 | I have 2 daughters, the oldest (23) has ADHD-combined type, and the youngest (19) has Dyslexia and ADHD-inattentive type. Both are doing very well now, but it has been a lot of work, and I wish a parent who had already been through all this could have helped me along. My youngest daughter just left for college, reading at college level. Although, she was certified for special-ed all 12 years, it was not much help at all. She learned to read through private tutoring (Orton-Gillingham approach). It is multisensory and structured. I am in the process of opening a practice with my M.S.W. here in suburban Detroit, MI to help parents advocate and get the appropriate help for their child. It has been my experience, that in order to deal with a child's learning disabilities successfully, it is necessary to obtain private help. The schools say everything will be okay, but they do not do anything. The only reason I knew not to listen to the professionals at the school regarding my daughter (saying that she was just developmentally behind, and just needed time to catch up) and get her assessed privately and privately tutored, getting only necessary accomodations from the school, is that I have a brother who is dyslexic. The school told my parents the same thing in the early years of school, and proceeded to do nothing but flunk him every other year, never teaching him to read, until he dropped out at 17 years old. Through trial and error I have learned how to advocate successfully for a child with learning disabilities. The parents must be strong advocates for their child, learn everything they can about the problems, and seek outside assistance to solve the problems. Sadly, you cannot count on the public school system to solve the problem, the most they are able to do is provide needed accommodations. I'd be happy to pass on the best practices that I have come up with over the years. |
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