Includes tips and strategies for kids, teens, and adults with dyslexia Understand what dyslexia is, assess schools and programs, and help your child succeed Does your child mix up d's and b's? Does he or she have trouble reading? If so, the cause may be dyslexia. But don't worry -- these days, there are many ways to overcome dyslexia. This hands-on guide leads you step by step through your options -- and explains how anyone with dyslexia can achieve success in school and life. Discover how to * Recognize the symptoms of dyslexia * Understand diagnostic test results * Set up an Individualized Education Program (IEP) * Work effectively with teachers * Improve your child?s reading skills

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 What You’re Not to Read 3 Foolish Assumptions 3 How This Book Is Organized 3 Part I: Figuring Out What Dyslexia Is All About 4 Part II: Determining When to Get a Diagnosis 4 Part III: Exploring Your Options for Schools and Programs 4 Part IV: Taking Part in Your Child’s Treatment 5 Part V: Moving beyond the Childhood Years 5 Part VI: The Part of Tens 5 Part VII: Appendixes 5 Icons Used in This Book 5 Where to Go from Here 6 Part I: Figuring Out What Dyslexia Is All About 7 Chapter 1: Understanding the Basics of Dyslexia 9 Defining Dyslexia in Plain Terms 10 Zeroing In on the Symptoms of Dyslexia 11 Deciding When to Have Your Child Tested 12 Exploring Different Schools and Programs for Your Child 13 Helping Your Child with Activities at Home 14 Watching Your Dyslexic Child Grow 16 Chapter 2: Pinpointing What Dyslexia Is (And Isn’t) 17 Understanding the Real Meaning of “Dyslexia” 17 Looking at the straight facts 17 Moving away from common misconceptions 18 Classifying dyslexia as a “learning disability” 19 Investigating the Causes of Dyslexia 20 Weighing up brain research 20 Getting into genetics 22 Breaking Down Dyslexia into Different Types 23 Looking at Other “Dys” Conditions Related to Dyslexia 24 Dysgraphia: Difficulty with writing 24 Dyscalculia: Difficulty with math 25 Dyspraxia: Difficulty with motor skills 25 Comparing Dyslexia to ADD and ADHD 26 Examining ADD 27 Checking out ADHD 28 Chapter 3: Being Alert to Symptoms of Dyslexia at Any Age 29 Understanding Why It’s Important to Look for Signs 30 Appreciating that dyslexia is unexpected 30 Being savvy about screening tests and what one teacher can do 31 Avoiding the “wait awhile” trap 32 Noticing Your Preschooler’s Late Development 32 Watching Your School-Age Child Fade 33 Recognizing Signs of Dyslexia at Older Ages 35 Seeking out signs in teenagers 35 Acknowledging adult symptoms 36 Referring to Your Family’s History 37 Part II: Determining When to Get a Diagnosis 39 Chapter 4: Watching Your Child Carefully at a Young Age 41 Keeping a Close Eye on Early Skills 41 Talking late and unclearly 42 Battling ear infections 43 Seeing a range of vision problems 44 Having trouble with playing and dressing 46 Displaying weak pre-reading skills 47 Engaging in Pre-Reading Activities at Home 48 Developing print awareness 48 Zeroing in on phonemic and phonics skills 48 Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten 51 Stirring up good feelings about school 51 Helping your child with language skills 52 Nurturing other academic skills 52 Encouraging fine motor skills 53 Showing your child what’s sociable 54 Putting your child in charge of his personal information 54 Chapter 5: Acting Quickly with Your School-Age Child 55 Understanding Why a Quick Response to Reading Problems Is Critical 55 Noticing Dyslexic-like Behaviors at Home 57 Struggling with written words 57 Feeling unhappy 58 Being disorganized 58 Asking Your Child’s Teacher to Look for Dyslexic-like Behaviors in Class 59 Laboring with reading 60 Writing with difficulty 61 Making predictable spelling errors 62 Coping with other classroom tasks and issues 63 Behaving unusually 63 Chapter 6: Testing Your Child for Dyslexia 65 Deciding When to Get a Diagnosis 66 Examining Different Kinds of Tests 67 Looking at language tests for preschoolers 67 Making sense of vision and hearing tests 68 Surveying early screening tests 69 Understanding IQ tests 70 Picking out performance tests 71 Charging up for a test battery 73 Choosing Your Test Administrator Wisely 74 Selecting a specialist within your child’s school district 74 Investigating independent testers outside your child’s school district 75 Preparing Your Child (And Yourself) for Testing 77 Receiving Test Results and Putting Them to Work 78 Breaking down terminology in test results 79 Finding out that your child has an LD 80 Discovering that your child won’t be recognized as having an LD 81 Looking at Your Options When You Decide Not to Test 85 Part III: Exploring Your Options for Schools and Programs 87 Chapter 7: Choosing the Best School for Your Child 89 Questioning the Kind of School Your Child Needs 90 Looking at What a Traditional Public School Offers 92 Supplying assessment services 92 Homing in on school programs 92 Giving help above and beyond the classroom 96 Providing sensitivity to your child’s