Dyslexia - school recommendations please (Austin, Highland Park: home, buying, school districts)
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Does anyone have any recommendations for private or charter schools for a 5th grader with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia ? He was diagnosed this year. We cannot afford Rawson Saunders or anything that expensive. We'd settle for a part-time school where kids attend a few days and home school other days just as long as he is getting dyslexia assistance, a proper education and gets to be around kids.
I would also appreciate recommendations for ANY area public schools (elementary and middle) where students are having success. We are willing to sell our home and move where ever we need to.
Communication at his current school is lacking which is very detrimental to his success. We must have a school that communicates with parents. Today, one of his current teachers told me, that she doesn't make it a habit to tell parents when students don't turn in work or doesn't fully complete work. I don't understand that mentality. We have told them that our son doesn't remember things and we need to be told about assignments even in class work. He is failing due to this and now she is saying she just won't include those items in his grade average. What's the point in that? If she would communicate with us, that wouldn't be necessary.
Also, his teachers rather he not do an assignment or not give him a grade than tailor assignments to meet his dyslexia needs. They are taking the easy way out and I find that unacceptable.
They also expect him to come to them if he is having any problems comprehending what he reads or an assignment. The problem is, he doesn't realize that he isn't comprehending the material. We've told the teachers this. They need to go to him and verify with questions that he is understanding the material. Not just ask if he understands it.
Sorry, about the novel. I am just so frustrated right now.
It sounds like you need to have you son qualified under the 504 program (aka Special Education program). If you are qualified under this program, the school MUST provide accommodations in the classroom and/or provide additional resources outside the classroom. Research the 504 program, but here is a decent overview:
It is possible that your child may require an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), but not all 504 qualified students require one. Here is a summary of the differences:
The trick is to getting your child evaluated. It sounds like you son has already been officially diagnosed, which should be the basis for your approach to the school to get him evaluated. The problem is that the administration is not terribly motivated to provide these services if they can help it, since they are potentially resource intensive. The classroom teachers are USUALLY more amenable to recommending for 504, but if not, find out who the special education teacher is at your school and get in touch with him/her. Find the best approach to getting qualified, if your son truly does qualify.
Finally, Scottish Rite Dyslexia Center provided a great program for our young daughter between K and 1st grade. It is not free by any means, but it is a bargain for the money. I don't know what services they provide for older kids, you will have to check, but they may also have lots of resources for you to look into.
Our son was diagnosed at Scottish Rite and Leander ISD did not want to accept the diagnosis. They expected him to retest via the school district even though the testing was 2 weeks old. We refused and fought them on it. Those tests are exhausting for children. They would not accept recent results from hearing screenings nor highly in depth eye exams either. They had to do their own testing even though they were not as thorough. That was quite the ordeal and we found the entire process insulting. Yes, dealing with a specific person in the LISD administration was a teeth gritting experience for us.
He does have a 504 in place. We need to have another meeting, I guess. I've already contacted them. I've learned to do everything in writing even if teachers want to speak via the phone or in person. We are going to be very specific this time. They aren't doing exactly what is in the 504 and I just know this is going to be an ongoing issue. I need to sit down with my husband this weekend and go over the 504 and write a letter to the appropriate people.
They are supposed to communicate to us the things that they request of our son. If they need him to do something, it is supposed to be written in the planner and verified by the teacher that it is correct or emailed to us.
Scottish Rite, is a wonderful place. We are going to look into help there after Christmas. We did not want to put too much on his plate since he is at a new school this year.
There are other things about this school that bothers us. I don't see how a parent attending an after school "listen to this speaker tell you how to raise your child" should have any relationship to your child's grades. We were sent an email stating that if we went to listen to a speaker at the school the next evening that our child will be given a 100 to replace their lowest grade. How is that not buying grades? We did not complain about it although we wanted to. We did not attend the seminar.
There has to be a school better suited for our son, and I hope we find it.
The school does not have to accept an outside diagnosis, as I understand it, but should weight it in their own evaluation. Our daughter has not been 'officially' diagnosed at this time, since the earliest diagnosis age for dyslexia is about the second half of 1st grade; however, it is kind of a foregone conclusion at this point and the 'team' at AISD did look at the paperwork from SR that indicated she had basically every single indicator during kindergarten year. You may want to consider having an outside diagnosis, if possible. I do not know where you would go for that, though. We went to see a psychologist due to other disorders (AD/HD, SPD, social anxiety), and had a comprehensive report provided that indicated the relative severity of her issues, but dyslexia is not a psychological disorder. The severity of her problems documented in the report really left the school no room to 'wiggle out' of establishing an IEP. It sounds like your son is fairly high functioning, which can mask the issue(s) to the 'casual' observer. Even our extremely AD/HD child can 'camouflage' pretty well to the random observer or casual interaction
I know it sounds cynical, but the administration almost certainly would rather pass your child through the system and get you 'off the books' than actually help your child. At the teacher level, it is not so broken (imho), but it can put a significant burden on the teacher to conform to the 504 while trying to carry on his or her regular duties. A 5th grade teacher may have several 504 kids in their class of 25 or so students, and their days are long. Do what you can to help them, as well. I assume you have weekly folders that come home for review and go back to the teacher? Try to work out what you need/want in those folders, and think what the best format would be for teacher to minimize the time he/she has to spend on it - i.e. checks yes or no for items, etc, instead of expecting written analysis of the week. In our experience, sugar for the teacher, vinegar for the administration (or carrot and stick, if you like that analogy better ). Finally, if you can somehow get the IEP teacher on your side or to provide you information, that can help a ton.
