Here is your opportuntiy to ask Christie Berry about your special needs and home educating situations. Read through the blog for answers to your questions, there may be an answer for you! If not, send her your question! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:57:00 -0500 Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:57:00 -0500 I found a link to you from another homeschool site.   I am homeschooling a highly gifted son, age 8, with other "stuff" going on. He has very poor social skills, possible AD/HD, definitely not Aspergers or anything else on the "spectrum", though several have suggested it; maybe NLD or executive function disorder of some sort? He is very high functioning in Math (finishing Singapore 4B). He can read well into middle school level material with excellent recall and good (not always excellent) comprehension and is finishing 4th grade science and social studies. He has significant impulse and emotional control issues. Meltdowns are decreasing since I've been using Free Spirit Laugh and Learn books. In writing, he can form letters beautifully if you let him have 15 minutes or so per sentence, with many erasures to correct the still regular reversals, but can't put a thought on paper for any reward. His spelling is maybe first to second grade. We do short daily copy work. He "gets" grammar as long as he doesn't have to do more than circle or underline words and find errors.He has been taking piano for a year and is progressing well above average pace. He has no gross motor issues, and does well in soccer , gymnastics, and karate, except for getting along with his classmates. He has finally learned to zip and button if the zipper pull or button are large-ish, but can't tie at all. I finally caved in 6 weeks ago and the pediatrician and I are doing some med trials for the AD/HD. The Ritalin LR worked great the first month, but he started developing facial tics. Focalin is not working as dramatically, but the tics are gone.   When I had him tested 1 1/2 years ago, it cost me $1000 for the WISC-IV and WIAT. The psychologist suggested follow-up for ADHD and Aspergers, but made no other attempt to explain the scattered sub-test scores or Verbal-Performance difference.  I just can't afford more testing to get labels, but I'm desperate to help this amazingly bright kid who can't write, spell, or get along with other kids,   I have a BS in Special Ed and taught LD for 6 years in the early to mid 80's. I've read tons of books and copious articles on websites, but I feel like I'm chasing myself in circles. A little of this and a little of something else, but not exactly any of them.   He's loving and expressive and amazing, and it breaks my heart that I can't figure his brain out or how to help. Can you give me any suggestions, advice, or direction?   Beth   Wow, Beth, I so understand you! Your son sounds like mine in so many ways! His original Dx was ADHD and absolutely not on the Spectrum. It wasn’t until he was almost 18 when a Psych with strong ASD training and experience determined that he has very mild Aspergers and that the interventions and home ed. that we had been doing since he was 7 was how he made it through at all!   First let me say, going in circles is not always bad! (We actually learn cyclic rather than linear, but no one wants to admit it!) But I do understand the frustration. I don’t believe you need labels, I do believe that you need direction.   As you know from working in Sp Ed every child is different and what works for one will not work for others. Unfortunately, finding what works can be an expensive endeavor. I would love to talk with you on the phone about how I can help. You can call the office and set up a free ½ hour (usually ends up being an hour so be prepared for the time) phone conference. I’ll be happy to give you as much info as possible on the call and I will make lots of suggestions as we talk. I hope I can be of assistance to you as you seek for intervention options.   Blessings, Christie Berry www.christieberry.com http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/516002/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/516002/ Hey Christie,   My name is J. C. and I live in Alabama.  I got your name from one of the Alabama Homeschool yahoo groups a while back.  My 8 year old is having some difficulties and I believe he may have some special needs but I’m not sure where to begin to find help.  It all started about 3 and a half years ago when he was in 4 year old Kindergarten and could not do his work.  We pulled him out of the school and just chalked it up to his not being ready for a structured program.  A few months later, he was on a basketball team and rubbed his ears with his shoulders for most of the game.  I took him to the Pediatrician thinking he had an ear infection but he did not.  I told her about his difficulties in pre-school and she suggested that he might have sensitive hearing and that he would probably grow out of it.  Since then, we have been homeschooling him and he has struggled with reading.  He is 8 years old and is just beginning to be able to read 3 and 4 letter words and still has to sound most of them out.  He also has a difficult time staying on task.  