|
Things have been so busy I have not had the time to keep up on blogging.
Briefly, for those of you who were keeping track of booboo's testing, she was diagnosed with Dyspraxia and NOT Dyslexia. She has some memory issues and some motor planning defecits. However, her IQ was average. In fact, as far as verbal IQ goes, she scored very high. The visual issues and memory brought the score down to the average level.
New visual issues were detected and she is about half way through her 2nd go at vision therapy. She had developed a focusing problems with her eye muscles and her visual perception abilities had not progressed at all since she was last tested in March (?) and so while she was age appropriate back then, she is now almost a year behind in these skills.
Rather than two weeks, it took over 2 MONTHS to get the final report on the testing done in August. I am not completely satisfied with the report, but there is a lot of good information I can use to help Hayley here at home.
I have not yet called for a meeting with the school because we haven't decided whether to leave her in or pull her out. I did talk things over with booboo's teacher and she is wonderful, but there is only so much she can (or will) do without an IEP or 504 plan. Neither she nor the school psychologist had even heard of dyspraxia, which I found discouraging.
I am seeing some improvement from booboo this school year. Her grades are a little worse than last year, but she loves her teacher and is really working hard. I know each year it will grow harder for her.
We had all but decided to pull her from school over Christmas break, but some other issues have come up and since her teacher really does seem to motiviate Booboo, we have yet again put homeschooling on the back burner.
We will try again over the summer and we are still considering homeschooling next fall.
The big problem with homeschooling is this: I am in school part time myself. We were really counting on my income to start coming in soon. These kids are getting more expensive every year, not to mention everything else as well!
The plan was that since the kids were older and in school I would go back to school and slowly finish my degree so that when Booboo (the youngest of three) hit junior high school I would be working full time and putting my salary away to pay for college, cars, and three weddings! Yes, I know plans change. Try telling my husband that!
So, as usual around here, things are still up in the air. At least now with the diagnosis, I know of Booboo's strengths and weaknesses.
It has also opened my eyes. So many things would aggrevate me about the way she does things. After researching dyspraxia, I have found that so many of the odd things she does and ways she acts are typical of a dyspraxic child. I am learning patience, (she really is trying) and sympathy (she gets upset because she too is frustrated with herself) Of course if you don't know what dyspraxia is, none of this will probably make much sense.
There are all kinds of characteristics that have to do with speech and gross motor, but Booboo's is focused on fine motor, memory, and executive planning in her brain. It wasn't diagnosed, but I think she has some sensory dysfunction as well. Rather than being overly sensitive to stimuli, she is under. Everything must be extreme...Loud music, deathgrip on her pencil, heavy handed, invading other people's personal space, running in overdrive, bouncing off the walls, yelling, singing louder than everyone else, and the oddest is that she likes to chew on things. Straws, rubberbands, latex gloves...C'mon the kid is almost 10!
In spite of it all, she is still a truly awesome kid! Very smart, very pretty, very funny. Just like her mommy! ;-p
Anyway, its late, I'm sleepy and its time to wrap this up.
|
Posted in Day by Day
|
Booboo finished her testing today. We will have to wait about 2 weeks for the report to be completed.
The last two sessions focused on memory. Booboo complained that these tests were very hard. Before we left today the clinicial asked to speak privately to ask a couple of questions about Booboo's behavior. She is having major anger issues, making our home a virtual powder keg of tension.
My last question for her was more of a plea. After four years of listening to the school tell me there is nothing wrong with Booboo I asked if she was under the same impression, or if she saw some legitimate concerns. Without giving me any details she did say that she saw some patterns that were of concern.
Relief and anxiety filled me. Of course I want my child to be fine, but I feel very strongly that something IS wrong. So while it is a relief to find that someone "in the know" has validated my concerns, it deeply troubles my heart that there is indeed a problem.
She did not elaborate on specific concerns. Scores still need to be interpretted and compared. Everything still needs to be reviewed by the Psychologist in charge and then a formal report and/or diagnosis will be given. (It is a training clinic and the tests are given by the students.)
My mind runs wild with possibilities. Is my child low IQ? Is she dyslexic? ADHD? Some other disability I haven't even considered? How will we remediate? Can we afford treatment? Will she respond to it? Can she be helped? Will there be a happy ending?
Of course all that can be done now is wait, pray, and trust that God will not give us more than we can deal with. To anyone reading please say a prayer for peace over our family. Right now I feel like we're sinking in quick sand.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
|
|
Saturday was the Highland Hope United Methodist Church picnic.