SR provided a list of books for us, some of which are very informative, although difficult to actual implement in real life. They weren't cheap, either .
And finally, as a side note, we pay around $6,500 in property taxes per year, with about 50% of that going to the school. Even with one kid, we would be getting a public education for about $2.66/hr. We have two, so it is about $1.33. There just isn't money for the system to be perfect, but it can work out if you stay on top of it. For us, it sometimes seems like another full time job.
Expect to see many lawsuits in Texas over the next decade regarding education for dyslexics! There are laws on books in Texas to support dyslexic students but they are not enforced and working through the 504/IEP system can be a nightmare and become a second job!
Because parents have sued and won students with autism and ADHD get fairly good treatment/accommodations in most central Texas districts, dsylexic kids do not. And dysgraphia is not even on the radar of most school districts!
I will send you a DM.
If your child is severely dyslexic -- then there is no better place than Rawson-Saunders. Class size for instruction is 6 or lower, academic language therapy is one-on-one or small daily and happens daily. Learning organization is build into every class and every grade. But the costs are staggering.
St. Francis School is an independent private school (preK-8th grade) that prides itself on serving a variety of learning styles including dyslexics. They have a Reading Center staffed by five CALT (certified academic language therapists) and they can provide academic language therapy during the school day. All the classroom teachers are experienced with dyslexic and dysgraphic students. Classes at SFS average 15 students and are capped at 18. SFS is much less expensive than Rawson-Saunders and they have an extensive financial aid program.
Scottish-Rite has an after school program that you could use. And there are private CALTS that you could use after school as well.
I can also recommend St. Francis School. My son attended St. Francis from pre-K through the 8th grade. One of his best friends also attended there; he is dyslexic. While at the school, he received the help and support he needed to succeed. Like my son, he transitioned smoothly into (public) high school, taking honors-level and AP classes. The boys are now seniors in high school and both are college bound.
My kid has aspergers, extreme adhd, dysgraphia, executive functioning disorder and a host of other issues. Anyway we are over Wiley and life is easier having a neurologist dx and those papers than Scottish Rite in the eyes of Lisd. They use two opposite programs and don't allow any of the teachers even to attand lectures there. Dr Karnik over at Dells children is great in the field of dysgraphia..We sort of have to make our own noise for dysgraphia and executive disorder to get stuff
St. Francis School is an independent private school (preK-8th grade) that prides itself on serving a variety of learning styles including dyslexics. They have a Reading Center staffed by five CALT (certified academic language therapists) and they can provide academic language therapy during the school day. All the classroom teachers are experienced with dyslexic and dysgraphic students. Classes at SFS average 15 students and are capped at 18. SFS is much less expensive than Rawson-Saunders and they have an extensive financial aid program.
Another vote for St. Francis.
Your child will get much better support there for dyslexia than at most public schools. While the public schools should be providing better dyslexia support, most do not. Proper intervention is crucial to your child's success.
Not sure if there are scholarship opportunities you could pursue at Rawson Saunders. But if not, definitely check out St. Francis.
Forever Texan can you disclose what school your dyslexic child was attending in SW Austin. We are trying to decide public school with CALT or private, RS or St Francis. Anyone have thoughts, either way it means we are moving so its a huge commitment. Any thoughts on montessori with CAlT tutoring?
Forever Texan can you disclose what school your dyslexic child was attending in SW Austin. We are trying to decide public school with CALT or private, RS or St Francis. Anyone have thoughts, either way it means we are moving so its a huge commitment. Any thoughts on montessori with CAlT tutoring?
Carrie
You are welcome to DM for more detailed information. It is hard to know what to recommend without knowing more about your child: how old? what are their strengths? and how severe the dyslexia is.
If the dyslexia is severe regardless of age, then your best bet is Rawson Saunders. Families have moved half way around the world (truly) to have their child at that school. Also, if your child is already in 4th or 5th grade (or older) and their deficit is significant, then RS might be the way to go. Moderate dyslexia at any age and moderate-severe dyslexia at a young age would make St. Francis a good fit. Also would be good for an older child, even middle school aged whose dyslexia is fairly mild.
Public school with in school CALT? That will depend on the school and degree of commitment on the part of the principal. Highland Park and Kiker are the only two ES I know in AISD with CALTs. Again, best if your child is mild.
Montessori. Montessori and Waldorf are both great educational systems for kids without reading issues. Often dyslexic kids are overlooked in these environments and problems go unrecognized and build on themselves. I would only do Montessori with CALT if the child is very young and the dyslexia is very mild.
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). Finally, if you can somehow get the IEP teacher on your side or to provide you information, that can help a ton. 
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