Tim's Place

My Son is Reading

Any of you who know me, know that my youngest son has Down syndrome. I have been homeschooling him this year in hopes of preparing him to enter school next year.

I have taught all of my children to read. I homeschool them for kindergarten so that I can make sure they learn to read. I believe that reading is the most important academic skill they can have because if they can read, then the whole world is open to them.

For most of my kids, I have used the Spalding method, which is a phonics-based program. I also used Hooked on Phonics for some of my kids. I believe phonics-based approaches give kids the tools to decipher words and think it is the best way to teach kids to read.

Then I started teaching my youngest son. Everything I knew, or thought I knew, went out the window. I had to start from scratch and figure out how to best teach him to read. I read a lot of articles and books that said I needed to use sight words with him. So I made up flashcards with familiar words. We did that for a while, but it seemed like he needed more.

So I went back to teaching him the sounds of each letter. We do sound cards each day and he has been sounding out words now when we read. He has also learned many sight words. He still struggles with how to say the words, but he knows them.

One day, I suddenly had the idea to take the Hooked on Phonics books that I've used and make a flashcard for each word in the book beginning with book #1. I say the word and have him pick out the flashcard. I also say a sentence from the book and then have him find the corresponding words on the flashcards and lay them out into a sentence. It's working really well. He is not only recognizing the sight words, but he's also sounding out words using his knowledge of the sounds of the letters, which means he's improving his verbal skills.

The other day, we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I was astonished, and excited, when he started reading the book. I read the first part and he read the second part on each page. And he actually read it verbally. Yay!!!

So I know that he's beginning to read and, even better, he is saying words and using his verbal skills. It's been a long time coming, but I am so thankful to see this progress.

National Down Symdrome Awareness Month

October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month. Of course, for those of us who live with DS, every month, even every day, is filled with awareness.

I'd love to see a world where my son isn't judged on his chromosome count. Where he isn't judged on what he cannot do. Where he isn't placed in a "box."

It's amazing to me how much misinformation is still out there when it comes to DS.

Ignorance breeds fear which breeds prejudice. We fear what we do not know. In far too many instances, rather than educating ourselves and learning the truth about what we do not know, we resort to fear and prejudice. We make assumptions and paint people with a broad brush of ignorance. We hang onto stereotypes. We'd rather stay safely ensconced in our cocoon of ignorance than reach out and become educated.

Education can dispel the fear. Dispel the prejudice. Change lives. Education is the answer.

Happy October. And Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

Bribery?

Yes, I am guilty of bribery, but I like to think of it as intelligent motivation on my part.

Each weekday I work with my son on his speech. Our therapist is wonderful and every time we go for a session she gives me tools to work with him at home. I also homeschool him through an online school in Colorado. His teacher there is fantastic and it so willing to work with me.

We spend hours each day going through mouth exercises, making sounds, doing flashcards, working on the computer, learning to read, and reading books. Some times, okay a lot of times, he'd rather play than work (what kid wouldn't?). So I've had to find a way to motivate him to keep working.


I've learned that if I use food to bribe him it works well. Amazing how fast he works through a lesson on the computer, correctly, when he has motivation. I've also found that letting him do activities he likes in between the things he needs to do works well. Doing a puzzle, playing an educational game on the iPad, or jumping on the trampoline all work for him. The key is finding what works each day.

Yesterday, after he completed an activity, the therapist set a timer and let him play with toys until the timer went off. Then it was back to work. She also uses mini M&Ms as motivation.

He's willing to work harder and longer when there's something he wants in the mix. And he's learning delayed gratification. So while it may sound like bribery, if it works to help him learn to speak and to do his schoolwork, then it can't be as bad as it sounds, right?

Gap Between Sounds and Words

Before I had my son with DS, I never thought much about speech. My kids started talking and that was it. They didn't struggle with speech at all. I never realized all the steps that have to fall into place for a child to speak--steps that just came naturally with my other nine kids. My son knows the names of the alphabet. He will see a word and spontaneously start saying the names of the letters that spell it. We've been trying to make the shift from naming the letters to saying their sounds. He can say the sounds for 70% of the letters. "K" and "F" sounds are hard for him. His therpist has found a program (Kaufman) that helps kids bridge the gap between saying the sounds and combining them into words. Our goal is to teach my son how to take the sounds and make them into words. He's starting to do that with "moo" and a few other words. What's interesting is that he says some words naturally that he learned on his own. I'm not sure why he's learned some words like, "mom," without any intervention but needs help with other words. His therpist thinks he has apraxia, which means his brain sends the word to his mouth, but his lips and muscles don't move correctly to form the word and it comes out garbled. Fortunately, therapy helps kids overcome apraxia. We practice saying the same sound combinations over and over again to train his mouth muscles. If I'd known I'd have a son that needed speech therapy, I would've studied it in college so I could be more helpful to him. At times, I feel like a failure because I'm his mom and I should know how to teach him to speak. Thankfully, we've found this amazing therapist (who in yesterday's session demonstrated she has the patience of Job) that can help us.

Great Online Reading Program

I found a really good online reading program. While reading the info about it, I found a section that said it has helped kids with special needs learn to read. Typical kids need to be exposed to words a few hundred times before they master that word. Kids with DS need to be exposed a thousand times (or something like that). I figured that if I can expose my son to reading in as many different ways as possible it will set him up for his best shot at success. The program is ClickNRead. I bought the version with Looney Tunes because my son gets bored so easily. The regular version is $19.99 for a year. Looney Tunes is $29.99 for a year. I also added the spelling program, but my son isn't ready for that one. He loves this program. He can find it himself and he does. He'll sit through the lesson and participate all on his own. Right now in speech therapy we are working on sounds and this reading program focuses on the sounds of each letter. Perfect timing. I'm really excited about it and hope it will help him learn to read. And maybe even talk.

Speech Therapy: Awesome

We had our first speech therapy session on Monday. It was a-ma-zing. I'm thrilled. The therapist had emailed me a report from her evaluation a few weeks ago. I wasn't surprised by her findings, but I was shocked to see a set of goals to be met in 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months. Realistic goals and a plan to meet those goals. Wow! I've never had a therapist do this. We have goals and ways to meet them. I feel so invigorated. Like my son will actually talk at some point. I am a total list person. So a list of goals is perfect for me. Concrete plans. I love it! I am so energized and excited to see what happens. We have been working on tongue/mouth movements as well as sound cues. I give my son a visible cue and then he repeats the sound associated with that cue. He's been doing great and is even making some of the sounds without the cues. We're already making progress. Wish I'd found this therapist years ago!