Valiant_Skylark

Hey up... here is where Alex Richardson has got to. http://www.dyslexic.org.uk/nr3.htm I haven't read the word doc yet but it should be interesting. Don't forget this all potentially "overlaps" with AS etc. Valiant_Skylark xx

A person doing research on this sort of supplementation was/is(?) Alex Richardson. So if anybody wants to do a search for where she is up to now?... When we last saw Dr Sue Fowler of the Dyslexia research Trust, she was saying that the proportions of components of a supplement were critical. The balance was important. I was told, and jotted it down at the time, EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid)1000mg and EPO (Evening primrose)500mg per day ie a ratio of 2:1 was what I should be looking for. I have been recommended Efalex, then Eye-Q and then MorEPA, in that order. MorEPA has been the most effective for both my boys, and was the last recommendation. I'm not sure "all products are equal"; I'd, personally, never buy an oil that was not a pharmaceutical grade. I'd want to know that there was no toxic contamination eg metals. I'd want to know how the oils were extracted and I'd want to know that the "proportions" were as recommended based on the latest research findings. I don't know what the very latest recommendations are, sorry. The product MorEPA mini, sold mail order by Healthy and Essential might be one to consider for littlies? It is a smaller capsule designed for younger children. I'd always suggest that you discuss taking supplements like these with your healthcare provider first. They can affect other medications, for example. Also it might be a safeguard to tell dentist and anyone who might do an operation on your child that they are taking these supplements too - just to cover yourself. Valiant_ Skylark xx

My eldest was truly awful with haircuts, combing etc. He says it is like "spiders crawling over my head". Can't be very nice. One OT suggested brushing teeth/ doing hair whilst squeezing eggsercizers (sort of egg shaped hand exerciser device available from Rompa). The idea is that the stimulation from the hands kind of over-rides the stimulation from the brushing/cutting. I guess you could try using a ball of something similar? Saw another OT recently and she suggested linking hands on top of head and pressing down firmly, flattening hair to the front and then to the back, several times, just before having hair cut. Apparently this should help too. Suggest those with these sort of "sensory" problems look up "Sensory Integration Dysfunction/Therapy" for some ideas on how to cope? MIne is still "not keen" and I still have to pick my time to go to the barber, but we went through the phase of losing the hairdresser due to my son's "scenes" and I did the "haircut whilst asleep" bit too. It does get better eventually... just. Valiant_Skykark xx

I took my youngest to a paediatric cranial osteopath because he had other injuries which 4 paeds couldn't improve. Whilst there, the osteopath noted problem with cerebellar functioning (dodgey balance), difficulties crossing the midline, retained reflexes, poor concentration etc etc. She cost �40 for 1/2 hour (Berks)but we went on seeing her for about �350 worth (and it could have been more...) To cut a long story short, I'd actually already realised that the little one had "sensory integration" problems and "dyspraxic" problems so I'd already had him on the waiting list for OT assessment. He was assessed proir to seeing the osteopath and offered 6 sessions of 1:1 therapy, but with a waiting list making it 6 months before he could start. So we went on and did the osteopath privately. By the time we had our 1:1 OT sessions our son had made tremendous progress and the OT couldn't believe it was the same child. He was assessed again and didn't come out as needing any therapy any all. I guess we really did have accurate "measures" of our child's performance pre- and post- osteopathic treatment and the osteopath deserves a pat on the back. The down side was the cost. It got to be a strain on the resourses. Also the osteopath was less willing to work on my older son as she said that results are much more difficult to get in children once they are over 5 years of age (sorry folks).In fact we never took my older son, despite him being severely dyspraxic and AS, although I did "borrow" his brother's exercises and we did them as a family. This is just one set of experiences, so don't let me put anyone off trying with a child over 5 years old. I haven't spoken to enough osteopaths to know if others claim better results with older children. We eventually gave up the osteopathy due to youngest son getting Osgood Schlatter's disease on the original knee injury, which required complete rest. But he's 7 now and can "A sailor went to sea, sea, sea..." with the best of them! Overall he seems far less affected than his older brother. For those of you with children who seem "clumsy", may I point you in the direction of the dyspraxia literature? The yahoo group "parentsofdyspraxickids" is a good source of links too. I have come to the autism groups via "dyspraxia" and "sensory integration dysfunction" and it worries me a little that I've met several parents now with kids dxd as AS or whatever, who in fact probably have dyspraxia and SID as well, and are not aware of the links to AS or the fact that they could/should be asking for OT assessments. If you can't get an OT assessment it is quite possible to look up books on dyspraxia at the local library as most include exercise programmes and a multitude of tips. This is what I did and I'm glad that I avoided a sense of "helplessness" by simply getting on with it in the face of extreme apathy/obstruction by our LEA. Having said that, I've found the OTs to be the "best" professionals I've had dealings with. They have never "played things down" or tried to "disempower the parent" but have always made me feel as if I am NOT going mad! Bless 'em. Valiant_Skylark xx

