Dr. Forgan’s insight on dyslexia

Dyslexia Can Be Identified Early

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Dyslexia can be identified in a child who is at least halfway through kindergarten and age five and a half or older.  There are always early warning signs like those in Chris that point to reading difficulty.

Warning Signs of Dyslexia

Chris’ mom explained it this way. In Pre-K Chris had difficulty identifying letters and the sounds they made as well as rhyming. In kindergarten she still had trouble rhyming. She had trouble sounding out words when reading. Her reading was labored, not quick or fluent. She guessed words by their first letter. She mixed up letter sound sequences in a word or forgot the same word she just read on the previous page again and again. She seemed to learn best memorizing flash cards. She can somewhat read but it has taken way more amounts of flash cards and assistance that should be required. I think she has dyslexia.

Dyslexia Testing Starting at Age 5 and a Half

Our thorough testing confirmed this mom’s intuition and provided her with the paperwork needed to obtain school help through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) as well as apply for and receive the Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship.  The scholarship money helped mom pay for one-to-one private tutoring using the gold standard Orton-Gillingham multisensory reading instruction.  This approach has decades of research backing its effectiveness in helping people with dyslexia become strong and proficient readers.

Overcoming Dyslexia

 Once your child is officially diagnosed with dyslexia there are five ingredients for helping your child overcome dyslexia.  You must have the right curriculum, use it at least twice a week one-to-one, keep at it for over a year, work with a trained reading specialist, and keep your child engaged and incentivized.  We’ve seen this recipe work for children time and time again.

Dr. Forgan Wrote the Dyslexia Book

I co-authored the book “Parent’s Quick Start Guide to Dyslexia” which provides a quick, but deep dive into what to immediately do when your child is diagnosed with dyslexia.  When it comes to helping your young child, time is too precious to squander.

 We know dyslexia can be identified early. Call (561) 625 4125 to discuss your child as we test for dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, depression, autism and anxiety.

Identifying Early Reading Struggles

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Identifying Early Reading Struggles

Ask any elementary school teacher and they will confirm that many kids struggle with reading.  School staff do their best to help with limited resources but many take a wait and see approach.  Waiting does not benefit your child.  As an astute parent or family member, follow your instinct to determine the root cause of your child’s reading struggle.

Students who struggle with reading in the early grades will eventually struggle with all academic areas. This occurs because the curriculum in upper grades relies more and more on independent reading skills. In fact, research studies have shown that it is important to assess and remediate a child’s reading skills at an early age. Researcher Joseph Torgesen and colleagues documented that more than 80% of students who were poor readers at the end of first grade still performed below average at the beginning of third grade.  Don’t let your child become a reading failure statistic. Specialized reading help is available when you have the right knowledge.

Keys to Helping

The keys to helping your child include following your hunch, seeking an expert to test your child to determine which reading program is best for your child’s needs, and using the program with an experienced professional.  The correct reading program can help save time, stress, and create life changing gains within your child.  We encourage you not to accept a one size fits all reading approach offered by many schools.

Since Dr. Forgan is also a Susan Barton certified dyslexia tester, we use unique tests that others don’t have.  Within a few weeks we give you answers and tell you the best reading program we believe will help your child.

Call to discuss your child as we test students ages 5.5 through college for dyslexia, learning disabilities, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and other processing disorders.  Call (561) 625 4125

Nurturing Creativity In Dyslexics

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All children with dyslexia need to believe they excel at some area in their life.  This helps develop our self-esteem and healthy self-esteem advances success in life. Self-esteem is developed by combining our internal beliefs with our external feedback. Thus, our self-esteem is a combination of how we view ourselves and how we believe others view us.

Dyslexia Self Esteem

We want your child with dyslexia to develop healthy self-esteem and feel good about him or herself. So, in what area does your child excel? Although it might be academic related, it might not. Perhaps your child believes she is talented at mathematics. Other kids might believe they are science expert with a deep knowledge of space or fossils. Your child’s natural talent might be athletics and being a fast runner, best basketball free thrower, dancer, or figure skater. Does your child have innated musical ability? Recognize and reinforce your child’s strength area.

If you need ideas consider reading, The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child’s Confidence and Love of Learning. Author Ben Foss describes his own struggles with dyslexia and provides you with a new perspective that remediation what is broken in your child is not the ultimate goal.  He explains, “There are specific attitudes and habits that will have a huge impact on whether your child will be able to apply her strengths at school and beyond.”