I didn't want to go. I just wasn't in a people mood. Hubby was working so it would be just me and the kids. I didn't want to go. Still, I had made the rsvp and rather than be a "plan changer" I would have to go. I told the church secretary we would be there. But I didn't want to go.
We arrived on time. I immediately sought out the pastor's wife who has a knack for making people feel welcome. We made small talk about the storm and other happenings with a few other women. I began to relax a little. The girls found some of their friends and soon it would be time to eat.
I had made my appearance. All I had to do was eat, round up the girls and head home. During the meal I sat with my girls and their friends and found myself enjoying the conversation. I mostly listened. Talk about teachers, friends, and the upcoming school year. Funny, I feel more comfortable with the kids than I do with the adults. I like these kids. Kids are so honest, so easy going. I decided to hang around a little longer.
I had forgotten the pastor had planned a rededication/baptism ceremony down the small hill at the lake. He laid a plastic runner from the edge of the bank into the water. We did our typical Methodist recitations and the pastor then asked if anyone would like to be baptized. First was a father, next two of his daughters came in followed by his oldest son. How heartwarming to see a father and his children rededicating their lives together. It touched others too. Pretty soon there was a whole stream of kids ages 7- 17 and another dad taking their turn being baptized in the muddy lake. 14 people in all were baptized that evening.
To my astonishment all three of my daughters made their way down to the bank to be baptized. There was no prodding on my part. In fact, I talked to each one before they went in to explain what it was they were doing, and that they should not do it if they were just trying to fit in with the other kids or be noticed. Each one answered without hesitation that no, it was not to be recognized, it was something they wanted to do.
This was so surprising to me. Earlier each had stated in no uncertain terms that the lake was dirty and disgusting. No way they would ever get in there. In fact, the whole idea of being even sprinkled with water in front of the congregation at church was something that terrified them. It was something they were just too shy to do.
My three girls, Booboo, Miss Kitty, and then Bookster each took their turn being baptized fully dressed except for their shoes in brown water, surrounded by weeds, much the same way John the Baptist baptized our Savior himself!
I really wish Hubby could have been there to see it. I don't know why God staged things the way He did that evening.
I only know that I'm really glad I went. |
|
Stuart Hamblen Story |
Posted in Rants of a Frazzled Mom
|
Yesterday Booboo went for her post surgery check up. Everything is fine. She is complaining about her other ear and tonsils, but they were fine. Must be allergies. And for some reason she is convinced we should have her tonsils removed. I have NO idea where this idea has come from. My guess is she saw the Brady Bunch episode where on of the Brady's gets theirs out and gets to eat all the ice cream they want.
We don't get cable or satellite, so The Brady Bunch is a popular show at our house on one of the smaller networks. I grew up on the Brady's and frankly, I never get tired of them. As magical as they seemed to me in the 70's, they are still fascinating to my kids in spite of the fact that they "dress funny." And yes, kids today still think Marsha is "so pretty."
Uh-hemm. I've gotten side tracked...
I am still waiting to hear from St Louis U. on scheduling Hayley's testing. Its been about three weeks and I haven't heard back, so I will give them a call today. I'm not sure if they have power in that part of St. Louis or not. I would think so.
We have slacked on the schooling since vacation. Which makes me think I would not be a very good teacher for her. I do try to work things into our daily stuff.
Last week we were scrapbooking and Booboo asked me how to spell "The." I told her but she argued that I didn't understand what I was asking. She was trying to spell, "Up up up to [the] Arch." She decided that it was either t-h-e-e, or t-h-e-y, but couldn't figure out which. At any rate t-h-e wasn't even up for consideration, and she was very aggrevated that I would even suggest it.
We were also playing a rhyming game. She was cold. I relplied, "Your old?" ''Your bold?" etc... The game ended with her response. "I'm cold! C-o-u-l-d Cold!"
Then just last night she was writing a song. (She loves to sing and dance) She had forgotten how to spell Jesus. I don't know how a child can know how to spell these simple words and at some point just completely forget?
I know its frustrating for her and I don't mean to play those frustrations down. But all of you also know how gut wrenching it is as a parent to see your child struggling, and feel powerless to help them.
That's how I feel today, beaten down, overwhelmed, powerless. Kids have been fighting, hubby working late because of the storm damage, dog ran off this morning and rolled in something dead, dishwasher broke, and my 9 year old can't spell "the." Calgon take me away!!!
