My Child Is Seeing a Private Dyslexa Speciaist..

I understand your frustration and concern about the school system. Amy C. had some good points in her comments, but was off about some others. I am a school counselor in FWISD.

ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS are REQUIRED to service dyslexia students, which is a physical disability -- it's a FEDERAL LAW. There's even accommodations for your child with the TAKS test.n He/she would receive oral testing in math/science/social studies, for reading they receive 2 days to test, reading the questions/answers for them (not the reading passages though), and read through a list of proper nouns for the students (while they look on their own proper noun list).

Dyslexia can show up in many different forms -- there are highs and lows in different areas for each student (i.e. good in spelling but poor in comprehension).......it isn't reversing letters as some may have taught in the past. All/most children reverse letters to some extent when they are young.

As some others have posted dyslexia can run in families as well, so if one child has a diagnosis, I would test others asap................and the FWISD program doesn't start testing until the 2nd semester of 1st grade so that the school can see the difference between a learning/reading difficulty and someone just starting out a little slower or behind. And it can take a while to get to the point of testing your child because we need to collect information prior to sending him/her to test.......i.e. work samples and giving the student accommodations to see if it helps him/her.

I am my school's coordinator for 504 and dyslexia. I have to ensure that they receive the proper help, testing, and accommodations once they've been identified as dyslexic by the district. Having outside testing doesn't guarantee a qualification, but it should guarantee the school will test your child to see if he/she qualifies.

It's important for the teacher to know about the qualification, regardless of whether or not the school tests him/her...........the teacher (if a good one) will accommodate appropriately and you as the parent should help inform the teacher/school of appropriate accommodations if none are offered because of a lack of knowledge on their part. Your private teacher should be able to give you accommodations that would be appropriate for his/her needs. You are not entitled to TAKS accommodations though without the school classification............TEA will not allow it.

I don't know what district you live in, but here's probably where you ran into problems. If your child doesn't strongly show signs of dyslexia or that he/she has a problem academically, or your person responsible doesn't know the signs well enough, then the school will be reluctant to test your child. FWISD has a response to interventions plan that is ran by the counselors. Going through that can/should identify those that need testing.

You as a parent has a right to request testing...........we won't test unless we see a need, partly because of costs, but mostly because of time wasted if all parents requested it without there truly being a reason. Now that you have an outside source that has tested him/her and he/she qualified, that's even more reason for your child to be tested by the school and receive help...............the help can be on top of the private help your receiving as well.................FWISD uses a program developed by the Scotish Rite children's hospital near Plano.
Besides the TAKS and classroom accommodations, they have a 2 year pullout program in the el. schools. Where the child basically learns how to read all over again from a dyslexic point of view. They are supposed to be pulled from regular reading classes so that they don't miss out on their other subjects..........though scheduling can be difficult for this.

Once your child has been identified by the schools they cannot be denied services -- or they can be sued for it. Having a program for dyslexia students is mandatory for ALL districts............though some are just now coming up with one and don't have a way to identify them yet. If your district doesn't have an identification process, you need to show them the law and get them on board with the Federal Mandate for students with disabilities act.

If you'd like more info, please email me at ____@____.com .

Hi, R.-
As a SAHM of 9 children, my advice is to be sure that everyone who interacts with your child understands that he has dyslexia. My daughter is married to a man who was never diagnosed as a child until he was 16 yrs old. He was categorized by all of his teachers as SLOW (and was put in all remedial classes in middle school & high school) because he had a hard time reading. His mother told him to never tell anyone about his dyslexia, which made him feel like he had something to hide. Because of my daughter, he has learned to be up-front, especially to his employers. He had certification tests for his job, and the company has willingly (and are legally bound) to arrange for him to take the tests orally. He has been able to excel by being proactive about his learning disability. Anyway, I have deviated from my point. The point is- tell everyone and get him whatever help he may need. (My daughter had a best friend in high school who was dyslexic, so his parents sent him to private schools who had specialists. They both went to the same University and he graduated SUMMA CUM LAUDE from Law School, thanks to the fact that he got the early help he needed to succeed.)

Kudos to you for following your mother's instinct and getting him the help that he needs, but when your child is in school, you are only one part of his educational team. Everyone needs to be on the same page in understanding and assisting in his complete education. Try to set aside your feelings about the school not helping you initially. Moms always know first when something is wrong, sometimes even before doctors and specialists can detect anything. If the school has a specialist who can also help, think about adding that to part of his new regimen. Good luck to you and your family. My additional advice to you is to never let your child feel that he is less than perfect. Emphasize that God made everyone different in a special way, and gives each of us diverse challenges. That's what makes each of us unique. I have a 16 year old child who is academically and musically brilliant, but really struggles with his weight. One day he asked me why he was heavier than the rest of our family. I told him that since he was so accomplished mentally, God had to give him a challenge that would keep him humble, so he would grow up to be a compassionate and sensitive person. He found peace, and is very secure now about himself and his struggles.

