accommodations Archives - Lexercise

Tag: accommodations

Top 10 School Frustrations for Dyslexic Children

Posted on by Marie Lunney

The beginning of the school year is a busy time for families of school-aged kids but it also comes with a lot of frustration for parents of children with learning challenges.

We want you to know that it is not just you! We have compiled a list of frustrations we repeatedly hear from parents of dyslexic children. Have you experienced any of these frustrations with your struggling reader? If so, comment below or share this post to let other parents know that they’re not alone. 

Here are the top 10 school frustrations we hear from families with dyslexic children:

  1. “My smart daughter tells me she’s ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’ because she compares her reading to her classmates.”frustrated child in a school classroom

  2. “She comes home from school in tears after being called on to read aloud, getting a bad grade in spelling, or running out of time on a test.”Sad teenage girl cries next to her worried mother

  3. “The school has told me for years that he would ‘outgrow’ his reading problems, and each year he gets further behind.”frustrated child doing homework

  4. “The school wants to hold my child back to repeat a grade just because of his reading level.”frustrated child at school

  5. “The school is teaching him to memorize words, instead of helping him to learn to read in a way his brain can understand.”kids learning reading and writing at school

  6. “The school treats accommodations as cheating and won’t even consider letting my child use audiobooks to learn.”mother and daughter at home listening to audiobooks

  7. “The school gives my child too much homework, and it takes him twice as long as his peers!”child frustrated at home with too much homework

  8. “The school says there is no such thing as dyslexia since they don’t have the resources to test or treat it.”child upset at school because of his learning challenges

  9. “The school’s tests show she isn’t far enough behind to qualify for additional support.”child at school is frustrated with the environment

  10. “I paid for a test that proves my daughter is dyslexic – now the school won’t accept the results!”school administrator reviewing a childs evaluation

We all know schools struggle to help dyslexic children, and we wish schools would get on board with what science says works. In the meantime, we are here to help. Contact us to connect with one of our expert dyslexia therapists or to schedule a free consultation on this page.

The Limits of Reading Accommodations

Posted on by Tori Whaley

A Story About Reading Accommodations

One day, a bit more than a month after we’d started therapy, I noticed that one of my clients started coming to our sessions very tired. When I asked her mother she explained that the girl was up all night, reading under the covers, with her recorded books. This girl, who previously had wanted nothing to do with books and was falling behind in her vocabulary, now considered herself a reader. This, I thought is what every parent wants (even though my own had complained much about my own late-night reading habits, I know they were secretly proud of me!) This is an example of a successful accommodation.

Reading accommodations allow students to access the knowledge and information that is available to their peers, despite their challenges with reading. They allow students to express themselves and share their stories without anxiety about spelling or handwriting. Accommodations are about access. For a student with mobility impairment, it may look like a ramp instead of stairs, allowing access to the same school other students attend. For a student with dyslexia, it comes in the form of dictation software, speech to text, or recorded text among others. I am so glad that the technology of our present-day has made these accommodations not only easy to access but is constantly improving their quality!

However, accommodations alone are not the best solution for many children. While this girl was enjoying and benefiting from her accommodations, we were relentless in our pursuit of improving her reading. Research tells us that the optimal age to learn to read is before the age of twelve. So, even though schools in the United States switch from “learning to read” to focusing on “reading to learn” when children are eight to nine years old, students that age who are behind can still make rapid progress!

And improving literacy skills beyond the age of twelve is still very possible! Research-based, structured literacy instruction has proven effective with people of all ages and is even used in adult education programs.

I’ve seen this meme on social media so many times: “A child who reads will be an adult who thinks”

reading meme

And I understand why parents and educators would have a strong response to it. Reading is not the only way to learn.

Students who struggle with eye reading can still do amazing work reading. But I still believe that reading should be the goal. While students are learning to read and write, or if their best efforts at reading and writing still leave them falling short of their potential, accommodations are vital in bridging the gap.

 

 

But those accommodations will not teach a child to read or write. Contact us to begin the literacy instruction that will.