He is very easily distracted.   He and I have been very frustrated.  He goes to a local learning center nearby 3 days a week for private tutoring in reading.  He started out at a Kindergarten – 3 months level.  He is progressing somewhat but his tutor is having the same problems I am with trying to keep him focused on what he is doing.  I have taken him to an ophthalmologist and an optometrist.  He is slightly near-sighted so we got him some glasses which are yet another distraction for him.  He doesn’t where them if we want to get anything done.  I have not received much guidance from his pediatrician on ways to help him.  I am considering taking him to a vision center to have him evaluated and possibly have vision therapy.  I’m really not sure if this will help with his inability to focus on tasks or not.  I feel like he needs something for the Auditory problems also, yet he has adjusted quite well and I’m not sure if the auditory issues are a big problem anymore.  Anyway, do you have any advice for me on where to go to find help for my son?  I’m just really not sure where to turn.   Thank you,   J. C.      Hi J. C., First, let me ask, has he had a tempanagram done? This measures the amount of pressure behind the ear drum and may reveal a fluid problem. It takes less than ten minutes to complete for both ears, but many peds don’t have the small machine to test children with, so they don’t routinely do the test.  If you have not had one done, I would highly recommend it. If there is fluid behind the ear drums it will cause auditory distractions, difficulty learning to read, and eventually (if not treated) can cause hearing loss.   Ok, If you had a tempanagram and his ears are fine, there may be a hypersensitivity to auditory stimulus. Using headphones during independent work can help with audio-sensitivity distractions. There are also some therapy options that can help such as Samonas Sound Therapy.   As for eyesight: All children are slightly nearsighted and it usually only affects distant vision (reading from the chalkboard, seeing things far away, etc.)  As a home educator, this is easily overcome by providing work that is up close. There are some informal evals you can do that will indicate if vision therapy is necessary.   Staying on task: There are several things to consider - First, do you allow him to fidget while he works, stand up at the table, rock in the chair, etc? Many children need to fidget to stay focused. (This is due to an immature nervous system.) Also, you may need to begin working on attention span. An 8 yo should be able to stay on task for 10 minutes without being redirected. You should never have him on the same task for longer than 20 minutes. I don’t suggest increasing to 30 minutes until a child reaches 14 yo and for 16-18 years old 45 minutes to an hour. If he is unable to focus for 10 minutes then there are very specific ways to teach a child to focus for longer periods of time. I will be happy to explain how to do this.   I will be in Birmingham for the Chef convention in June. We will be having 30 minute free consults at the convention. If you would like to talk with me directly you can call our office for a phone consult. We have a sliding scale fee for phone consults. You can contact our office at 256-829-1074 and talk with Donna. She can send you an info packet or give you info over the phone for our consults and fees. We also have a cover school if you feel you need more help.   Blessings, Christie Berry     Christie,   Thank you so much for your response.  He has not had a tempanagram done.  I’m going to call around today to find someone that has the machine.  We will start there and see what we can find.  I am also going to implement your suggestion of not having him on the same task for too long.  I may be calling you in the future for a phone consult.  I’m going to try these other things and see how it goes first.   Thanks again for help.   J. C. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/332135/ Tue, 22 May 2007 16:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/332135/   We need your help! We are updating our websites and would like to tell others how we have helped you! Send us your testimony and we will send you the Free E-book Learning Styles and Interests!     Learning Styles and Interests is a $15.00 value, FREE! This is a great resource for those just starting out as well as for seasoned home educators! This book provides information on learning styles, personality, talents, gifts and abilities and their effect on how our children learn! Includes worksheets and questionnaires to use with your children to find out how they learn best and what their interests are.   Just send us your testimonies of how we helped you to cberry@onefaithmin.org and we will reply with a link to a copy of this E-book for you to download onto your computer to read or print! