Shut the Door

When one door closes then another opens somewhere…

…and maybe you need to slam that door and move on…

So this morning I got an email from a lady stating “The school refused testing to see if my son had a learning disability. I’m waiting on private testing now.”

HOLD IT — BACK UP

BY LAW NO SCHOOL CAN REFUSE TO TEST YOUR CHILD, REGARDLESS OF WHAT STATE YOU ARE IN

(They may have different guidelines, but the requirement to provide is still there)

As a parent, guardian or advocate, you have a legal right to request that your public school evaluate your child for special education.  More HERE

 Federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as amended in 2004 (IDEA), gives you that legal right. States, through local school districts, must “identify, locate, and evaluate every child who may have a disability requiring special education services.” This is called “Child Find.” When there is suspicion that a child has a disability, parents and educators have a responsibility and a right to request a full, individual, comprehensive, multi-disciplinary evaluation.

Parents may request an evaluation in writing, with copies to the principal and the school district’s director or coordinator of special education. Parents should retain copies of all correspondence relating to their child and follow up with the school principal on the status of the request.

Some states will not consider the parent’s letter as sufficient permission to evaluate. Instead, the state may require the parent to sign the appropriate school district form before considering an evaluation. The date of the parent’s signature on the school district form is the date used to establish the evaluation timeframe.

Make  paper trail! If you send an email CC as many people as you can PRINT IT OUT. Do not let them have the excuse “I never received it.”

 Evaluation Request Letter

EXAMPLE

________________________________________________

Date

Dear (name of director or coordinator of special education):

My child (first and last name) is having a difficult time learning. I am requesting that my child be evaluated for special education services. (Child’s name) is a ___ grader in Ms./Mrs./Mr. (teacher’s name) classroom at ______________School.

I understand that any information collected during current interventions with (child’s first name) will be completed and a meeting date will be set within the timeline as required by federal law. My signature on this letter gives my consent for my child’s evaluation to begin. I look forward to hearing from you. I am available by phone (name the days and times).

Sincerely,
Parent signature
Parent name, address, phone number

They may put up a fight but if you know your rights you can present the facts and they can’t deny you

When all else fails, its okay to slam that door closed! Find a school that will work WITH you not AGAINST you!

*Featured Image becuo

Out of Focus

One huge deal for a lot of Dyslexic people, both children and adults, is the accompanying disorders.

Whether that is auditory processing, ADD, ADHD, etc. Like it isn’t hard enough focusing on one thing alone Dyslexia almost always includes an accompanying diagnosis.

Dyslexia is often referred to as a language based learning disability. It is the most common form of learning disability. Approximately 15-20% of the population has a learning disability and the National Institutes of Health report that 60% to 80% of those with learning disabilities have problems with reading and language skills. Individuals with dyslexia usually have difficulty with either receptive oral language skills, expressive oral language skills, reading, spelling, or written expression.

Dyslexia varies in degrees of severity. The prognosis depends on the severity of the disability, specific patterns of strengths and weaknesses with the individual, and the appropriateness of the intervention. It is not a result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instruction, environmental opportunities, low intelligence, or other limiting conditions. It is a condition which is neurologically based and often appears in families. Individuals with dyslexia respond successfully to timely and appropriate intervention.

Unfortunately,Dyslexia is often misdiagnosed or missed completely.  It is true that 1 out of every 10 people have dyslexia but this is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed disorders. The co-authors of the book ‘The Mislabeled Child’ Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide believe that ADHD can make the people turn a deaf ear toward dyslexia.  “Parents need to be alert to the possibility of dyslexia, because they may be the only one who recognizes their child’s pattern of difficulties, so they can help get them the proper assessments, accommodations, and remediations they need.”

More on the difference between ADHD and Dyslexia here.

Now I can only say this from our perspective and what has worked for us, obviously if you try it on your child consult a physician :), but BluFrog and BluFrog2 seem to help my son be able to focus. This is HUGE for us! Not saying it will work for everyone but for us, well I am so thrilled to find something that isn’t medicine that helps him! Ill keep y’all updated!!

Dyslexia Q & A HERE

* Featured image MexicoInstitute

Toughest Critic

Ever wonder why a diamond is a girls best friend? Because its TOUGH!

It is so easy as a parent to be discouraged. People say the meanest and most hurtful things. They think you push your children to hard, or not hard enough. Sometimes, your toughest critics are your closest family and friends.

I have had so many mom’s cry out to me, struggling with the same situation. They are broken and beat down. How do you handle the stress? The everyday conversations and struggles? It is so different for each and every family but it so important to create a united front! These kids do not have a disability! They are so bright! They may learn differently than other kids do, but so did some of the most brilliant minds in our nation. Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein just to name a few. Never let them feel inferior to anyone, be it family or friends. One thing that I do that has made a world of difference is carry a little piece of paper in my wallet. Anytime anyone says anything negative about a dyslexic in general, or my son, I pull out this paper.

I ask the person speaking to please read the paper. I normally get a weird look. I calmly look at them like it’s a simple sentence and should be easy. I glance at the paper and nod and say go ahead. By this time you can see them starting to squirm a bit. I then take the paper fold it as I explain that this is what normal letters look like to a dyslexic brain trying to learn and decipher the alphabet. But not only are the letters all confused, a lot of the time, they are moving too!  This tends to shut people up quickly and often an apology is quick in coming. People don’t necessarily try to be mean. They are just ignorant of the daily struggles our children and even adults with dyslexia face.