But tomorrow will be a better day, because where there is faith there is hope!
|
|
I've added something to my side bar for a Yahoo group called, "Heart of Reading." Tina, who owns the group is a very sweet lady who puts a lot of time into creating and downloading files to help kids with reading struggles.
I've found many great ideas on there to use with Booboo. The other members are very friendly and always ready to offer suggestions and support.
If you've read my blog before, you'll see that my Booboo has reading problems and I suspect she is dyslexic. Heart of Reading is not limited to dyslexic kids, or any particular age though. Its a private group, so no spam and junk bombarding you either.
Didn't mean to make this a commercial. Tina looks to have put a lot of effort into the group and honestly, there are some great files and resources there if people only knew about them.
Soooo....Until next time...buh bye!
|
Posted in Day by Day
|
Its been incredibly busy around here since vacation. Band camps, art classes, library activities, Sunday School, church picnics, piano lessons, family get togethers and STORMS!
Thankfully the storms seemed to skip over our area but parts of St. Louis and nearby Illinois areas are a mess.
Hubby works for the phone company so he's getting lots of of overtime, ($$$) but I wish our benefit was not under these circumstances. Many in the area are on day 6 of no power. My sister and her family are on day 4, as are my mother & father in law. Our house is always open for them to come to for relief, but the old saying, "There's no place like home" is very true. Sister came over for dinner on Sunday, and did laundry here on Monday. In laws are staying with another family member. Thankfully, there has been a slight break in the heat, but its on its way back by the end of the week. |
|
Our previous family vacations have been to Branson several times, (Hubby's Dad lived down there) and Myrtle Beach, SC to see the ocean. As fun as those vacations were, we were always ready to come home.
This vacation was not that way. We were not ready to come home. I think we could have stayed in that cabin forever! BooBoo wants to move to the mountains, and Hubby is not far behind her.
The only regret I have is wishing we could have had one "quiet" day to just hang out with each other in the cabin. We packed our favorite games anticipating quiet family evenings in the cabin. There was just so much going on we didn't get to.
We drove straight home. We stopped at a Burger King and had lunch, hit several rest areas where we would walk around a bit, and stopped in a small town near our home where hubby looked at a car for sale.
We made it home about 9pm that night. We all slept in the next day, except for Hubby. He was up bright and early to pick up our puppy from the kennel. Talk about one happy dog!
Thankfully, for the first time ever, I actually left for vacation with a clean house. It was nice to come home to "nothing much to do." The washer & dryer at the cabin even made the laundry an "it can wait" thing.
The rest of vacation was pretty much quiet. Hubby took the girls fishing several times. They watched a movie at the library one day, and we had a family birthday party for Miss Kitty and Hubby over the weekend. I picked up my photos from vacation yesterday and have already started my vacation scrapbook. I hope we can go back to the Smoky Mountains again, but even if we don't, we'll always have great memories! |
|
This museum is awesome! We all had a blast! What made it even better is that everyone must have been watching the fireworks because the place was nearly empty! No waiting in lines for any of the exhibits!
Wonderworks is a hands on museum for just about any kid. We experience an earthquake, hurricane winds, pedaled a bicycle 360 degrees (upside downways!), laid down on a bed of needles, and the best was a virtual ride where we designed a roller coaster ride and then got to climb into this box with a tv screen and experience the ride! It turned all sorts of ways. Hubby doesn't do well with spinning. The ride did him in, but I personally have not had such uncontrolled laughing in a lonnnggg time!
Shortly after that Hubby headed again to the van to regain his composure and recover from the ride. How does one get sick on a virtual ride??? I guess he wasn't kidding when he said he "doesn't do spinning." Miss Kitty was a bit smarter than Dad. She put her foot down she was not doing the roller coaster ride and she held her ground. BooBoo and Bookster were a bit hesitant, but did the ride anyway. They both came out of the box with huge smiles.
Before heading to the van, Hubby gave the kids $5 each to spend in the arcade. That lasted about 5 minutes, so we wrapped up the evening in the gift shop where Bookster and BooBoo picked up some trick chewing gum to "get" dad.