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/193701/ Thu, 31 Aug 2006 09:28:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/193701/ Dear Christie,   I have really enjoyed reading about you and from you on the website. My husband and I are planning to homeschool our son in the near future. (He is 11, in a 4th grade class in public school but performs on a 1st/2nd grade level). How do we go about investigating the legality of homeschooling a special needs child? I think my concerns are about the standardized testing requirements. Our son does not have to take SATs right now in public school. What requirements would we have as homeschoolers in the area of testing or just showing accountability/proof that we are indeed schooling?   Thank you for all the work you have done to pave the way for families like us, Jill     Hi Jill,   By Federal Law you have a right to educate your special needs child any way you choose, whether it is public, private, tutors, or church/home school. As for the legalities in your state I would have to know what state you live in... usually, tho, the requirements for home education students apply for special needs... If your state requires testing for home educated children, there is an option that you can do at home.   As for testing and accountability... we recommend the CIBS-r... This is a simple test that mom's can give through observation and can be used as both a 'standardized' test or an 'achievement' test... (also called normed referenced or criterion referenced tests in that order.)  The test itself is expensive and isn't readily available to parents, however, we do have the test and can provide the training and info you need to give the test at home for your son. This informal provision of the test will provide accountability and proof that you are teaching your child... the standardization of the test is more involved and needs to be administered in a very specific way with the complete testing kit.   The training and testing booklet runs about $25 (plus postage) and we can do it over the phone and send the booklet and paperwork via USPS.   Blessings, Christie   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102847/ Sun, 19 Mar 2006 10:57:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102847/ Hi, Christie      My name is Deb.  I am the mother of a 10 year old boy who has a learning disabilitly. We are really having problems with his handwriting, I don't know if it is because of the disabilty or if he just hates to write. He gets very upset and angry anytime he has to write anything. We have been homeschooling for 2 years now. My son is very smart he loves science and history, but struggles with math. He finally learned how to read and is reading on grade level, almost. I am about ready to give up, it's always a fight with him . I don't want to put him back in public school , I just don't know what to do. I love him and want to help him succeed, but I'm about worn out. I found your sight on the internet and thought you might have some insight, since you deal with special needs children. I hope you don't mind me sending this email.God's blessings,   Sincerly Deb     Hi Deb, You are so welcome to email me any time! I'm glad to help.   There are several thoughts and questions that I have derived from your email... Questions: What is your son's disability? You may be right that the handwriting issue is connected... I might have a better insight on the relationship between the two if I know what the disability is.   What does school look like in your home? Many times a parent's way of teaching and the child's best way of learning are different and this will cause difficulty and make mom and child feel exhausted and burned out!   Thoughts: If there is 'a fight' when you are trying to teach him, you may have to re-win his heart. To learn, one must love the teacher. God gives us a wonderful example of this in His word. He must win our hearts and then we can learn and change. Don't fight with your son, this will only provoke him to more anger. Find other ways for him to do his work (other than writing it.) Some ideas: dictate, daily oral language, acting out, record onto a cassette tape, draw a picture, tell a story, create a game, build with legos... the list goes on. Use what fits with the information he has been taught. Then use copy work to improve handwriting.   Work on copy work for handwriting -- 5 minutes daily.. increasing it every couple weeks or so by 2 or 3 minutes. I wrote an article about handwriting in our free ezine. I'll try to post it to the blog for you to read at www.homeschoolblogger.com/cberry. You can also find some information there about winning your child's heart.   Don't give up! God has equipped you to train up your child. If you are not sure what to do, ask Him! He will tell you, or put someone in your path that can help. If we allow Him to remove our preconceived ideas of how learning and teaching is supposed to look like, He can teach us how best to reach our children.   You may want to consider attending our mom's retreat in April... it sounds like you need a break and some encouragement! :)   I pray this has helped.   Blessings, Christie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102846/ Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:56:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102846/ Dear Christie,   My son has Asperger's Syndrome. Weekends at our house seem to always be crammed full of things that need to be done, or activities that we want to do. We have no problems going into the weekend. But my problem is the transition coming out of the weekend and into the week. Currently we have co-op class on Monday, bright and early, which really doesn't help, but will end in May, and I am not going back next year, so I am sure this will help, but even before co-op we had issues. Any suggestions?????   