Reading Disability

Lindamood- Bell gives workshops for parents or teachers to learn how to teach/use the Visualization & Verbalization (V&V) method (or their other methods) so you can come back and work with your son. It is cheaper but I think the workshop is 2 days, you may have to stay overnight (depending on where the location is). My husband went to get trained and got books and materials to work with my daughter, but ultimately, it is how much time (intensity) you can spend on drilling the technique into her, so that she can use it when she reads, as oppose to sending her to the expensive intense sessions.

My granddaughter had the same problem. We have tried everything. She sees things entirely differently than we do. We finally took her to James W. Cole, Ed.D, I believe the first visit was $125. He diagnoses if different colors change the way she sees things. If it works then they can get glasses with the right colored lens which helps them see the way they are supposed to see. He is in Walnut Creek which is about 1 1/4 hours north, but I believe it was worth it. We are still working to see if the colored covers help my granddaughter before we get glasses for her. I believe that if you look up Irlen on the internet, then it will give you a test you can give the child and see if you think this might be his problem. I have not looked recently, but you may want to investigate it. It is worth looking into. K.

I have a 14 yr old with very slow reading fluency and dyslexia. A great resource in the bay are is the Charles Armstrong School for Dyslexia. They have a list of tutors in the area. There is a tutor for kids with learning difficulties in HMB. Her name is Marcie Shelzel ####-###-#### or ###-###-####. If you want to do it your self there is the Susan Barton Reading and Spelling Method. Each module cost $300. Alma Heights Christian Academy in Pacifica uses Susan Barton and they have the high school kids tutor their grade school kids. If you called the school you might be able to have one of their students tutor your son at a very cheap price.

The other option which I would strongly recommend is to look into the Charles Armstrong school in Belmont http://www.charlesarmstrong.org/, and Russel Bede in San Mateo http://www.russellbedeschool.com/. I know that Charles Armstrong offers scholarships, I'm not sure about Russell Bede. You have to just ask. If you look in the phone book under 'schools with special academic education', it will list a number of schools. One thing for sure, depending on where you live, public school's I feel are a waste of time. You don't want your son to become totally rebellious about school, and life, and you.

I chose to home school my son and he is doing okay, but he still has problems (they don't go away). I have hired a tutor, and have used Susan Barton, and we use a personal reading program called Kurzweil (this is a fabulous software). I'm not sure what your son's learning issues are but if you want to call me I'd be more than happy to share more with you.

There is lots of help out there but you have to ask lots of question with the right people to get answers (Charles Armstrong is very helpful). I would also ask the person who did the evaluation on your son on what they recommend. You can always make a one time appointment with a educational psychologist to ask for information.

Hope this helps. You have to become your child's advocate. Don't expect your son's school or teacher to do it.

Good luck, and please feel free to call me.

B. ###-###-####

My son was recently diagnosed ADHD with a reading and writing disability. Our family is struggling financially and cannot afford a full time Special Ed school.As an alternative, I found a tutor who can spend between 1-2 hours per week for a lower cost. Rates are between $50-$85 per hour. Depending on where you live, look for these resources on Craigslist, set up a meeting over coffee and get references from their clients. I am just embarking on this journey now so I don't have a lot of information. I do know that the schools have resources that you need to make sure your child has access to, however do not depend solely on the school system with these issues. I am also looking for recommendations for additional resources that we can use at home to reinforce what the tutor is teaching.

Did the school test your child? If so, you can write the Lindamood-Bell or Slingerland training into the Individuad Educational Plan, so that the school district has to pay.
Did you have meeting with the special Education team in your school/district to set up goals for your child. If not, I would request a meeting before school starts. There is a lot of good information about (IEP's) Individual Educational Plans on this website. www.php.com, go to the Special Education Link.

A great book to help you navigate the process is From Emotions to Advocacy by Pete and Pam Wright.

Also, I believe Lindamood-Bell offers scholarships. You can, also, look for Individual tutors that offer this program although Lindamood-Bell does not endorse them. I belong to a tutor group who most of the tutors have experience in this training. They are expensive, also.

If you want more information, regarding Individual Educational Plans and goals, feel free to email me at ____@____.com

Take the testing results to the school psychologist and request that they accept them as valid and request services.

For effective, convenient and affordable instruction using the Lindamood-Bell® programs, consider R.. www.readingboosters.com

Don't give up on the school - take your test results back to the school and request him be tested again for RSP. In RSP he should have access to free assistance through the school district.

I am an RSP aide - I don't have access to those programs, but I am going to be tutoring a few of my regular students over the summer if you are close enough I might be able to help him as well.