Here's a dilemma; I have a family member that is having a difficulty decoding words and keeping pace with the 3rd grade curriculum. There have been several discussions with the teacher and principal regarding the difficulties. About four weeks ago the principal applied the term "dyslexia" as a possible diagnosis. The principal thought it might be necessary to be tested for the child to see if this is the problem. I thought it would be a good idea to have the child sent to the dyslexic center at MTSU to see if this was the case. I mean, what's the harm in finding out if a child has or does not have a problem that can be accomodated through facilitation?
I found out that the parents and grandparents did not like the idea of the child being tested for dyslexia. I was baffled. If a kid can be helped, why not seek help? Well, after a few arguments and listening to their side, I came to an understanding of what their fears are. If their child is diagnosed with dyslexia, will it affect what they want to do later on in life? What if the child wants to be a pilot, will this disablitly affect their chances at being a pilot? From what they told me, it's possible (the father is a pilot). We all know of people who have succeeded in life even though they are deemed dyslexic. What we don't know, or what I don't know, is if they were pegged as dyslexic before they were successful later on in life.
With this said, the child did not go through testing and has been involved in an eight week after school tutoring instruction to see if they can catch up. Once I find out what progress is attained or not, I'll let you know.
Billy, MTSU's Center for Dyslexia is a wonderful facility that is right here at our back door. I do need to share with you, that is my experience that the waiting list to be assessed is quite lengthy. The Center will assess for dyslexia, and prescribe some interventions and perhaps some methodology like Wilson Reading to be used with the student. However, the Center only assesses, they do NOT provide the therapy.
ReplyDeleteIf the child is still experiencing difficulty with sounds, blending, and spelling, please intervene. Hopefully, the school is on top of this and providing accommodations and doing interventions for him.
There are many students out there who have dyslexia and are NOT under the LD umbrella. They may meet the first prong of the eligiblity criteria, however, their needs can be meet in the regular education classroom. I have witnessed many times that when you give the right support and tools to a student with dyslexia they are able to understand it and face it head on.
The content will continue to be more difficult and he is likely to become more frustrated. He may grow to resent learning because of these negative feelings.
Please try and convince your family to puruse the Dyslexia Center route and inquire what inteventions are currently being used at school. Is he making progress? How long as the teacher used the interventions? I would recommend a parent teacher conference ASAP .
Melissa