It was after midnight when we got back to the cabin. Too late for the hot tub. We were all too tired for that anyway. The next day we would be heading home. |
|
The fourth of July is also Hubby's birthday. The previous night while he was outside grilling, Miss Kitty baked turtle brownies for his "cake" compliments of Betty Crocker. When he woke up we fired up 40 candles, sang happy birthday, and gave him his present. (The book)
He wasn't up for sweets for breakfast, so he fried an egg while we munched on his birthday brownies. (We are ALWAYS up for sweets!)
This was his day. His plan was to spend the entire day exploring the Smoky Mtn. National Park. I was still thinking about the outlet stores but kept quiet and ended up having a marvelous time in the "wilderness." We stopped several times along the river, skipping stones and wading.
We found a campground with a store and bought peanut butter, bread, and chips for lunch. I don't know why we didn't pack a lunch???
We took a driving (some walking) tour of Cade's Cove, a valley enclosed by mountains in which there was a community from the early 1800's until the 1930's. There we saw a bear with her cub about 20 yards off the road. We stayed in our car but filmed it on the video camera. We stopped at various points in Cade's cove to see original log cabins, churches, barns, and cemeteries. At one stop, we walked through a mini village. There Boo Boo estatically spotted a rat snake. There was also a great spot to wade in the river, creek, stream, not really sure what it was.
On the ride back we stopped at a swimming hole the local people refer to as the "Y" People were jumping off the side of a cliff, wading, and floating in tubes. It was very crowded, but the mom in me felt much safer from the wildlife in this congested area, than in some of the previous secluded parts we had stopped.
We made it back to the cabin that night around 6pm. We through some burgers on the grill and made corn on the cob. By 7 pm we had caught our breath and decided to forgo searching out a fireworks display and head into Pigeon Forge for... |
|
Our first full day we started out with bacon and eggs, cleaned up and headed for Five Oaks Riding Stables.
For the girls and me it was our first time on a real horse. We took a one hour trail ride up and down a mountain. Boo Boo, who I thought would love the ride, was terrified. Miss Kitty and Bookster were a little worried, I found out later, but they didn't let on. It was a hot, humid day, but much of the time we were in the woods and the shade kept us cooler.
After that we had lunch at a place that had a deceiving name. I can't remember it but it was actually a southern version of a White Castle! Hubby was in heaven, the rest of us were well, not so much in heaven. We choked down our food and headed to the outlet mall. Miss Kitty and I hit the Scrapbook clearance store where we stocked up on mountain/cabin themed goodies. Bookster tagged along while Booboo went tool shopping with Dad.
We hit various home stores, LTD too, kitchen stores, etc...Hubby could only take it for so long. We found a As Seen on TV store that was so so. Hubby started getting sick (I suspect it was the lunch!) and headed to the car. I then found someone to go search the inventory for a book Hubby wanted called 1001 All Natual Remedies for a Pest Free Lawn. They found it and walah! I had his birthday present and he didn't suspect a thing.
After resting in the van for a bit, he took us to one more outlet mall that had a Black & Decker store in it. While he looked there the girls and I hit The Book Warehouse, and Kaybee Outlet store. By the time we made it home we were all wiped out. We managed the strength to grill our chicken, play pool, and soak in the hot tub before going to bed. |
|
The cabin was amazing! The pictures on the internet didn't even begin to describe how perfect it was. We were nearly at the top off a mountain. The initial drive up there was terrifying for a flatlander family, but once we saw what was waiting for us we quickly adjusted. On our back deck we could look out upon layer of mountains as far as the eye could see. No cars, no town, just nature! As we explored around the cabin we found blackberry bushes everywhere. Boo boo had a great time collecting berries to snack on. We even found what we can only speculate was bear droppings. Whatever left it was BIG!
The inside of the cabin was like something out of a magazine. The wall and flooring were all done in yellow pine. Whoever decorated it knew just where to put each knick knack. Not too much, just enough to make it feel inviting and homey.
The girls took the loft for their room where they had a huge pine bed, a railing that overlooked the living area downstairs and windows windows windows!
We accepted our fate with the downstairs bedroom, but it was every bit as nice. Country quilts on the pine log bed and a pretty stained glass window.
Our cabin (more like a house) had a full kitchen - including a dishwasher - washer & dryer, pool table, 2 bathrooms, a jacuzzi, and a hot tub on the back porch. I'm quite sure the original log cabins in the mountains didn't have all these extras but I have to say, it was the best of both worlds!
