Thank you *so much* for the encouragement. The more I read the more scared I'm getting.
We are trying to get her to learn to type but she prefers to handwrite - at a glacial rate. Partly I think she wants to do the opposite of whatever we encourage... sigh. It's also a problem that her favorite typing game is for *speed* typing (Burning Cargo), and she is opposed to anything time based. She has just tried out Dragon Dictate on her iPod and gotten it to work when she reads a previously written passage, but hasn't tried composing on it yet. She just got a pair of noise blocking earmuffs to wear at school and loves them.
She's on her own for math. We have done some DOE EPGY - which, on reflection, is extremely dyslexic-friendly: they offer all the lectures as sound-and-text, and often even read the problems if they're word problems. Once we left public school and quit doing timed, 100%-required facts tests, she's been fine. Her new school is offering problem solving, but hasn't really advanced her math level; since she seems to be ready for algebra, they are going to make sure her pre-algebra has no gaps so she can move on next year.
For writing, she's in a mixed age classroom with 7-10 y/os. She is doing the same work as everyone else this year. Last year she got away with submitting comics instead of articles to the paper, and so on, but this year's teacher is actively preparing the oldest kids for middle school next year. She has chosen to sign up for a fiction writing club where the expectation is about 200 words/week and dictation is explicitly allowed. She's met the expectation about half the time, mostly by dictation. Her phrasing is beautiful. Spelling and speed, not so much.
I can try asking for a referral from our psych department. We already need to set up an appointment to deal with what her head of school describes as PTSD - post traumatic school disorder, the wild eyes and trying to run out the front door when I mention that homework exists. (I wish I were exaggerating.)
Thank you for any suggestions!
