Many parents of children with reading disabilities (and some advocates and attorneys) insist that the Wilson Reading System (Wilson) is the only reading method that can help their child learn to read. They claim it’s the scientifically proven method for overcoming dyslexia and other reading disabilities, and thus the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) supports it.
They’re wrong. And if they take this argument to court, and the school’s experts are well-versed in the research, the school has valid reasons for prefering its methodology, the IEP’s goals and objectives and services are sound, and the hearing officer or judge believes, like most do, that courts should not overturn a school’s decision about methodology, the parents will likely lose. Read more...
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The earlier you identify your child’s reading problems, the earlier you get him the right kinds of services, the greater his likelihood of success. The lesson: Don’t wait.
It is critical to identify reading problems early so that appropriate intervention can begin. The facts speak for themselves: It takes four times as long to improve the skills of a struggling reader in the fourth grade as it does between mid-kindergarten and first grade. In other words, it takes two hours of intervention per day in the fourth grade to have the same impact as 30 minutes per day in first grade…. About 80 percent of students with learning disabilities have reading problems. (Spinelli, 2006, p. 220) Read more...
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About.com, a New York Times Company, has an excellent website that provides parents and teachers with valuable information that can help them help children. It’s at http://learningdisabilities.about.com. By reading this frequently updated website and our blog, you’ll increase your chances of helping children succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. In other words, the more you learn, the more likely your decisions will help children.
To get a sense of http://learningdisabilities.about.com, we recommend that you read these three posts:
1. What Is a Learning Disability?
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/whatisld/a/whatissld.htm
2. How Are Learning Disabilities Diagnosed?
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/learningdisabilitybasics/a/LDdiagnosproces.htm
3. Learn How to Advocate for Your Child
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/b/2008/11/10/advocacy-academy-learn-how-to-advocate-for-your-child.htm Read more...
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Often, no.
With enthusiasm, dedication, and genuine tears of gratitude, many parents advocate for particular reading programs, programs they claim cured their child’s dyslexia. They’re joined by many teachers and private reading consultants. These proponents—genuine in their beliefs and unbridled enthusiasm for particular programs—ignore these possibilities: Read more...
- Good teaching, rather than the particular program, was responsible.
- The placebo effect was operating, as it often does. A sugar pill can sometimes be as effective as a brand name pill costing $100.
- The program works for some children, but only for a few.
- Other programs would have worked as well, or better.
Dyslexia, dyslexics, evaluation of reading programs, Orton, Orton-Gillingham, reading, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, reading program, Reading Programs, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, Wilson Reading, Wilson Reading System
Jay Mathews is an outstanding educational columnist for The Washington Post. Although I sometimes disagree with him, I also learn a lot from him.
A few days ago, he published a sad but all-too-common story about a student with learning disabilities who was not getting the services he needed. As he started the story, Matthews wrote: “I … avoid special education stories because they all seem the same, one tale after another of frustrated parents and ill-equipped educators trying but failing to find common ground, calling in lawyers while the children sit in class, bored and confused.” Read more...
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