After dropping an easy $60 on dinner the first evening in Gatlinburg we decided to make use of some of the amenities of our cabin and hit the grocery store to buy food for breakfasts and dinners. That may not be every housewife's idea of a dream, but it turned out to be great fun and saved some $$$ too. Its been so long since I've had bbq cooked on charcoal rather than a gas grill I forgot how much better food tasted that way. (When we got home, hubby revamped our firepit to accomodate a grill)
|
|
Our vacation was the best yet. We started out from central Illinois (where everything is flat) and headed south to Garden of the Gods and Cave In Rock. They lie near Elizabethtown on the Illinois/Kentucky border. There we hiked on trails to the top of beautiful rock formations overlooking forests and grassland. It truly is a garden of God. I wonder what it must look like looking down from heaven.
At Cave In Rock we followed a trail along the Ohio river's edge to a cave that legend has it hid Indians, pirates and even Jesse James.
This day of nature exploration took us a little off course, but it allowed us to cross the Ohio river on a ferry, (which the girls loved) and on a scenic 40 backroad drive to get back to the interstate.
We spent the night in a hotel outside of Nashville where we rested up. The girls got to go swimming in the pool before we headed back on the road.
We made it to Sieverville the next day about 1pm but sat in traffic for nearly 2 hours slowly making our way from Sieverville through Pigeon Forge, and on to Gatlinburg where our cabin in the mountains awaited us... |
|
Well, we're back from vacation, and it was great! We drove to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. We rented a cabin on top of the world! Nothing could have been more perfect. The view from our back porch was breathtaking. We are all ready to up and move. Where we are in Illinois everything is pretty much flat! The trip up the drive way to our cabin was a thrill ride in itself!
I'm just in awe of the majesty of our Lord. I'm sure the mountains serve some great purpose in the ecology of our planet that I'm not smart enough to understand, but I rather like to think he made them just because they are beautiful. What an inspiring reflection of his power and glory.
For four days of our summer problems did not exist. What a great escape for our family! I'll post later with all the details of our trip. |
|
We have decided to have Hayley formally tested for learning disabilities.
I was contacted yesterday by a nearby university that will do the testing for about a quarter of the cost of a private clinic.
At first I wasn't in favor of testing. I don't need a name or a label to know that something isn't running smoothly in her brain when it comes to reading and spelling. But the more I work with her over the summer the more I realize that I do need more specific direction in how to teach her.
The clinic is supposed to call back late next week to set up an appointment(s) for testing.
As for her ear surgery, she is doing fine. She asked for tylenol before bed her ear was bothering her a little. She didn't complain all day, in fact, was just as energetic as usual. What a bundle of energy. I wish I had as much!
|
|
I guess it really isn't fair to have Booboo's picture, and not my other two daughters' pictures on the blog. Everytime I look at this picture and see Booboo's typical "I'm smiling 'cause I'm up to something" expression, I just have to smile. This photo truly captures how full of life my little one is. I know God has great things planned for her.
I think I'll leave it up for awhile longer. She really is quite a kid. |
|
Booboo's surgery went smooth and as planned. She was smiling as soon as she came out of the operating room. The nurses and doctor fell in love with her. I was so proud to have so many compliments on my little girl.
It was a reminder of just how precious she is. |
Posted in Day by Day
|
I should be in bed sleeping right now. Problem is I'm not sleepy.
Tomorrow morning we have to be at the surgi-center early for Booboo's surgery.
She's had ongoing ear problems since she was 6 months old. She's had tubes put in twice. The last set about a year and a half ago. She did fairly well all winter. Problems started up again in April. Doctor kept prescribing antibiotics. Well...We could never get in with the doctor so we saw the nurse practitioner. (Why is it they charge the same amount whether you see the nurse or the doctor???)
Anyway, she finally gave up and reffered us back to the ENT. Turns out her ear wasn't infected. The tube in Booboo's right ear never fell out. Instead it lodged itself next to her eardrum and a polyp grew around it. I'm no expert, but I would think a polyp might look different than an inflamed eardrum. But who am I to say?
To anyone reading this please say a little prayer for my sweetie tomorrow. Its a simple suregery, but you know how mom's are! We worry! |
|
Third grade was just about at an end. I requested a fourth grade teacher that had taught my 10 year old the year before. Miss Kitty loved her and I had spoken to the teacher in the past for ideas to use with Booboo. She too had experience in special ed. I spoke to her again and asked her for a list of 4th grade spelling words so that we could get a jump on things. She gladly obliged, and even included some information on dyslexia and learning problems.
