Once again, my hero Kelli Sandman-Hurley and her business partner Tracy Block-Zaretsky have done something, along with Learning ally that all parents should listen to, Know your rights. I just spent the last 2 hours listening and taking lots of notes and I have found that my daughter still deserves more from our school district.
One thing that really got me was when asking for an assessment from your school, part of the assessment has to be of an observation of your child while they are doing what you want assessed. In our case, my daughter has a learning disability in the area of reading, so the observation has to be of her doing some kind of reading. It cannot be in math. That may sound obvious, but this has happened. Watch for that. Also, and this I didn't know, as a parent you have a right to see the product that your child was working on during the observation. My daughter was observed during small group doing "plural reading". This was not an accurate observation. She should have been observed doing her own reading. Plural reading is reading as a group out loud. Many children, my daughter included, can fake reading in a group very well. Her comprehension is high during plural reading because she is listening more than anything. What we needed to see is her comprehension when she has to read on her own. This is where we begin to see the decline.
Watch their video.
Visit the following websites:
learningally
specialeducationadvisor
national center for learning disabilities
Wrightslaw
Headstrong nation
Those are all excellent sites for parents.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Dyscalculia
Another D word!
What is dyscalculia? Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability in math. When I read that I actually felt a sense of panic. Dyslexia is listed as a specific learning disability in IDEA law, and it is very hard to get schools to recognize it, how am I ever going to get schools to recognize dyscalculia when IDEA doesn't mention it? Oh man.
Since getting teachers to watch for the warning signs for dyslexia is finally happening thanks to a law in the state of TN that requires teachers be trained in dyslexia, I am now on a mission to get teachers to watch for warning signs of dyscalculia. Here's why...when teachers don't understand that a child may be struggling with reading and/or math because of a neurological issue they may try to help them in ways that won't help that child the way they need it and that child may not be able to "get it". What then happens is what happened to my daughter, she starts to feel stupid. It's not the teachers fault. But knowing what to look for can help.
So, what should a teacher look for? Here are the signs of possible dyscalculia in school age children, thanks to the National Center for Learning Disabilities website, here.
Not every child that doesn't know their math facts has dyscalculia but statistics show that 1 in 20 children do. Right now we live in an age where schools are trying not to label children, and we have a system in place, RTI (response to intervention) that is making it harder for kids to get diagnosed with a learning disability. What I am asking for is that teachers learn the signs of dyscalculia and dyslexia (and dysgraphia but that is for another post) so that they can help their students succeed before they really start to fail and then the system may or may not finally help. I speak from experience when I say, if we wait till the system finally agrees with a parent, you already have a child on your hands that is already feeling inadequate.
What is dyscalculia? Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability in math. When I read that I actually felt a sense of panic. Dyslexia is listed as a specific learning disability in IDEA law, and it is very hard to get schools to recognize it, how am I ever going to get schools to recognize dyscalculia when IDEA doesn't mention it? Oh man.
Since getting teachers to watch for the warning signs for dyslexia is finally happening thanks to a law in the state of TN that requires teachers be trained in dyslexia, I am now on a mission to get teachers to watch for warning signs of dyscalculia. Here's why...when teachers don't understand that a child may be struggling with reading and/or math because of a neurological issue they may try to help them in ways that won't help that child the way they need it and that child may not be able to "get it". What then happens is what happened to my daughter, she starts to feel stupid. It's not the teachers fault. But knowing what to look for can help.
So, what should a teacher look for? Here are the signs of possible dyscalculia in school age children, thanks to the National Center for Learning Disabilities website, here.
- Trouble learning math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
- Difficulty developing math problem-solving skills
- Poor long term memory for math functions
- Not familiar with math vocabulary
- Difficulty measuring things
- Avoiding games that require strategy
Not every child that doesn't know their math facts has dyscalculia but statistics show that 1 in 20 children do. Right now we live in an age where schools are trying not to label children, and we have a system in place, RTI (response to intervention) that is making it harder for kids to get diagnosed with a learning disability. What I am asking for is that teachers learn the signs of dyscalculia and dyslexia (and dysgraphia but that is for another post) so that they can help their students succeed before they really start to fail and then the system may or may not finally help. I speak from experience when I say, if we wait till the system finally agrees with a parent, you already have a child on your hands that is already feeling inadequate.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Speaking of Henry Winkler
I came across this video not to long ago and I have shown it to my daughter a few times. Mr. Winkler is right. School doesn't define her. My daughter is a sweet, loving child with an incredible imagination and enjoys writing her own songs and singing. She is more than what all her tests show she is.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Dyslexie Font
A few months ago I was laying in bed watching the Today show and Henry Winkler was on. I always liked the Fonz. He was on to talk about his new books, Here's Hank about a 2nd grade boy and things that happened to him. Then he mentioned it, dyslexia. Hank Zipzer has dyslexia and the stories are based on Henry Winkler as a kid. I did not know that.
As Mr. Winkler was talking about the books he was talking about the font that the book uses, called dyslexie and that it is weighted for easier reading. I IMMEDIATELY bought both books on Amazon, and I couldn't wait to take a look at these. They came in and my daughter sat and read. She read this chapter book better then she read a very easy K level book. I was amazed.
Turns out this font was designed by Christian Boer, who you can probably guess is also dyslexic. I would love to meet him someday and thank him. My daughter started having confidence again, because of this font.
You can download the font for free here, and there are even instructions to teach you how to change the font on all your websites. I did this for my daughter on her computer and she gave me a big hug and said "Thank you Mommy." It is the little things.
As Mr. Winkler was talking about the books he was talking about the font that the book uses, called dyslexie and that it is weighted for easier reading. I IMMEDIATELY bought both books on Amazon, and I couldn't wait to take a look at these. They came in and my daughter sat and read. She read this chapter book better then she read a very easy K level book. I was amazed.
Turns out this font was designed by Christian Boer, who you can probably guess is also dyslexic. I would love to meet him someday and thank him. My daughter started having confidence again, because of this font.
You can download the font for free here, and there are even instructions to teach you how to change the font on all your websites. I did this for my daughter on her computer and she gave me a big hug and said "Thank you Mommy." It is the little things.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley
Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley is one of my hero's. I mean it. I would love to meet her one day and just talk to her. One of the first things I ever watched about dyslexia was something she did, what is dyslexia and I have shared this so many times with teachers and other parents. It is a little over 4 minutes long and it really explains what dyslexia is.
Today my advocate that I hired to help me get through all the mess, and who I now call my friend, Eileen, posted something today on Facebook by Dr. Sandman-Hurley and once again I am in awe.
Dyslexia in the Schools is a free ebook that Dr. Sandman-Hurley wrote and I printed it and read it today. The whole time I was reading it I thought she was writing about me which just goes to show you, if you have a child with dyslexia we all share a similar story.
I can sit here and post a million links to all the articles she has written but I won't. I will however link you to the blog at the dyslexia training institute and I highly recommend reading every entry. In fact, I will link it on the right column too.
Today my advocate that I hired to help me get through all the mess, and who I now call my friend, Eileen, posted something today on Facebook by Dr. Sandman-Hurley and once again I am in awe.
Dyslexia in the Schools is a free ebook that Dr. Sandman-Hurley wrote and I printed it and read it today. The whole time I was reading it I thought she was writing about me which just goes to show you, if you have a child with dyslexia we all share a similar story.
I can sit here and post a million links to all the articles she has written but I won't. I will however link you to the blog at the dyslexia training institute and I highly recommend reading every entry. In fact, I will link it on the right column too.
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