I have a lot of confidence that your child will learn to cope with the disability and will grow to be a successful adult, especially with a mom like you looking out for him! Keep up the good work.

Absolutely full disclosure with the school, the teacher needs to know. If they try to interfere, then absolutely, as nicely as possible of course, shove it in their face that they refused to help before. To please forgive you if you don't want or need their help at this time thanks!

I agree with Amy (the last post)... you need to request a 504 hearing. It's different than special education but can assist your child in obtaining modifications based on the testing you had done. Good luck!

Do you have a doctor's diagnosis of dyslexia? If so and you are in Texas, by law the school HAS to give services. There is a law, they cannot deny you services.
What grade is your child, what school disrict. I have a Junior that I have fought for through more than one school. If you want to give me a call, feel free ###-###-#### or drop me an e-mail ____@____.com
Cheers, Deb B.

I have been told that SCHOOLS DO NOT WANT TO TEST KIDS for anything, unless it's a major problem, b/c if they test and find the kid has a problem, the school/state is required to PAY for all expenses related to the learning disorder. If they can get YOU to pay for everything and test the child yourself, do it outside, they don't have to pay a dime...thus they try to avoid diagnosing kids and will tell you, you have to go to a doctor to be diagnosed, so as soon as the school can get out of being responsible to help, they will! Very sad..espeically when they see the child daily and have a more accurate picture of their school troubles than your pediatrician or other development specialists see in such a short appointment/period of time.

I understand your want to leave the school in the dark....I'd try to get them to test the child again....demand it somehow and if you can get them to finally do the testing, saying there is a problem, then the bill/responsibility of helping your child is on their head and then maybe you don't have to drive so much to/from appointments if they bring specialists in to the school to help your child...wouldn't that be a blessing...good luck.

Dear R.,

I have three sons who are dyslexic - 25, 21 and 9. They noticed right away in Kind. thanks to a great teacher The oldest was having difficulty. He got special help until he was age appropriate to be tested (2'nd grade - in Rockwall) His other brother was diagnosed earlier because of his sibbling and my 9 year old tested early also because of family history. I would take your confirmation paperwork to the school - if he was diagnosed as Dyslexic - he will also get extra class help everyday while in school thru their program - our is called Language Science - he will get accomodations also such as not being counted off for his spelling, longer time on tests if needed and such. This will be especially helpful to him when TASKS tests come around. The teacher will also appreciate knowing - Not saying you are doing this - but we never let our children think they were slow or they never kept this a secret - they have a learning disability that they will always have - It is great you are getting him help, but also get him the extra help he needs from school - They just have guildlines they must follow and they will see they made a mistake. The language Science program in our school system is great - I have raised two very smart almost straight A boys and the last one is re-learning a great way for him to be successful too. I have one still in college and he to this day gets accomadations each semester. You will have to work with the school and each year they will have meeting with you on his progress - If you ever see a problem and he is having different difficulties - you can call a meeting and ask for additional help for him or have his accomadations changed. At lease 1 or more of my guys teachers would also attend these meeting yearly and we all worked as a team. Good luck - you will be you sons partner in his success - God Bless

Red tape is a bummer. Do you know that if your child has an issue it could take 6-8 months to get the ball rolling? By then the year is almost over!

Don't be angry with the school staff. I'm sure if they could, they would have had it done for you right away. Yes. Absolutely. Have a meeting with the teacher when all is quiet and go over his treatment. Let her have some examples to see and advice to her from the specialist on how to teach your child in school.

Most teachers don't have that 'specialist' training and would really appreciate a heads up to make their life a little easier as well as your child's.

Good luck to your little one!

They actually cannot deny a request to test for a disability- HOWEVER, they do not diagnose either so they cannot specifically test for dyslexia. Dyslexia does not fall under the IDEA umbrella (it isn't a physical disability), so if you feel (or the specialist feels) he needs accommodations at school you need to request a 504 hearing and present your information to them. If he does not need accommodations I would let his teacher know the services he is receiving and tell her to inform you if she/ he notices your son struggling in those areas so you can get him the help he needs.

Missing that much school time is definitly going to be a problem though. They will need to know what is going on, and perhaps you can schedule it differently? He could end up failing other courses that he is regularly missing... The PE teacher can't be expected to give him a grade if he is missing 1/2 of his classes... He won't be able to do well in science if he misses all experiements, etc...

I know others will have good advice for you, but I just wanted to add that some private schools offer on campus help for this at no extra cost. For example, Covenant Christian Academy in Colleyville. Of course, private school often costs an arm and a leg, but if finances is an area without struggle you might want to consider this. Take Care!

I am going through the same thing but I did tell the teacher as my son just started the 3rd grade. The main reason I told her was to let her know because my specialist is going to be communicating with her as well to see what the teacher is experiencing in the classroom since he is tutored one-on-one and has ADHD and we want to make sure that the techniques are spilling over into his daily work there as well. I believe in an education team and although the school will not recognize or help with my son's difference, they will acknowledge that I have taken matters into my own hands and will cooperate with me to make my son's education the best possible.