Thanks, S     Hi S, This is a great question!   The key is to prepare for transitions.   I would start by creating a short social story for him to repeat on Sunday evening several times and again Monday morning... something simple like:   "Monday morning I will be ready for school and if I feel stressed I will ask for a bear hug."   Of course, you will need to change this for your child and his needs, but you get the idea.   Another way to prepare for transitions is to discuss on Sunday what will happen Monday morning, if your child is old enough discuss times and events specifically.   Ex. "Monday morning at 6:30 we will get up, get dressed, have breakfast and get ready for the day. At 7:30 we will leave for co-op."   Or, "Monday morning at 7:00 we will get up, get dressed, have breakfast, do chores and get ready for the day. At 8:30 we will meet on the couch for prayer to start our day."   When you prepare and prompt for transitions, then the child knows what to expect and feels secure. However, be prepared if you don't stay on schedule! They may have a meltdown if you are off by even a minute! So you will want to be willing to stay on the schedule as well.   Of course, there may be days or situations that mess up the schedule. You may want to add another social story for those times as well, again depending on the age and understanding of the child. They do need to learn flexibility and how to handle last minute changes. Stress from schedule changes can be disarmed by using sensory integration techniques like heavy hugs (bear hugs), holding, sit ups or push ups, or other large muscle work (even fun wrestling will help if you are up for it!) You may also try brushing, chewing, blowing, running, rocking, spinning, or other methods of SI interventions.   Blessings, Christie Berry http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102845/ Tue, 14 Mar 2006 10:55:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102845/ Dear Christie,   I am wanting to send my son for some speech therapy.  He will be 5 in a couple of weeks and he has trouble with a lot of sounds still and it makes it hard for people to understand him.  I understand most of what he says but he is starting to get frustrated when others can't understand him.   I have that homeschool speech therapy program but I just haven't taken a lot of time with him using it so I thought it would just be better to send him for therapy.   My questions are about different programs available.  I know the city schools has an early intervention program and they offer free speech therapy but I don't know if that is 'safe' for homeschoolers to use that service.  What can you tell me about it...... for homeschoolers?   Do you have any knowledge of the other speech therapy programs in our area?  Is there one better than the others??   Thanks, Reba   Hi Reba!   First, the best therapy is one you can do all day every day. It works best with constant verbal ques added to the direct instruction. So even if you find a therapist, they will need to train you to work with your child daily at home. I am not a therapist, but have done speech with Shelly for years. I'll be glad to show you how to do speech using the program you have a couple days a week or even 5 minutes a day, and how to follow through daily if you would like.   If you still want to find a therapist here is the info I have:   Most Public schools have a speech program for 'privately schooled children with disabilities' as required by the Federal Regulations IDEA. You can call the Dept of Special Education and ask them what provision they have. Last I checked in your area(several years ago) it was $500 per student per year which ends up to be 5 - 1hour sessions for the year and most of the therapists won't teach you the follow through for use at home. (This, of course, depends on the therapist.) You will need to find out where and when and go to the therapist for services.   You can check with the United Cerebral Palsy Center in your area as well... They might have a once a month opening available... ask them to teach you what to do daily with your child.   You can check with local private therapists to see if any of them will do a consult or evaluation each month or every other month and teach you the daily follow through for home. Most of them would rather work with your child weekly but this is not necessary if they teach you.   You might want to check with the local universities to see if they have a speech program. You can usually get discounted therapy from their interns.   I hope this helps!   Blessings, Christie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102844/ Sun, 5 Mar 2006 10:54:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102844/ Dear Christie,   I have a teen son that displays what I read to be typical middle child attitudes.  He seems to have an Eeyore complex.  He also seems truly depressed.  We have been very unstructured here, and though I try and try, I struggle with brain fog, fatigue, and therefore -- inconsistancy.  