Evaluate teen for dyslexia?

[MomofC&A]

This may sound odd, but would you still have an older teen evaluated for dyslexia? As I think back, she had a really difficult time learning to read, lots of ear infections (and tubes) in her very young years, makes spelling errors, went through vision therapy without much success afterwards and other areas that sound like dyslexia symptoms. She has probably compensated for it in some ways but after having a lot of difficulty with pre-college testing in the last year, I am wondering if I should have her evaluated and follow-up with remediation of some kind.....maybe even just do the remediation without a diagnosis? We still have this summer before her senior year to get started on something. She does wonder why other kids "get" things faster than she does and I would like her post high school years to be a little easier. Comprehension is also an issue with textbooks and of course those tests as well. I feel like I have failed her as I have two other struggling learners who take up a lot of my time and energy. If anyone has suggestions I would be most grateful!

[AngieW in Texas]

I think an evaluation could be worthwhile.

As far as programs go, I would suggest trying Rewards Reading Secondary.

[merry gardens]

This may sound odd, but would you still have an older teen evaluated for dyslexia? ...
IF you know (or have a good lead) on a good evaluator, I think it would be worthwhile. Remediation for dyslexia involves a lot of reviewing the very basics. While you can work with your teen without an official diagnosis or professional evaluation, a good professional evaluator might help you narrow in on the specific problem to make best use of the limited time you have left to work with her. Comprehension difficulties can stem from a variety of factors, from de-coding to vocabulary to other factors* or a combination of issues.

* FYI on other factors: Nanci Bell of Lindamood-Bell has a theory about troubles some people have with imaging the "gestault"or "big picture" that sometimes lingers to inhibit comprehension even after all the other reading issues and auditory processing issues have been addressed. I'm somewhat fascinated by this theory, but I'm still working with other more basic de-coding and auditory processing issues. I haven't given that much attention to evaluating or developing this skill for my own children, but it's on my list of things to do....

[Laurie4b]

Absolutely, I would get an evaluation. If she has dyslexia, she will likely qualify for extended time on her SAT's, etc. and in college itself. An evaluation will give you an idea of what is at the root of what is causing her to struggle. At this point, you really, really want to know so that you don't go down a path that ends up being a rabbit trail. E.g. what if she's not dyslexic, but does have working memory problems? or what if both things are factors?

You'll want at least a WISC-IV and an individual achievement test like the Woodcock Johnson.

I'd need to know more details before recommending remediation. Can she reliably decode multisyllabic words? (If not, REWARDS secondary would be good). Can she decode multisyllabic words, but has difficulty with comprehension? (REWARDS plus is strong on reading comprehension, fluency, and on writing. It doesn't deal as much with decoding. It is set up for students to be able to answer multiple choice tests.) Does she have difficulty with comprehension outside of textbooks? Does she read for pleasure? What kind of books does she read? Are there working memory difficulties? etc.

What I would not do is to try to remediate without getting an evaluation first so that you know exactly what you are remediating and can research the best ways to do it.

[MomofC&A]

Laurie4b said: I'd need to know more details before recommending remediation. Can she reliably decode multisyllabic words? (If not, REWARDS secondary would be good). Can she decode multisyllabic words, but has difficulty with comprehension? (REWARDS plus is strong on reading comprehension, fluency, and on writing. It doesn't deal as much with decoding. It is set up for students to be able to answer multiple choice tests.) Does she have difficulty with comprehension outside of textbooks? Does she read for pleasure? What kind of books does she read? Are there working memory difficulties? etc.

Yes, she does have difficulty with decoding multisyllabic words and also with comprehension. She does have trouble comprehending materials other than textbooks but textbooks are much more difficult (Chemistry, Algebra, History). She doesn't read much for pleasure (likes historical fiction but doesn't seem to get to it often, says she doesn't have time, falls asleep, reads mostly things on the internet and short articles) I would say she probably has working memory difficulties. She has recently gotten really confused with lists of instructions I have left her with for taking care of our younger kids...got the times all confused, was late picking them up and getting them ready to go somewhere. I did print out a sample of Rewards Secondary from their site and she did not immediately know some of the sound combinations or that there was more than one sound for certain combinations. She especially kept getting confused with the Spanish pronounciations of sounds she has learned from taking 3 years of Spanish. She also has trouble with critical thinking skills and Math. She excells in art.
Thanks for all of the recommendations. I got a list of dyslexia evaluators that I will try to sift through next week when I can contact them. I appreciate all of the responses!