Hey -
My son has sensory integration disorder. He was diagnosed when he was 2, about a week before he started daycare for the first time. I was going to tell them about it, but in "due" time, not the first day just because I thought it was too much to deal with on the first day. Unfortunately, I did not know that they had a large giant sand box that even the teachers get into, so when they went outside, EVERYONE had to get in the sand. My son just stood in the sand and cried for 1.5 hours. I was mortified and upset when I went to pick him up. So, I immediately made an appointment with the Director and disclosed everything. She said that they could make arrangements for him to NOT be in the sand when the rest of his class (and teachers were). I'm glad that I told them everything because it turns out, there was all kinds of things in daycare that freaked my son out. But, at least the daycare knew and they accommodated him. So, my point is, even though the school didn't provide any assistance to you once, you need to share with them what you know. FURTHER, the person who is helping your son now can probably provide your school/teacher information to help your son progress.

I personally did not want my son "judged", but it turns out, that he needed help. And having people around that understood that he honestly had a problem and was not just a problem child helped the transition immensely.

When my son started PreK, I wrote a letter to the PreK teacher explaining the situation (and included a picture of my son in the letter so there was no question about which child we were talking about). I told her that I was definitely a resource and she should call on me if something was going on that was not resolved to her satisfaction.

Fortunately, it has gone VERY well for us. The school has worked really well with me.

Good luck!
L.

As a teacher, I would want to know as much as possible, so that I could use necessary accomodations to support your child in the classroom.

I would give them a copy of the report. Even if you want to handle it on your own, it's still a good idea to keep your son's teacher in the loop so she can hopefully support you, or understand your son's issues better. We also had to get our own private evaluation for our daughter. Once we brought it to the school they were ready to offer her services and were quite helpful. They may accept the report and offer services, but you don't have to accept anything.

I guess I'm not sure how withholding any of the information from the school benefits your child. They should have helped, but they didn't. Now you have information that benefits your child. I would share it with his teachers.

VickiS

I'm not sure what grade your son is in however I know in the Frisco schools they don't test them until end of 2nd grade. I know this because my son was tested. He ended up testing negative but, I received all the info on it. I would have to believe that if your son's tests came back positive they would have to test him at that point and get him started on the program that is offered in all schools. It is very extensive but very, very good. And it is all in-house and they work it around his current schedule pulling him when needed.

Why did the school deny your request to have your child tested? Maybe your son was at the appropriate development stage and not lagging behind the other students? That is a tribute to his "smarts" and probably your willingness to work with him. A wise first grade teacher recommended that I have my daughter tested and the school tested her for dyslexia and other learning problems. I also took her to the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas for additional testing (which was free and which confirmed the school diagnosis of mild dyslexia. Because her performance on standardized tests was much lower than her intelligence scores (and I forget the criteria) she qualified for special services which included speech and reading tutoring. After several years of getting the extra assistance (and occasional modifications) , she was able to be successful in the classroom on her own. You are the best advocate for your child and you probably detected the dyslexia earlier than the school. I would discuss this with your child's teacher. The teachers and the school's are used to having kids pulled out of regular classes all day, but I would try to schedule my son's absence from class at a good time of day so he doesn't miss too much. Also I would just ask who did the testing, and if they are the ones providing the services you are paying for, and what follow up evaluation is in place??
Good luck and be prepared to spend lots of one on one time with your child to help them with their schoolwork.

Hi R.,

I suggest full disclosure with the school. Your son's teacher needs to be aware of any other accomodations he/she should be making in other classes. Dyslexia is a funny diagnosis, because although reading may be your main concern, there are so many other areas that it influences.

Remembering math facts, homework assignments, concentration and mood are all effected by the struggles of Dyslexia and need to be addressed by the teacher. They will probably want to test him again - but they should be helpful.

Good luck!

NOTE: I own The Cerebellum Center in Dallas and we permanently resolve many of the issues of reading, attention and coordination that many kids struggle with today. Please take a moment to look at my website and please feeel free to call with any questions that you may have! ###-###-####

Have a great day and good luck!
S. M

I admire you for listening to your gut and doing whatever you need to do to help your child. There are a lot of parent that would simply let that slide due to expense and time involved.

As for the school, I do think the teacher needs to know what is going on. She/he might be able to understand where your child is coming from when asked certain questions, during testing, etc. I also think it is perfectly ok to let the staff know WHY you did what you did to help your child and your disappointment in them for not listening to the message you tried to convey in an adult manner.

Personally, I would keep on doing what I felt was necessary as a parent, allowing the school to know the progress, etc of your child.

I am all for doing what is necessary, at my expense, to enrich my child's education.

Again, kudo's to you.

There is a Texas state law that requires all public schools to provide Dyslexia services to students. If your school refuses to do that they are out of compliance with the state. As a public school Dyslexia Specialist I appreciate any & all information available.
Good Luck, let me know if you have any questions.
M.