But I think the lack of structure and consistancy further annoy the issues (or maybe are even the root of them).   Deb   Dear Deb, I love your term Eeyore Complex! This would fit many students I work with! You are correct in assuming that the lack of structure and consistancy is the issue! There are many ways to introduce struction into your routine. The easiest is to make a daily priority list of the things that need to be done. Put the top priorities on the top of the list. As you move down on the list the priority is less. Put the fun stuff you would like to do at the bottom of the list. This is your incentive to complete what is at the top to do the fun stuff at the bottom. You can create the same structure for your son. Give him a list, or let him help you write it. Find out what is a priority to him. Help him understand how to prioritize things in his life (even some adults are not sure how to do that.) Discuss why things are a priority and why others are not.   Remember that life will always get in the way and you will want to adjust your list according to the possibility that you will not get everything on the list accomplished. Don't make the list so long that you will never get it done. When life gets in the way, focus on life and when you can, come back to the list and continue where you left off. This system has worked for many of us that tend to be 'free spirits'.   If you aim at nothing, you will hit nothing... If you aim at a goal, you just might hit it. With practice, you will!   Blessings, Christie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102843/ Fri, 24 Feb 2006 10:53:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102843/ Dear Christie, I am working with a friend's son in the afternoons with homework. He is in the 2nd grade. He writes 90% of his letters backward. Sometimes he starts on the right side of the paper to write then going left. He can't read well at all. He tries to guess at the words. He has been tested for dyslexia by the school and they said that he doesn't have it. His eyes have been checked too. He gets frustrated really easy. He is 7 but acts like a 3 year old most of the time. He cries alot, screams out when he gets mad or doesn't get his way. Not like most children, just really angry. He doesn't eat either. He will only eat french fries and grilled cheese. They have to be cooked just right or he will through a fit. He only drinks water and milk. He won't drink juices or sodas. If you try to get him to taste something new he will vomit right then and there and then cry himself to sleep. He talks slow and babyish. He does have a good memory. I know something isn't right with him.   A.   Dear A., It sounds like the little guy has a sensory issue... Has mom had him evaluated by a specialist in Sensory Integration Disorders or Autism Spectrum Disorders? That would be the direction I would go at this point.  Suggest that she have him evaluated by a specialist in Sensory Integration Disorders in your area.   Blessings, Christie   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102842/ Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:52:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102842/ Dear Christie, I haven't had my child tested since I started homeschooling. Testing isn't required in our state and my child couldn't take a test anyway. But I worry that they are learning what they need to or if they are progressing as much as they should. Is there any way to test a special needs child without using a standardized test or going through a specialist?   Mom   Dear Mom, There are many ways you can evaluate your child without using a standardized test. The key is to use the same method each time. You only need to evaluate your child's progress about every couple years. I wouldn't suggest more than once a year for sure.   One idea to evaluate:   Use a graded text book that has a comprehensive pre or post test. Use the same brand of text book to test in a couple years. (I don't mean for you to use the textbook to teach from, just as a guide to what your child should know at a specific level.)     So if you have a 14 year old working at a 2nd grade level in math and reading at a 1st grade level, find a graded math book that teaches 2nd grade math and a 1st grade level reading book.   Have them do the post test or read the last story in the reader. Record how they do. If the child can't read the story, move to the middle of the reader.  If they can read it, they are reading at about a 1.5 grade level (1.5 means 1st grade, fifth month.) If they can't read that story move to the front of the book.   Again, remember to use the same company's text books for testing in a year or two and keep a record each time you test.   You can also contact us and request a Brigance placement assessment. We can provide a simple assessment for a small fee (cost of booklet, instruction and postage) that you can use at home and keep on hand to show annual progress. Each booklet is used for 2 evaluations.   Blessings, Christie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102841/ Sat, 28 Jan 2006 10:51:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Christie/102841/