Gift of Dyslexia

kylie123

Hi All, I have just read the book, A Gift of Dyslexia by Ron Davis. Just wondering if anyone out there has also read and tried this book on a dyslexic child. Does is work? Is it confusing for the child while going through the process? Any help at all would be appreciated.

byhookorbycrook

The best thing I have found for children with dyslexia is a book called Toe-By-Toe, you do a bit every day, hard slog, but seems to help even the most severe cases. The cd-rom Wordshark is excellent and sight words( ie important words that you cannot read phonetically)work, like games of matching, snap etc. help greatly. Google "dolch" words and you'll get the list.

E.T.

I haven't read it, but I just googled it and I'm definitely going to buy it to see if it'll help with any dyslexic children in my class. I like the positive perspective, thanks very much for letting us know about it!

byhookorbycrook

E.T it's well worth it, but only works if done on a daily basis. I have a star chart for each child, if the read a line without a mistake, they get a star, ten stars=a prize from my prize box(Stocked from €2 shops the length of the country )
I also put a note in the homework diary that says "X has been working hard and now has --- stars" or send a praise postcard home with a similar message. Even battle hardened 6th classes respond!
I would not start it before 2nd class or even 3rd as it gets difficult reasonably quickly.
The only downside is that it must be done one-to-one, but we work that by letting one child work on Wordshark or Lexia on the PC and the other on Toe-By-Toe and then swap after 15 mins.

kylie123

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

The best thing I have found for children with dyslexia is a book called Toe-By-Toe, you do a bit every day, hard slog, but seems to help even the most severe cases. The cd-rom Wordshark is excellent and sight words( ie important words that you cannot read phonetically)work, like games of matching, snap etc. help greatly. Google "dolch" words and you'll get the list.

Thanks so much for your help. I'll certainly try it. I have two dyslexic boys - 12 and 9 years old. Any help is much appreciated.:)

byhookorbycrook

Kylie, Dyslexia Ireland run workshops in many areas of the country, they are well worth thinking about ,if one is near to you.
http://www.dyslexia.ie/
Is your 12 yr old in 6th?Have you looked at which secondary will best be able to meet his needs?Will they make note of his dyslexia when he does the entrance exams-worth looking into ,as by spelling he may score lower than his ability.

OliveOil

I haven't read that book but here's what I've found, I want to show you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Dyslexia is not the end of the world, you just have to learn to live with it

I am dyslexic, 35 with a 9 year old reading ability. Basically get the jist of most things but skip a few bits along the way (sometimes the important bits woops) so forgive me if I don't make sense, I do in my own little world. I understand and live numbers so ended up in the IT world where I have a very nice job that has shown me the world and given me a life I like.

What works ... the million dollar question ... Honestly can't really put my finger on one individual thing. But I do know that I was lucky enough to get the following.
- great support from my parents, time to read, encouragement, praise
- support from resource teachers and teachers through school and college
- lessons at ACLD, I think it was about 10 yoyos back then. but really gave a nice base to build on.
- a computer, yes believe it or not, word and understanding how to get the spell check to work, a key is the thesaurus - really helps understand those words that don't read like they look.

But at the end of the day to be honest I've no doubt that you will only be successful when deciding what to do, why ... because you are interested and will support your child. Well done.

barrym91

I'd agree with what was said about Toe By Toe by byhookorbycrook. I'm a Learning Support Teacher and I definitely find this beneficial no matter what age the student. Some people say it's boring. It's for 5 minutes daily and it has to be done one to one. Surely, 5 minutes daily is well worth advancing the students reading and phonics.

Inspiring story Olive Oil!!!

deepeedublin

wordshark 3 is like a computer prog version of toe by toe and a little more appealing for kids... all the best

pmrc

i have two boys both dyslexic.. the 12 year old is only mild but he is a hard worker and now loves reading and his reading age is 13
The second boy is severely dyslexic he is 10 BUT reading age is 6

We have tried paired reading, they both go to dyslexic class one a week. they enjoy them,
I am currently doing toe by toe.
What i am asking since he was first diagnosed at 7 his reading age has not changed. Why is this?
Thanks feeling hopeless at the moment. and very very worried.

deepeedublin

hi, it sounds like you have put in a huge amount of effort and it can be very disheartening and worrying when you don't see progress. I recommend that you talk to all the professionals involved, (workshop teacher, LS teacher, class teacher etc), and maybe even ask for a mini case conference to discuss what everybody is doing and what methods they are using. if your child doesn't feel they are progressing, it will be hard to keep them motivated.

All the best

byhookorbycrook

Forget the reading age, it's not really a good measure anywhere. I'd agree that meeting with staff in school is a good idea.Does the school do IEPs?

pmrc

Yes he has a IEP. They both do. he ets 5 hours resouce per week help. This will be reduced by 10% in sept. I have been told by the teachers resource and class teacher . That it is my sons own falult the he is not progressing he does not want to read. He is 10 with an IQ of 110. I do not understand this.
The big boy is dowing very well and he has a below average IQ. yet he is doing will scoring 7.5 and 6.5 on the domcrondra test. YET the second boy is at 1.1 or 2 in the same tests.
what can i get work Shark? Would it help him.? any suggestions on software. THAnks for reading i feel very alone at the moment . I keep trying but am geting no where then i get told he does not want to read.

byhookorbycrook

It's the old story, child finds reading hard, doesn't want to read, misses out on the hoy of books, doesn't want to read and so on. Do you read to him?Or what about audio books?He needs to see that books are good, not things to hate.

Wordshark is available from http://www.edtech.ie/ ,but check if they have it in school first.

pmrc

Hi

As my 10 year old is dyspraxic and ADHD. he qualified for a lap top the school got him text help read write gold .
his general ability according to his assessment is 107 68% .

I have read on other boards that Acceleread Accelewrite is helpful what is the difference between that and work shark???

byhookorbycrook

Aceleread is where they hear a phonological phrase, memorise it and write it.Wordshark has lots of games .

kylie123

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Kylie, Dyslexia Ireland run workshops in many areas of the country, they are well worth thinking about ,if one is near to you.
http://www.dyslexia.ie/
Is your 12 yr old in 6th?Have you looked at which secondary will best be able to meet his needs?Will they make note of his dyslexia when he does the entrance exams-worth looking into ,as by spelling he may score lower than his ability.

Hi Hookorbycrook, this is really my worry. He has just started Secondary school. For the entrance exam he had a reader reading his paper and all went fine. The school is aware that he is dyslexic and has his psychological report.
They have said that they will just let the teachers know and they will keep and eye out if he has any difficulties. I really don't know how well this is going to work as the teachers don't get to know the children as well as in primary school where you only have one teacher in primary school and about 10 in secondary school.
Also he was going to a teacher once a week who specialises in dyslexic children for the last number of years. She doesn't take kids once they leave primary school. Is there somewhere for teenagers to continue going or do I need to get him into grinds?

pmrc

Have you contacted the Dyslexia assiciation of ireland . Both my son go to them. They have children from 9 to 18. I think , My boys are 10 and 12 . so i just see the big lads going to and from classes.

byhookorbycrook

Is he getting learning support help in his secondary now?

onway

Has anyone got experience of using handheld spellcheckers with children with Dyslexia and if so, would you advise to get them or not???

byhookorbycrook

to be honest, a spellchecker is not much use, because the child must have a rough idea of the spelling, just like a dictionary.