Dyslexia? We Scoff In Its Face!

originally posted by 04 NOV 2014

I continue to share the great strides my daughter has made with her dyslexia. If you've read my bubbles, you already know the first part but I'll share it again.

We pulled our daughter out of school in second grade because she was struggling. She was failing. Even with her IEP that pulled her out of class for therapy and to give her more time on tests, she'd still fail and it wreaked havoc on her self esteem. She'd worry so much about completing her test when others completed their tests, she wouldn't read the questions and would just answer. She was coming home telling us how stupid she was and that just was not going to fly in this house. Her standardized testing put her grades behind and there were tears almost daily. It was awful.

Started homeschooling her in second grade. Took her back for more dyslexia-related testing and they were so impressed by how much she had improved. They told me they couldn't ask for anything better and to keep it up!

Last year in fifth grade, her lexile score put her at the level of a junior or senior high school reading level. Her standardized test score had her at a 9th grade level average and with her lowest score being a seventh grade level.

I have people asking me all the time how we did this. I'll tell you the secret and it is one I believe with all my heart.

With dyslexia, you cannot beat one-on-one instruction. You can't. I don't care if you have a Ph.D or just a high school diploma. I've talked to so many parents that have similar success stories and their own educational background is so varied. Now, that's not to say we haven't put in the effort. When I pulled her out of school, I took her back to preschool phonics to teach her everything she hadn't learned in school plus added three language arts curricula. But, she's not competing with other students and time is the biggest reason, I believe, that these kids are struggling in school. Now she has all the time in the world and, over the last few years, we've seen her improve everything from her reading to test times. During her last standardized test, even though she is allowed extra time, we decided not to use it and she had no problem finishing in the time allotted.

Her self esteem improved quickly. Now she'll be the first to tell you how smart kids with dyslexia are and she is correct. You just have to find the best way they learn and run with it. And, of course, like I said, one-on-one instruction cannot be beat.