How can I teach my SN child to read and write?

[magso]

My son is 7 and has LD, his understanding is about the level of a 4- 5 year old, has autistic traits, language delay, very short attention span. He is in ms on action + awaiting a draft statement, but currently getting very little support, and hasnt made much progress since starting school. He cannot attend special school ( in our area presently) without a full statement and he is unlikely to get this. He struggles to draw shapes and this is not just his poor fine motor skills! He struggles to hear and recognise letter sounds at the beginning of words, but can recognise the vowel sound in the middle. I am sure school have just decided he cannot be taught. He can learn but needs lots of practice, and then has to relearn things if they are not practiced every day.
I need to be his teacher but feel so ameteur! He recognises about half lower case letters currently, but can't write his 4 letter name (he was able to write it rather big and wobbly before starting school but now has to use joined up writting and that is too complex for him). He comes on so much in the holidays, then looses it each term!
I am newish to the internet and know there are lots of resourses to help SN kids develop, ( like the something special games on cbeebies which he has outgrown now) but struggle to find things and cant get things to work ( hopeless computor skill!)What resourses do others use or find useful? He is a practical/ visual learner and can only stick at something for 5 minutes. Apologies for long post!

[frances5]

Is your child under a community paediatian. in our area the local child development centre has a hand writing workshop for children over the age of six with similar difficulties to your son.

Have you tried to get your son to draw letters in sand or flour. Even if he can't cope with a tripod grip he might be able to make shapes by moving his finger through sand/ flour/ cornflour gloop.

Does he have a speech and language therapist. Would something like the Jolly phonics manual help? They do a DVD which your son might enjoy.

You might find some useful ideas on this website.

www.dyslexics.org.uk

Maybe a silly question, has your son had a hearing test? Getting hearing aids has made a huge difference to my son's confidence.

Your son might like www.starfall.com

Or you could make potato prints of different letters or play with magnetic letters.

[magso]

Thanks Frances, we have just spent happy hour (yes a whole hour!)on starfall letter matching!! american pronuciation but right sense of humour! We use magnetic and foam letters and he can match well, although he doesnt understand orientation yet. We draw in the sand, bubble bath and dirt and he loves cornflour! Pencils and sitting formally bring him out in a cold sweat!!I,ve downloaded the jolly phonics, and may get the dvd thanks. I haven't googled dyslexia since he doesn't have that diagnosis (yet?)but thats a good idea. Number writting, drawing are all skills he struggles with. Have been working on shape copying ( magnetix, bricks magnetic shapes cbeebies smartinies) Hearing test was normal last week.Ds computor mouse skills only just controlled enough to drag and click. Thanks for your help.

[colditz]

Have you tried a V tech laptop? They are about £20 but ds1 got given one and to my shame it has taught him far more than I have!

[colditz]

Piece of chalk and a big car park!

[frances5]

I'm glad your son enjoyed starfall.

I suggested the dyslexia website because it got loads of idea for making learning reading and writing more fun. The sort of things that work for dyslexic children are also affective with other poor readers.

Although I have never used them, prehaps your son would like Cando cubes as advertised on this website

www.syntheticphonics.com/

It has other resources and Debbie is brilliant at answering any questions. She maybe able to point you to other resources which are more appoipate.

[magso]

Thanks Colditz and Francis

[ellis65]

Keep pushing for your child. My 15 year old daughter attends a SEN school, every child is entitled to be educated special needs or not. She may never read nor write, but as long as she can live independently and have a full and happy life, that is all that matters to me.

[magso]

Thanks Ellis, I agree enjoyment and happy social interaction are more important skills than learning to read! Special schools are better geared for children who learn less easily but as parents with an LEA that is in favour of (poorly supported) inclusion we can only keep asking!!. We are wondering about a split placement , as the LEA may support that! Frances I got the Dancing Bear book and have started this very slowly, 5 minutes a day. It is just so sad ( and infuriating!) that school cant do it, 5 minutes a day is hardly a lot to ask!

[magso]

Thanks Cat. I have spoken and written to the senco,(and even the head teacher) but I think her hands are tied by a crippling budget cut. Ds has not had his IEP targets for maths or reading changed for 5 terms due to lack of progress. We are about to request a SN school for his statement. Fingers crossed!!

[ellis65]

why don't you ask your social worker if you have one to get involved, i am absolutely appalled at your situation, i live in Scotland and i must say i have had an easy ride with my daughters SEN

[magso]

I think the underlying problem is the lack of a concise diagnosis! The statementing process, although slow has helped to highlight DS lack of progress and MLD. The SW did go to see the HT who said Ds needs were being met !! ( He was having nightly nightmares of a very lucid type at the time!) The other problem is that inclusion only works if everyone (children and staff) are properly supported! I suspect the policy of inclusion actually prevents staff from suggesting SN school! The school Ds attends has a better reputation locally than most. No he has had no targeted help reading or writting this year, though he did get a little last year.

