I am glad I could be of at least some help to those of you struggling for answers like myself. If you do think you may have a child with a similar situation as our son, you might want to click on this link for "The Mislabled Child":
http://mislabeledchild.com/ .There are a number of informative links on that webpage - including a video interview the Eide's gave to a t.v. station:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6475234045666459537&hl=en and a very good power point slide presentation on Stealth Dyslexia:
http://mislabeledchild.com/bostonstealthdyslexia.pdf . Maybe some of you will also find their site helpful.
I truly was impressed with the Eides for responding to my email message. I never really expected to hear back from them, but figured it was worth a shot. After our negative experience here with our local psychologist, I honestly didn't have a very good taste in my mouth about those in that profession. I am happy to say that the Eides have helped to reverse that opinion. It is so nice to know that there are actually selfless, giving people in professions like this who do really care about those who are floundering around for answers. The Eides did not have to respond to me, yet they took the time out of what I am sure must have been a busy day to to attempt to provide me with some helpful information - all at no benefit of themselves, I might add. In fact, they even attached a relevant article to my situation on their email. They apparently have just written it for a publication, so they asked that I not circulate it to anyone else due to publication issues. That selfless and helpful kind of attitude is exactly what I have been talking about and was greatly appreciated by our family.
Grinity - I've used several different homeschooling methods with Ds. Initially I started out with a somewhat classical eclectic approach using Ambleside Online and supplementing with various other math (Abeka)and spelling(Sequential Spelling) and Grammer (First Language Lessons and Easy Grammer". Ds seemed to do pretty well with that, although he did not like narrating the Ambleside selections - even though we were doing it orally. And he simply got bored with the spelling. When we began homeschooling dd last fall we decided that with our attention spread out we might benefit from a boxed curriculum of sorts. Because we travel alot we decided to do the Bob Jones dvds. Content-wise, they are great - but they are very time consuming and not always easy to operate because of technical difficulties. If we were to hs next year, I honestly have no idea what curriculum path we would choose! I am trying to find out more on things that would be helpful for ds. Just discovered "Kidspiration" graphic organizers today and that looks like something that will definitely help ds in his writing/organizing. Although typical ds, he is digging in his heals and balking over doing anything "new and different", despite whether it might actually be easier for him in the long run!
I also discovered a link to the CTY program and am trying to find out more about if that could be something we should pursue with ds. I saw their website mentioned disabilities, but I don't know if the writing /spelling issues ds seems to have would be included in that. Regardless, it is just one example of ways I am trying to "think out of the box" to help ds to fulfill his potential and not feel excluded because of his weak areas.
As far as "cranking up" ds' level a notch or two in his strong areas, I'm kind of trying to do that already a bit - but am having difficulty identifying just what kind of activities a highly verbal child like him will find challenging yet not too frustrating. It's definitely worth exploring, however!
Thanks for all the input, everyone!
Diane