Did you know its easier for people in third world countries to get the diagnosis of Dyslexia? Why is that?

I have a friend in Africa who could not believe that in some cases people in the state’s wait years to get a diagnosis and that’s if they fight the system. She said that in her region they normally go in for testing, and within around  3 days or so they have not only that diagnosis but any accompanying diagnoses as well. This would include ADD, ADHD, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, etc. They test for everything and diagnosis it all at one time. Wow! And our children suffer daily just to get one diagnosis. This is just crazy to me!

* Featured image top5cashfordiamonds

Dyslexia…and Dyscalculia

Will your child get more help from the private sector or a public school? This is one question that is visited over and  over by overwhelmed parents.

Originally we had both of our children in a private school. One day, shortly after the beginning of my daughters second year, and my sons first we were approached by his teacher. She stated that she didn’t have enough time to dedicate to his singular needs. Wow! I thought, just Wow! It’s his first year, his first time away from me five days a week all day, and this is the dedicated care they provide? We immediately pulled both our children out. Now, a few years later, I see the Lords divine intervention. His teacher was right. Neither she, nor the school could offer my son what he needed. For us, and this is NOT the case for every family, please please please let me re-interate this! You must do what is right for YOUR family and only YOU know what that is!

After working with my son on his writing, he was able to write most of his letters correctly and with amazing penmanship. His B’s, D’s and a few other letters like E’s and S’s are almost always backwards but he is doing so much better! During the middle of his 2nd grade year, we got his 2nd nine weeks report card, and noticed that his Reading/ English grade was a D, almost an F. This began an extensive after school study time.  We would take his spelling words, vocabulary words, and dictation sentences and read/ copy them 2-10 times each until he could write them without mistakes, doing this each night until his test on Friday. This was so frustrating and hard because, of course, the words change every Monday. And as you know by now, Dyslexics learn by memorizing. We found by having him copy the words over and over again, he memorized them faster. But he had to do it every night in order to retain the information. By the end of the first few weeks he was bringing home 100’s and 104’s with bonus points! We were so thrilled!

His next report card brought his Reading/English grade up to a B! We were so excited! He started to feel better about himself. His self-esteem was sky rocketing! As a mom, I was so relieved! By now, our routine was down and we both new what to do when he got home.  But this is when things started to get rocky.  I started noticing a serious decline in his math grades. I mean he was bringing home scores of 5’s and 8’s. Yes, that’s single digits! Almost every single problem was incorrect. We are talking fairly simple subtraction. A lot of times, the reading problems had no answer at all. Insert panic mode! Have you heard of Dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic, such as difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, and learning facts in Mathematics. It is generally seen as a specific developmental disorder

We immediately began re-doing all of his math homework and I noticed a huge issue! He would have a problem like 35-46=? And as I watched him I would notice him sound it out. It took me a minute to realize what he was doing. He was sitting there going ES – is this 46 or 64? And he didn’t even realize he had sounded the first two numbers out. He was seeing the 35 as an E and an S instead of numbers. No wonder his scores were low! Why hadn’t I noticed this earlier? What kind of mom am I? What other areas was I failing at?

This is when I seriously began to re-evaluate all areas of not just my mother-hood but my life. Have I pushed him to hard? Made him feel in-adequate next to his sister? Was I not around enough? Too much? Am I the best tutor for him? Am I feeding him the right kind of foods? Vitamins? Is he getting enough fun things and good times?  What about friends? Both his and mine?

Both of my kids are very bright and can see through so many of the “false friendships” of todays society. How many times have I been asked “Why do they treat you like that?”, “”Why do you let them act like that around you?”, “Why are they so nice when other people are around and so mean when they think it’s just you?” Have these negative relationships caused more harm than to just me? My kids are sponges and soak up so much of what is around them! There have been some drastic changes around here, and my children are more positive and upbeat because I wasn’t afraid to stand up for not only them but myself also.

Sometimes the changes that need to be made, are in your life. You have more of an impact on your children than you may ever know!

  

* featured image learnersonline

Our journey into Dyslexia

Oh the roads we travel..

There is nothing worse than seeing your child, your absolute joy, break down in tears. Not tears from being injured, or tears from a bully, but tears from trying. Spending hours, yes HOURS, trying. Trying to remember, trying to re-call what was taught yesterday and today. Trying to decipher. A complete and utter break down from just trying. Not understanding why he has to stay inside and study each day, every day while his sister barely has to study at all and gets almost straight A’s.   Unfortunately, Dyslexia is not a gentle giant. But it is a giant non the less. According to The National Center for Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia is a neurological and often genetic condition.   My son and daughter are about 15 months apart. We started him a year later than her, but held her back so they ended up in the same 1st grade class. This was great for them. They could help each other out on homework and usually one would pick up what the other missed in class. However, this was not to last long. My daughter would advance while my son would go to T1 or (Title 1). A specialized year long class designated to help him, and other “over-active” kids, as they were often referred to. After T1 he would then advance to a regular first grade class.   When he first started writing, like all kids, some letters were backwards, some were not. But, when he began writing sentences, trying to put all these letters together, you literally had to hold the page up to a mirror to read it. However, this didn’t last long and he seemingly self-corrected the issue.

                             “The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you do not write.” Unknown