[magso]

Thanks Cat. If we go to appeal I will feel more confident to state my views! I am appalled by the lack of support, and have said so bluntly but politely in my dealings with the LEA. Ds is not really ready for reading yet - he is at a very early stage! It is all the prereading things like learning letters, identifying sounds, recognising rhyming words, that weve been working informally at home. (I'm not a teacher so forgive if I use the wrong words) We have 2 or 3 'spellings' a week to learn and obviously Ds cannot do this. We play with the words, (usually I only use 2 if there are 3), notice the shape/ no of letters/ what it starts with, make up silly ditties/ letter match with magnetic letters make letter cookies, and draw! whatever gets him involved.
I want to learn how to help him! Are there any course/ books to help parents of SN ( perhaps for severe dyslexia sufferers)support their kids? Much of what Ive found far is too advanced. Oh I so hope he gets a place at SN school!

[hodgeymum]

magso, have they offered you a parent partner to help you through the statementing process?i think if you are needing to appeal they will know the best way to go about it.

[minorityrules]

If you are awaiting a draft statement, I would have thought that meant he IS going to get one. The draft is just to check everyone is happy with the statement (I think)
His statement should list how many hours support the lea think he is entitled to/needs
(this will of course be different to what you/school thinks he needs)
Whatever is written in the statemnt, the LEA must supply

Sorry can't help with helping your child to learn to read but I would contact someone like parent partenrship or IPSEA for advice

[magso]

We have the draft statement but it specifies 'This provision to be made by school from existing resourses'. I am fighting to get hours put in but so far school and lea have said he only needs 6 - 8 hours a week, though we could get it to 10. This is hopelessly inadiquate to my mind ( Ds has complex needs- reading is just one need and he is now very behind after poor support for 3 years). It is too few hours to allow Ds to thrive and also too few to qualify for a special school where a 'full' statement is required what ever that means. Does any one know if hours are still put in if a MLD school isnamed on the statement?
We do have a lovely parent partnership lady who is coming with us for our meeting with the LEA. However she does not know my child and I sometimes wonder if I am the only one who does ( I know how small and slow each little step forward is)!!!
Thanks for your support.

[hodgeymum]

gosh it sounds like it is you get huge variations in support offered by LEAs.we are at the proposed statement stage for our 5yr old ds who has language delay and social communication problems,we were hoping for some classroom support but they have offered him a full time place at a language resource centre.What is a MLD?sorry i am a bit new to all this!I will keep my fingers croosed that you can sort something out at the meeting,hope your parent partner can help with all the red tape.good luck!

[minorityrules]

Google IPSEA to get their number. They are run by volunteers so may take a while to answer but they can help and advise you

As far as I am aware there is only one kind of statement, draft just means it isn't the final copy

You are being treated very badly and you will prob have to fight the LEA as they are only interested in not giving funds to support children with additional needs. You don't have to agree to the statement either and you have a right to appeal

Please phone IPSEA and also try www.specialkidsintheuk.org
There are parents there that can advise you on how to do this much better than me

I hope you can get this sorted

[magso]

I know Ds will get a statement. What i fear is that it will not help enough. Sadly I feel half the battle is with school! They have to support (all newly)statemented children from their own resourses since the new system, so obviously it is best to have the least support documented. I have named a MLD school as I really dont think DS school want to support him. I am told it is unlikely he will get the MLD placement yet, so I still need to get more detail and quantification in the statement in case DS has to ride out another year at his present school. I am in favour of well supported inclusion but this is not happening locally. It feels like nobody is on our childs side!! I have tried to ring IPSEA (about 5x each day since Feb) and never got beyond the message machine!!! Anyone recommend a time?
Thanks for your advice and concern.

[MrsMarvel]

Hi Magso, hope things are better now. Have you got your statement yet?
I've read through this thread and one thing that bothers me was that you said that ds does well during the holidays but it stops during termtime. This indicates that things are seriously wrong at school and I would try to document this if you can, ready for an appointment with an adviser. Eg. IPSEA or NASEN. Parents for Inclusion may also help, and also your LEA should have a Parent Partnership Service.

The other thing that I wondered about was whether he has had hearing tests.

As a SEN parent I often forget that some people see my DD and don't know how to handle her - they then get defensive or just ignore her. I never understand this at the time because to me she is perfectly normal. I can accept that kind of behaviour from strangers but it's unacceptable for your school to treat your daughter like this and not get her the help she needs.

[MrsMarvel]

oops sorry I mean your son!

[moondog]

I would recommend input from a slat too.They (we,for I am one!) know a great deal about phonolgical skills,arguably more than teachers.

I have taught my own child 9who has language difficulties) to read and write using my skills.

[Reallytired]

What is a slat?