needs 97 Meeting the Staff in a Traditional Public School 99 Familiarizing yourself with the classroom teacher 99 Acquainting yourself with the resource teacher 101 Checking out school specialists 102 Paying special attention to the support staff 103 Taking note of the principal 103 Getting the Scoop on Alternative Schooling 104 Finding out about charter schools 104 Feeling the pull of magnet schools 105 Choosing a private school 105 Examining Montessori schools 106 Walking the Waldorf (or Steiner) path 106 Deciding on a school for dyslexics 107 Thinking about home schooling 108 Chapter 8: Investigating the Individualized Education Program 113 Probing into the Basics of an IEP 113 The nuts and bolts of an IEP meeting 114 The fine print of an IEP document 115 Ensuring a Successful IEP Meeting 117 Preparing yourself 117 Making the meeting work for you 119 Surveying the Services That Your Child Receives with an IEP 120 Looking at the Legal Nitty-Gritty of IEPs 121 Examining the acts governing IEPs 121 Knowing your rights — and your child’s 123 Chapter 9: Securing Help without an Individualized Education Program 125 Making the Most of Choices in School 125 Looking for Help Outside School 126 Scoping out specialized dyslexia therapies 126 Considering dyslexia clinics 127 Paying an individual tutor 128 Opting for a general learning center 130 Giving Academic Support at Home 134 Letting your child take the lead with homework 134 Setting up homework management methods 135 Using technology 137 Steering clear of a math meltdown 141 Chapter 10: Working Productively with Your Child’s Teacher 143 Requesting and Preparing for a Conference 144 Asking the teacher to meet 144 Assembling important info 145 Determining whether to bring your child 145 Keeping a Conference on Track and Following Up Smartly 146 Creating a positive mood 146 Emphasizing your child’s needs 147 Pushing your points firmly 148 Adhering to the teacher’s goals 149 Taking action after a conference 149 Coming Up with Cool Accommodations 150 Understanding oral instructions clearly 151 Reading large amounts of text 151 Comprehending text 152 Writing large amounts of text 152 Copying from the board with ease 153 Spelling successfully 153 Finishing classroom work and homework on time 154 Avoiding Dyslexic Land Mines with a Teacher’s Help 154 Being graded, tested, and (worst) retained 154 Learning in parrot fashion 158 Part IV: Taking Part in Your Child’s Treatment 159 Chapter 11: Putting Memorizing, Visualizing, and Rhyming to Good Use 161 One by One: Starting with Single Letters 161 Drawing pictures into vowels 162 Knocking b and d into shape 163 Putting P in its place 165 Letters Joining Forces: Getting on Top of a Few Good Spelling Rules 165 Blatantly Bossy e 166 Extroverted and introverted vowels 168 An old favorite: “i before e except after c” 169 I Know You! Having Fun with Sight Words 171 Ten at a time 172 Picture this 173 Bang! 174 Word roll 174 Five up 175 Bingo 175 Do You See the Sea? Distinguishing between Sound-Alike Words 176 The Hard Stuff: Remembering Especially Tricky Words 178 Chapter 12: Playing with Phonics 179 Emphasizing Single Letters 179 Cozying up with consonants 180 Taking a long look at short vowels 181 Introducing letters by name 182 Building Three-Letter Words in Word Families 182 Putting together “at” 183 Moving on up with “bat,” “cat,” “fat,” and more 183 Running through additional word families 184 Mixing It Up with Blended Consonants 184 Blends at the beginning 185 Blends at the end 185 Delving into Digraphs 187 Mastering Tricky Vowel Sounds 189 Opening up to long vowels 190 Hearing “y” sound like a vowel 190 Surveying schwa vowels 192 Singling out sound-alike chunks featuring vowels 193 Partnering vowels with “r” 196 Lopping vowels off the ends of words 197 Bringing Consonants under Control 198 Unmasking consonants in disguise 198 Sounding out the softies 199 Spotting the silent types 202 Doubling up 203 Chapter 13: Sprinting Ahead with Reading Basics and Practice 205 See Jane Read: Looking at Reading Fundamentals 205 Being quick to recognize sight words 206 Feeling good about phonics 207 Understanding about comprehension 207 In the Habit: Establishing a Happy Reading Routine 209 Page after Page: Using Special Strategies for Reading Success 211 Choosing the right books 212 Reading to your child first 215 Pairing up to read 216 Running through multiple readings 217 Nice and Gentle: Handling Your Child’s Difficulties with Kindness 219 Knowing when to give a quick answer 219 Having your child figure a word out when the time is right 220 Helping your child find contextual cues 220 Chapter 14: Taking Advantage of Multisensory Methods 223 Bringing the Term “Multisensory” Down to Earth 223 Distinguishing multisensory teaching from traditional methods 224 Fitting together “multisensory” and “structured and sequential” teaching 225 Setting the Stage for Multisensory Success 226 Making Homework Multisensory 227 Setting up a happier homework environment 227 Helping your child understand new information 228 Having Practical Stuff