Nurturing Creativity in Dyslexics

Since children develop at different rates you can provide your child with opportunities to sample various activities, athletics, arts, and hobbies to gauge their interest and talents. Some activities will be tried and shelved while others might continue to develop and be refined throughout adolescence. It’s often our natural strengths that carry us through in life and shape our career choices. Your child is smart in many ways so help other family members and teachers understand your child’s natural assets.  Someone has to recognize your child’s gifts and we hope it’s you.

Concerned About Your Child?

Call to discuss your child as we test children ages 5.5 through college for dyslexia, learning disabilities, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and other processing disorders.  Call (561) 625 4125.

Categorized: Dyslexia self esteem

I Spy Dyslexia

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Intrigue, mystery, unknowns. It’s no wonder that kids love spy games, television shows, and the popular graphic novel series Spy School. Unfortunately for parents, characteristics of intrigue, mystery, and unknowns are concerning when you worry your child might have dyslexia. However, astute, and intuitive parents like you can spy the symptoms of dyslexia. You just need to know what clues to look for.

Spying Dyslexia Clues

Spying clues early and confirming a diagnosis can position you to solve the dyslexia case. Look for these clues.  Elementary age clues:

  • trouble memorizing his address, phone number, or the alphabet
  • can’t create words that rhyme
  • messy handwriting, letters that are formed differently and don’t sit on the line
  • letter or number reversals continuing past first grade
  • slow, choppy, inaccurate reading and mispronouncing small words
  • terrible spelling
  • often can’t remember sight words
  • trouble with math: memorizing multiplication tables
  • extremely messy bedroom, backpack, or desk

Spying Dyslexia Clues in Middle and High School

Middle and high school age clues can encompass the above as well as:

  • dreads going to school
  • limited vocabulary
  • poor written expression
  • problems mastering a foreign language
  • does not like to read for pleasure
  • would rather listen to an audio book than read one

A Hurting Mom

If you observed three or more dyslexia clues in your child, seek school neuropsychological testing. Along with being informative, it can give you peace of mind and direction. As one mom put it, “It hurt to see him struggle. We just need to know so we can move forward.”  She had to convince her husband to agree to testing because he thought the boy was being lazy or needed more time. Our testing is not simply meant to put a label on a child but to help direct you to solve the mystery of why your child is struggling and give support.

Call to discuss your child as we test children ages 5.5 through college for dyslexia, learning disabilities, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and other processing disorders.  Call (561) 625 4125

Helping Poor Readers

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It can frustrate you and your child when reading does not develop easily.  Sometimes the struggle becomes a blame game of blaming the child for not trying hard enough, blaming a teacher for poor teaching, or even blaming yourself for not spending enough time reading with your child.  Ultimately, a child’s struggles are often related to a combination of factors including a genetic predisposition for reading difficulty.  Many times learning disabilities such as dyslexia occur within the family tree.

Helping Poor Readers

To help your child you have many choices of doing testing, tutoring, brain training, waiting, or talking with the teacher.  While testing and tutoring are preferred, the one thing I recommend you do is not let your child lose the hope that they can become a great reader.  When I test poor readers I identify the root cause and most effective reading program to help your child make the most improvement as fast as possible.  I also assess self-esteem as some kids come in feeling defeated and believing they have a broken brain.

Reading Interests

I understand the struggles because I had a hard time reading and sounding out words but I had a strong memory so I could compensate and memorize words well.  During my childhood it was common to collect things so as a 10-year-old kid I collected beer cans. I my dad drank the beer and I displayed the can’s colorful design.  My parents subscribed me to Beer Can Collectors of America and I read articles about beer cans. We went on the brewery tour at Busch Gardens.  While these did not lead me to my career, the activities motivated me to read.

You might encourage your child to read about his or her interests in Pokémon, Minecraft, arts and crafts, or Candy Crush.  Support your child’s reading interests with material and experiences.

Special Reading Support

To help poor readers, start with specialized tutoring at reading centers like Lindamood Bell or the Reading Success Center in Palm City. I have some specialized reading tutors at JimForgan.com/tutor.  If money is tight, you teach your child using the Barton Reading System at BartonReading.com.  Reading is a skill so it can improve.

If you suspect dyslexia, call our office as we test children ages 5.5 through college for dyslexia, ADHD/ADD, gifted, and other processing disorders.  Call (561) 625 4125.