One look at the spelling list told me we were in big trouble. There was no way Booboo was at a level to spell these sort of words. She could easily read such big words (thanks to Reading Recovery) but there were so much phonics and exceptions to phonics it would be near impossible for her to spell these words with her poor phonic skills. Memorizing would fail her here too because even if she could memorize the letters, she would never be able to spit that many letters out in the correct order.
I hit the message boards hard. I scoured every website trying to find phonics programs or ideas. Since she seemed to fit the "dyslexic" characteristics, I decided to approach her summer schooling from this angle.
I checked into Barton and Wilson. Surely the most expensive must be the best right? After much consideration, it seemed logical to start with a less expensive program to see if the dylexia approach was what she really needed. I ended up choosing Reading Reflex for $10 purchased second hand. www.readamerica.com if you are interested. It is a faster paced approach to teaching phonics. As I said she does read and spell, just not very well.
That's where we are at right now. We completed Basic Code, and on a reccomendation I purchased a support guide from Read America to continue on with the Advanced Code.
I am slowly trying to incorporate other things into our summer school. Regular trips to the library, math fact review, creative writing,reading quizzes through www.bookadventure.com and a new discovery, audio books! She can pass quizzes on 6th grade level books if she listens to the story on cassette or cd. (Makes me think maybe her auditory processing is okay afterall.)
So as the song goes, we have been pressed, BUT NOT CRUSHED, persecuted, BUT NOT ABANDONED, struck down, BUT NOT DESTROYED... Having said that, I'll wrap this up by saying that HIS JOY IS GOING TO BE MY STRENGTH!
And here's the lyrics to the whole song if you're not familiar with them: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm pressed but not crushed Persecuted not abandoned Struck down but not destroyed I am blessed beyond the curse For his promise will endure That his joy is going To be my strength Though my sorrows may last for the night
I'm trading my sorrows I'm trading my sickness Yes, Lord ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GOD IS GOOD!
|
|
(As a side note I found it ironic that I had spent so much time researching Auditory Processing Disorder, and had not once looked into Visual Processing Disorder. I think I assumed that because she was such a hands on active child that had to touch and see everything she couldn't possibly have any visual problems)
The vision therapy took up precious after school study time. While we only had to practice the exercises about 20 minutes each day, they drained both Booboo and me. She did not want to do most of the exercises. The ones she had no problems with she liked, but the exercises to teach her left and right caused great anxiety. For both us. For her, I'm sure it was a blow to her self esteem to be doing such basic exercises and not be extremely successful in them. She would become upset and angry and many times storm off.
These exercises were a black cloud hanging over us each day. We were both so aggrevated by the end of the exercise time, neither of us were in a state of mind to continue with reading and spelling practice in addition to any homework she had.
At the end of the therapy she had improved to a 9+ year old level in her visual skills and a 9 year old (right on target by then) in her lat/dir skills, though she was still struggling, and the left/right stuff never did become natural to her.
Her grades at school went up during this time. She was reading better and spelling better too. As before, she still did not have the phonetic awareness, but she could remember the correct order of letters in a word she did know how to spell, and was better at memorizing words she didn't know how to spell.
Four months later and near the end of 3rd grade we were working diligently on spelling, but the old problems were creeping back up. She had a re-evaluation done. Her visual skills were still strong. The doctor had said kids rarely regress in those areas. However, her lat/dir skills had slipped back 1.5 year to a 7.5 year old level. At this time I found out that these skills will regress unless practiced regularly. That meant more of the dreaded lat/dir exercises at home. The black cloud was coming back...
During this same period I was taking a college speech class. For my information/demonstration presentation I chose Visual Processing Disorder as my topic. It was while I was researching the topic I began to run into the word, "dyslexia" at every turn. What was the connection? I searched out sites on dyslexia, took all the "free" diagnostic tests, read as much as I could about it.
Booboo fit all sorts of the classic "symptoms" yet she could read and spell, she just couldn't do it well.
I then made up my mind I would give a shot at teaching her myself over the summer and see how that went. All that I had read on dyslexia suggested that these kids do best with one on one teaching, something a public school could never do.
Mind you, Booboo has not been tested for dyslexia yet. Or any other learning disability outside of the low grade testing the school did in 2nd grade. What is a label anyway I thought? Do we need to spend hundreds (we already have, and where has it got us?) or thousands of dollars just to put a name to her difficulty? *My attitued on this has changed since then as I will explain later.
|