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    Joined: Aug 2012
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    suevv Offline OP
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    Hi all,

    We are starting to pull together resources to help DS6 with dyslexia/dysgraphia. I have talked to a couple different types of providers. They have both advocated having DS come for therapy 3-5 times per week, and in bot cases they would need him to come during school hours (after school time slots not available).

    Both of these resources come with strong recommendations, and I guess their busy schedules reflect quality. So - we would love to work with them. On the other hand, pulling DS out of school for 2 hours, three times a week, seems very disruptive.

    I'm wondering if any of you have feedback on whether this intense frequency of treatment is standard operating procedure and necessary to acconplish the goals? And - have any of you done school pull-outs for this?

    For context, we haven't discussed DS's dyslexia assessment with the school. But I'm aware that other kids have been denied therapy if they were at or above grade level, as DS is. And in any event, I'm not sure how much I think of the services that would be available. Track record from my casual investigation is that therapy is inconsistent, with mixed results. I suppose, though, I'll have to share his assessment to get them on board with the pull-out for therapy.

    So - should I pull him out of school as is being suggested? He'd likely leave at lunch, and come back for after school care (which he actually loves).

    Thanks for any thoughts.

    Sue


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    aeh Offline
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    SOP is usually 5x60 for OG or Wilson reading. Some research suggests that similar results can be obtained from 2x60. My Wilson-certified colleagues mostly prefer at least 3x60 for elementary grades, and 3x30 for secondary. 3x120 is quite a lot for a 6 yo, in terms of the length of the sessions, but not far off the norm in terms of total minutes per week. (Is that both reading and writing?)

    Public school might be more willing to let him miss 6 hours of school a week in consideration of not having to pay for the therapy themselves, especially if they don't have a Wilson/OG-certified person, or if the caseload is already a bit crowded.


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    suevv, I can't help you re the frequency of OG, except that from what I've heard from a few parents I've known who've had their children in it, 3 times per week is typical. Although we haven't done OG, we've done other therapies privately, both during school and after school. After school has it's downside as well - it cuts into a child's downtime, and no matter how fun it is (my kids have enjoyed therapy sometimes, other times not so much - but even when it was fun it was work) - so when you add it in at the end of a long school day, it's a lot for a young child. If you try to fit it in on Saturday, you're often squeezing it into precious weekend time or having to miss fun activities because of it. We still tried to do our therapy outside of school whenever we could (to avoid missing school), but I'm not sure it's something I'd worry about too much if it's not doable due to schedules etc.

    When we had regularly scheduled therapy during the school day, I usually tried to schedule it around lunch and recess, and that usually worked well because in elementary school my kids' classes also usually had a "cooling down" or "refocusing' activity right after lunch (like silent reading etc) that wasn't essential to the curriculum, so that gave us a piece of time that was large enough to pick up, go to therapy, and get back to school before the meat of the afternoon's learning/project work etc occurred. My kids ate their lunch in the car either before or after.

    Re whether or not the school believes in the therapy, I see that as a non-issue. *You* know your child needs this, and you know that it's better to remediate now than to put remediation off until a later point in time and you know that 3 times per week is better than 1 time per week etc. Our schools haven't given us a hard time about it at all - but otoh, I didn't give them an out to question it. I told them this is what we are doing to treat x diagnosis and we will be taking child out on y days each week at z time. Period. I did, if I wasn't sure how best to arrange the times for appointments, ask for the teacher's input. Just try to keep it in perspective - the school is just going on what's normal and easy and typical, but *your* focus is on what's best in the long-run for your child, not what's easy or convenient for the school.

    I also honestly (and I don't mean this negatively, just how I see it) feel that it's better to miss school in the early elementary years than missing school later on. It's a disruption either way, but I really don't feel that my kids missed anything significant by being pulled out of school during the day in early elementary. OTOH, they made tremendous gains by having the opportunity to be pulled out and go to therapy.

    One last thing - I know this may sound simple or silly, but there is one side benefit that I feel my children and myself received from the private therapy appointments - time in the car together driving back and forth during the day. It was a chance for each of my kids to have one-on-one time with me, we had some really wonderful conversations, I was able to stay tuned in closely to what was going on in my children's lives, and I think it helped pave the way for open communication with my kids as they grew and got older.

    Best wishes,

    polarbear

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    I agree with what others said. I would take the child out of school for the therapy. However, I would discuss with teacher best times to take him out.

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    suevv Offline OP
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    Hi Bina, polarbear and aeh,

    Thanks for the thoughtful responses. It really helps me feel comfortable with the dyslexia plan. On the other hand ...

    I had a follow-up meeting with educational therapist, and now the recommendation is to do therapy for potential visual issues before addressing dyslexia. Ugh - I feel like I'm spinning in circles and our advisors are sort of just feeling their way. I'm not saying they aren't doing an excellent job. It's just that nobody really seems to know what's going on for my little guy. And the stakes are so high ... I'm really feeling sick over all this.

    Anyway, thanks for your support.

    Sue

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    Has your ds had a vision evaluation by a developmental optometrist? If he hasn't I would most likely go ahead and have one done, depending on his testing results (ie do his test results suggest there might be a vision issue).

    If he's already had a developmental optometrist evaluation and vision therapy was recommended then yes, I would go thru the vision therapy first.

    oolarbear

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    suevv Offline OP
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    We did have a developmental optometrist look at him a couple years ago, and she reported no tracking problems. But perhaps we should give it another go. It seems like a (relatively) straightforward thing to screen.

    Thanks,
    Sue


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