If there is a learning disabled school, enroll him there. We are fortunate to have a terrific one in a suburb of Cleveland Ohio,(the Lawrence School),  where we put our daughter in 4th grade. She has fairly  severe auditory and visual processing deficits and comordid ADHD. We moved from New York to Ohio, in part, for the Lawrence School. It has made all the difference. Before Lqawrence, she had been in the public school with considerable support, including special ed,tutors, and an aid. When she hit 4th grade however,it  became much  more difficult for her to keep up. Of equal (if not more) concern, was the social aspect. She had always been avery happy girl with friends, and suddenly, kids began to recognize her differences and began excluding her, which was extraordinarily painful. Now, at the Lawrence School, she absolutely loves going to school. It is like night and day. If you do not have an LD school, try to get him a reading specialist trained in the Wilson reading method to tutor him 3x or so a week, and realize and come to accept that reading will always be incredibly difficult for him. Best of luck and just try to support him as much as you can and hook in with LD.online and other LD organizations to help both of you.

Hi Julie,

I am not Quinn but am a parent of a child with all of your son's learning challenges and a few more.   I am also a parent advocate and educate activist for children with disabilities. 

It is critical that your son is receiving "appropriate" peer-reviewed readiing methodology and on a daily basis for as long as 90 minutes per day and sometimes as long as 2 hours if the student can maintain focus.  For students with dyslexia, there are a host of research-based methodologies such as LindaMood-Bell (www.lindamoodbell.com ), Wilson Reading, Sonday System (www.pcieducation.com ), Language! (www.sopriswest.com ), although Language! is not my favorite for students with dyslexia and Orton Gillingham (you have to be very careful with this one to make certain the teacher has thorough training). 

It is also important that you get your son reading on a daily basis.  Let him read anything (appropriate of course!) that he is interested in and that includes magazines, newspapers and comics. 

Regarding homework...if your son is more and more frustrated then the work is most likely beyond his present level of "independent" reading.  Homework is only helpful if it is building skills and concepts that have already been taught.  Your son's brain is working "extra" hard during his school day and he may have little capacity left for homework.  You can talk with his special education teacher about arranging for more of the homework to be completed in school.  Your son may also need his assignments to be "chunked" and written work reduced.

And if your son has not been evaluated by a neuropsychologist for a thorough understanding of his "executive functions and working memory,"  I would suggest you request an "Independent Education Evaluation at public expense" through your school district or you can also pay for one out of pocket and some insurance companies will pay for or reimburse a portion of the cost.  I believe that UCLA's Psych Department has neuropsychologists on staff. 

I think you might also find helpful information in Dr. Ross Greene's new book, Lost at School, along with his website www.lostatschool.org.

I will not be writing or answering questions on FriendsofQuinn much longer but feel free to post more questions for my response over the next few days....that is, if you have found my response helpful!

You are also welcome to email me offlist for more thorough information willowgreen1@ameritech.net.

All the best,

Marcie Lipsitt

Julie,

    My name is David and I am 47 years old. When I was growing up and still today I have learning disabilities or challenges.Back when I grew up they did not have a lot of resources or technology as they have today. My biggest resource was my family and ministry people. My faith was a big factor and a great support. Even though I am an ordained minister, I am not trying to preach at you or tell you what to do or believe. One of the things that worked for me I call my three best friends; a pad of paper, a pen and a tape recorder. First read what you need to read into a tape recorder. Then write down on the pad of paper what you read while listening to what you read. Repeat the process over and over. If you hear it enough you will learn it. I had problems and still do with reading and comprehension and many times I have to do this still today. I am not an expert on what will work, I can only share what worked for me.

GOOD LUCK!!

                                                              David Hamm

find what kinds of books would he like? What is he intrested in? Biographys? fiction? experiment with him.

find what kinds of books would he like? What is he intrested in? Biographys? fiction? experiment with him.

I didn't like or really ever read until I was in 8th grade. I learned that I don't read books I don't enjoy. When I was younger I loved the picture with word books. I have auditory processing disorder and I also have reading comphrension problems. When he reads have it take breaks becuase I know that helps me. I would say get him in a LD school or get him into smaller helper classes for special education. I wish I got that. I wish I got more help. Good luck!

Hi Julie,

OMGosh, What you wrote is EXACTLY what I am going through with my 5th grader.  He actually liked school until now. Who did you see a UCLA and was it helpful. We have a diagnosis from the school that is Auditory and Visual processong disorder.  Same as your son. 

 Holden is so stressed out that we are considering anxiety medication.

Im am at a loss how to help him.  Any ideas or thoughts you have would be great. I would love to chat with another mom that goes through the same issues as me! :)

linnymail@yahoo.com

We are in Ventura ....

As parents we want the best for our children but at times we need to step back and evaluate the situation. Getting a child wanting to read is not an easy task since they have TV's and computer's. To get my son more interested in reading we use books he is familiar with the character. For him it is Thomas the Train & Monster Trucks. The next step was for me taking time for just us being togther and reading together. We often think they need to read to us but how often do we read to them. We need to lead by examples even as they get older. As we are reading together observe them and try to understand where they are having trouble reading. One technique the school uses with my son is visual aids and color felt squares. Each square gets designated a part in the story to help them remember the story. So ask yourself these questions, what does my son enjoy reading, why wont he read more, what is the school doing to help with his disabilities, what level of reading is he able to read and comprehend? Have you considered comic books for your son to read? If you want your son to read more find common ground and start out small and work from there.