for Playing at Your Fingertips 229 Modeling clay 229 Gummy mixtures 229 Sandpaper 230 Laminate 230 Scissors 231 Flashcards 231 Board games 233 Computer games 234 Other great tools to have on hand 234 Working Physical Activity into Your Child’s Routine 235 Experimenting with Alternative Multisensory Treatments 236 Coloring pages of text 236 Reading a new font 237 Listening to different messages in each ear 237 Eating fish 238 Chapter 15: Handling Everyday Activities and Difficulties 239 Talking Your Child into Feeling Good 240 Understanding your child’s feelings 240 Listening carefully 241 Empowering your child 243 Responding calmly to your child’s mistakes 244 Helping Your Child with Space, Time, and Sequence 245 Spacing out 246 Timing is everything 250 Following a sequence 252 Maintaining Harmony in the Home 254 Sharing the load 254 Toeing the line 254 Strengthening bonds between siblings 255 Part V: Moving beyond the Childhood Years 257 Chapter 16: Assisting Dyslexic Teens 259 Instilling New Life Skills 259 Aiming for high self-esteem 260 Fostering more independence at home 261 Making time for rest and play 262 Getting behind the driver’s wheel 262 Facing School Challenges Head-On 263 Moving toward self-reliance with schoolwork 263 Enforcing order on those files 264 Staying on top of all the reading and writing 264 Taking notes 266 Studying the right foreign language 268 Giving great speeches 270 Planning for college and jobs 270 Encouraging the Development of Work Skills 271 Keeping up with extracurricular activities 271 Doing some good with community service 272 Finding a part-time job 272 Chapter 17: Heading Off to College 275 Keeping a Well-Stocked Portfolio 275 Providing proof of dyslexia 276 Gathering academic results 277 Giving evidence of school and community involvement 281 Researching Majors and Schools 282 Deciding on potential fields of interest 282 Examining different types of colleges 282 Focusing on Target Schools 284 Touring campuses 284 Asking about disability programs 285 Handling the Application and Interview Process 285 Completing applications with ease 286 Impressing interviewers 287 Picking the Winning School 288 Finding Help with Financing 289 Successfully Keeping Up with Grades 291 Chapter 18: Succeeding with Dyslexia in Adulthood 293 Benefiting from a Late Diagnosis 293 Looking at Helpful Programs and Treatments for Adults 295 Heading to the classroom 296 Improving your reading skills at home 296 Knowing Your Workplace Rights as a Dyslexic Adult 297 Making small accommodations for big results 298 Receiving reliable advice 299 Keeping Family and Friends in the Frame 299 Part VI: The Part of Tens 301 Chapter 19: Ten Tools for Making a Dyslexic’s Life Easier 303 A Pencil Grip 303 Pens with Erasable Ink 303 Colored Files and Other Handy Items 304 A Wristwatch 304 A Pocket Spell Checker 304 A Cell Phone and a Personal Organizer 305 Books on Tape (Or CD) 305 A Photocopier 305 A Word Processor and the Internet 306 Speech-to-Text Software 306 Chapter 20: Ten Well-Known Dyslexia Programs and Treatments 307 Orton-Gillingham and Other Phonics-Based Reading Programs 307 Treatments That Tune into Sounds 308 Berard Auditory Integration Training (AIT) 308 Fast ForWord Language 309 Earobics 310 Tomatis 310 Treatments That Focus on Vision 311 Davis Dyslexia Correction 311 The Irlen Method 311 Treatments That Get Physical 312 Balametrics 312 Brain Gym 312 The DORE Program 313 Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes 313 Audiblox 314 PACE 314 All Kinds of Minds 315 The Feingold Program 315 Levinson Medical Centers 316 Part VII: Appendixes 317 Appendix A: An Informal Assessment of Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Skills 319 Picking Out Pre-Reading Skills 320 Visual discrimination 320 Auditory discrimination 321 Phonemic awareness 323 Examining Early Reading Skills 324 Knowing single letters 325 Trying three-letter words with short vowels 325 Blending letters 326 Diving into digraphs 327 Testing for Independent Reading Skills 327 Looking at long and short vowels 328 Getting the hang of y endings 328 Sorting out vowel combinations 329 Spotting soft and hard letters 330 Watching out for silent letters 330 Placing vowels before r 331 Appendix B: Contacts and Resources 333 Getting General Information Online or by Voice Mail 333 Five general Web sites to start you off 333 Five big organizations 334 Talking to Someone Directly 335 Checking Your Child’s Eyes, Ears, and Mouth 336 Surveying Self-Tests 336 Focusing on Alternative Schooling and School Reading Programs 337 Schools 337 School reading programs 338 Laying Down the Law 339 Finding Independent Programs, Therapists, and Learning Centers 339 Dyslexia treatments 339 Therapists and tutors 340 Dyslexia clinics 341 General learning centers 341 Trying Technology 342 Lending a Hand to Teens, College Students, and Adults 343 College entrance exams and other tests 343 College and general education information 343 Financial aid and scholarships 344 Jobs and other life skills 345 At-home dyslexia programs 345 Index 347