called phonoligical teaching, where all of the kids are learning only the sounds and the blends, which is what I think Justin and Sean have picked up. Most kids in doing this will also grasp the letters that they are learning the sounds for, which enables them to learn to read, but others don't. In talking to her I mentioned how Sean's teacher doesn't see a problem with him not being able to read, and she said they wouldn't as long as he was grasping the sounds. I found this to be pretty weird, but it may be what your son's teacher is looking at. I told her how Justin can memorize the words on the page but doesn't recognize or know one word to tell me what it is, and she said as long as he has the sounds, the blends will come....I found it all very strange, but in some sense it seemed to make sense....
She also told me with Justin, and I am not sure it will apply to Sean, is that he may be right on age level, where he has the Cerebal Palsy and was very developmentaly as well as physically delayed, when he is cored he will most likely core at a 4-5 age, and then he would be right where he should be....this is all so new to me, when Christian was cored it was all behavioral, and the few academic's they did with him, he excelled in which ended up even pushing him a year ahead in school.
So hopefully, I will get some answers soon, but Katie, I would question this phonological way of teaching and see if it is what Sean is doing...maybe it will help him maybe not, but I thought I would share it with you anyway.
One more thing, she also told me to get him hooked on phonics, which they now sell at walmart, for between 39 and 79.00...but to start with Kindergarten or pre- Kindergarten, not to go to first grade until he can clearly recognize the letters as well as the sounds. I am going to look into that this week....

[lisacap]

Sorry that was so long, I guess my med's haven't truly kicked in yet....

[jj]

I was wondering if schools were still doing that. I know when Nikki moved in with me I was shocked to find out they did not teach phonics in her old school or the school she would be going to but rather was taught to memorize or "look and say".

And your suggestion of getting "Hooked on Phonics", Lisacap, is exactly what we did with Nikki. And it helped.

I was happy to hear several years later that particular school brought back phonics but I'm not sure if this went against the "official" way to teach so I'm not sure if it is still in place.

[katiekat]

Well I do know that at Back to School Night the teacher told us NOT to teach our kids to sound out the words. All the parents thought that weird as that is the way we were all taught.

[jj]

I can't believe she said that! The best way to learn is having it presented in many ways. If I had, had to learn by memorization alone I would have never learned to read. Period. ADHD kids have a hard enough time remembering things as it is and not to give them some solid blocks to build with is just setting them up to not do well. Kids need the combination of learning phonics and memorization. From what I've read, study after study has shown learning phonics is far superior to the "whole word" method. Of course there is considerable debate about this but I honestly think you need both and teaching phonics from the get-go naturally incorporates the whole word method.

We all know each child learns in a different way. If the light bulb isn't going off by presenting it one way you try a different way.

To this day I have a horrible time comprehending something that is told to me. I MUST have it in black and white to read. And then there are people and kids who need it verbally presented.

Honestly, I think I'd totally ignore that teacher and do everything I could for my child to "get it". Or at the very least have the teacher explain how this would possibly undermine what she is teaching, in my ever so humble opinion.

[lisacap]

I got Justin's temporary number for the public schools this week. Yesterday I called his CWETF worker, only for her to tell me that he wasn't eligible anymore. His IEP was for a child under 5...trying to explain to her that I had him reinstated last week, that his age clearly stated he was 6 almost 7, why didn't they then tell me that I needed to redo everything, this is so frustrating, I hate the public schools here, it is bad enough the system is so horrible, that I have to pay thousands for my kids to go to school when the school yard of the public school basically touches my house, but then all you get is beat around the bush.
After 2 hours, I finally got the name of the worker who may be able to help me...only to find out that they will not do a academic core on him, unless I sign papers stating that I want him in a Special Ed class.....all I am looking for his to have him cored....on a academic level, why do I have to have him reevaluted for OT, PT and Speech, in order to do that. I already pay out of my pocket for those services for him because I don't want the public schools doing that.....he has an appt. on Tuesday with the resource teacher to start the Woodcock Johnson test, and then the following Tuesday to meet with the OT....I am so frustrated that he has to go through all this in order to have a academic core done. I just want to know what is wrong with him, academically, not put him back in public schools.....Can they do that, insist on all of this in order to get a core done, or are they being total jerks with me because I pulled him out of that school 2 years ago? Has anyones elses child just had a academic evaluation, or did you have to go through their people including them telling me that he had to go through their physchologist? I am just being dumb, or is this how it really works.

[charliegirl]

They can't make you put him in public school to have him evaluated. The evaluations are available to every child in the school district. If you don't agree with the evaluation they do, you can then request an independant evaluation at district expense.

I don't think you need to have him evaluated for the other services since you are already taking care of them. I think Lillian would be able to you with that but she is at the dyslexia conference until Monday.

Have you checked to see what wrightslaw has on this?

[misty]

When I moved Shannon to public they insisted on re-evaluating her with their psychiatrists. I'm thinking it might be the same sort of thing here. Even though you aren't moving him to public, the district will still be the ones providing the services so they want to evaluate him themselves. I didn't fight it since they actually found an LD that the private psych didn't find & she got the help she needed. I would agree with what Barb said; that if you don't agree with their evaluation, you should be able to request ( & have the request granted) that you have a private eval as well.