[ElizabethB]

Did she learn to read with more than a few sight words? Too many sight words can cause reading problems that mimic dyslexia, but are actually caused by sight words and are not true dyslexia.

You can give the MWIA, if she misses more phonetic words than holistic words or reads the phonetic words more than 10% slower than the holistic words, the may have problems that can be fixed with nonsense words and phonics remediation.

Here is a link to the MWIA (http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html) and some reading grade level tests.

You could also try my phonics lessons and the advice on my how to tutor page (http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/howtotutor.html), that's been successful for my remedial students. My lessons teach all the phonics basics but include 3 syllable words and syllable division rules from the start, they are designed for older children and adults. They're free!

[LittleHouseHomeschool]

(REWARDS plus is strong on reading comprehension, fluency, and on writing. It doesn't deal as much with decoding. It is set up for students to be able to answer multiple choice tests.) Does she have difficulty with comprehension outside of textbooks? Does she read for pleasure? What kind of books does she read? Are there working memory difficulties? etc.



Rewards Plus looks like an interesting option for one of my students. I've found the publisher's website, but I can't find cost information. Laurie, do you know how much Rewards Plus costs? Is there somewhere I can purchase it besides the publisher?

Thanks for your help.

[RamonaQ]

Yes. I think an evaluation would be helpful, especially as you are looking to college. A diagnosis, will allow her extra time during testing and possibly other services at college. As far as evaluators that will help you figure out what to work on, or what needs remediation, I think that will vary with evaluators.

[Laurie4b]

http://store.cambiumlearning.com/ProgramPage.aspx?parentId=019005488&functionID=009000008&site=sw

Here's the link with the prices. The TM is around $90 (gone up since I used it, but they have a high resale value.) The workbook is $10. I don't know of where you can buy it other than the publisher. You need both the TM and the workbook. You don't need the transparencies, etc.

[Laurie4b]

I'd get her evaluated for dyslexia and ADD. And honestly, if you can get an eval fairly soon, I would consider the pros and cons of saving intervention until after the eval. It's very possible that intervention will raise her scores to a place where her brain differences are camoflaged and just miss qualifying for accomodations or something that really would be helpful.

However, from what you've written here, I think a good initial plan would be REWARDS secondary, followed by REWARDS plus. You can do both programs very quickly. REWARDS secondary has 12 initial lessons, which can be done in 45 minutes per day; then lessons 13-20 will need about 1 1/2 hours to complete each lesson, so a lot of people take two days per lesson (or you could divide it into two lessons at different times in the same day.) So that would take 28 school days to finish. REWARDS plus has 6 review lessons that are like the first 12 lessons in REWARDS secondary. She may or may not need that review at that point. Then it has 15 full lessons, which definitely take 2 days unless you want to divide each lesson into separate parts like Vocabulary/spelling/comprehension then Fluency then Writing. So the 15 lessons could take 15 days if they took the place of English and science (or social studies, depending on which of the REWARD plus books you chose) but probably 30 -45 days is more realistic. So between the two books, you should be able to see very significant improvement in 3 months or less. The programs are totally scripted, which means you read what the TM says out loud and you are doing really good remediation. No planning--just open the book and read the lesson.

[MomofC&A]

Thanks so much for all of the replies. Just one more question....
Do we need someone to just evaluate for dyslexia (I do have a couple of lists of those people) or someone with a broader knowledge to rule out other things ? I know with my two younger dc we had to wait months for complete neuropsych evals and we just don't have the time for that. Would a place like LearningRx be a possibility? I don't really want to go where they put the pressure on to use their services after an eval. I felt like that happened several years ago when she was tested for VT and we were made to feel like we had to sign up for the therapy immediately to fit into their schedule (they offered free evals). I know I could handle something like Rewards Secondary or even other programs as I do have an education background and many years of hsing. I just need to know what kind of an evaluator to look for to help her in the best way possible. Thanks much!

[Laurie4b]

I would not go with Learning Rx for an eval. Around here, anyway, they do not have someone qualified administering the IQ test part but say they can do it since they aren't doing it for IQ or something like that.

Make sure that you get the WISC IV and an individual achievement test at least from one of the dyslexia testers and get on the waiting list for the neuropsych to rule out other stuff. You could present those tests for him/her to incorporate into the findings.

[Catherine]

I thought my ds was (he's much younger) but he wasn't at all-he had poor working memory and very slow processing. VT helped him quite a bit, and we are continuing to work on other things.

I think it makes more sense to put off college for a year and get a more thorough eval, and spend more time remediating, than rush it and not get a fuller understanding of what your daughter needs.