Here is a link to the autismconnect site where they are currently reporting on the results of early trials with fish oils in kids with autism/AS. Looks promising and backs up anecdotal evidence? http://www.autismconnect.org/news.asp?sect...pe=news&id=5491 Valiant_Skylark xx

Oh Helen, Ah bless! You've given me my first smile today. Anyway, really I suppose one needs both life skills and hopefully a few academic skills. Life with just one or the other can be tough. How is the course on ASD turning out? Must be really interesting? I'd imagine it's a lot of hard work. Sis hadn't heard of learnpremium at all, but gave me some other links to follow up, which I'll do when I have a bit more time. Valiant-Skylark xx

Thanks for the thoughts, Helen. My sister home educates and is a member of EO, so I'll ask her about it. �25 per annum is certainly a lot more reasonable than �300! Just as an aside, you don't actually have to follow the national curriculum at all if you home educate. From what I have heard/read, home education doesn't tend to lend itself very well to formal lesson plans anyway. (Big sigh of relief!) I guess for a kid like mine, home education might include things as diverse as learning to tie his shoelaces, learning to use public transport, learning to cross a road, as well as the more academic subjects. Indeed, the thing that always worries me so much is how my son fails to apply to the real world the things he's learnt in the school setting. School may consider that he "knows what he's doing", but in the real world his learning often fails to generalise and I really don't have the faith that they have that he will be okay in the future.Perhaps it would be better if he learned "in the real world"?!!! Anyway, I'm off to e-mail my sister... Thanks again, Valiant-Skylark

I agree with the worries about cost for these online materials. I just e-mailed learnpremium, asking if they had any concessions for kids with disabilities and asking for costs for homeschoolers. Here is their reply... "To subscribe to our materials would cost the following for home use: �100 primary (Reception to KS2) �200 secondary (KS3 to AS Level) �250 combined (all the above) All our prices are ex. VAT @ 17.5% and are payable in full and up front before access can be given. We do not currently accept credit or debit card payments. If you would like a free trial of our service please complete either the online or faxable form which can be found at the following link: http://www.learnpremium.co.uk/user/info/subscribe.aspx Many thanks, Lisa Spiller Customer Services Manager Learnpremium 5th Floor, 79 Farringdon Road London EC1M 3JU Tel: 020 7713 4021 Fax: 020 7713 4108 www.learnpremium.co.uk" There are, apparently, no concessions, and the fees quoted are annual. The fees are per household, so presumably more than one child could access the material. Works out slightly more than �2 per child! Sorry folks, Valiant-Skylark

I have a friend whose son had the similar problems. He really struggled to learn the sounds that went with letters, and couldn't even get to the point of stringing the letters into words in infant school. This boy was eventually dxd as ADHD. We lost contact as our boys went on to different schools, but I do see his mother around occasionally. She said his reading eventually just took off in junior school and is now not so much of a problem. His brain just came on-line as it were? Another woman I know was onto her "second family". When she realised that her 5 yr old was struggling with phonics, and being made to repeat phonics-based programmes at school, she "sprang him from school" and went home ed. Apparently her children from the first marriage were dyslexic and never conquered phonics at school, had rotten school careers, but eventually learned using the whole word method. She was very confident that she had done the right thing and within weeks the youngest boy was reading well at home.He was a lot calmer, and happier! I taught both my boys using Mona McNee's "Step by Step". This cost �5 a few years ago! It was a Godsend. It is phonics based, but worked for us. My sons read above their ages now and have a good knowledge of spelling rules, although their spelling is worse in a piece of free writing. My sons both have poor phonological awareness, as measured by SALTs, which implies that they are at risk of being poorer readers, but they have actually done very well. Also, I have heard that a child with v poor short-term memory will find learning phonics v v hard, if not impossible. Well, my older son has a second centlie forward digit span, backwards digit span was 16th centile. He should have been a no hoper. But he does read about 2 years above his age now. SALTs were a bit bemused! My boys then both had trouble reading when the text got smaller. Words kept jumping on a page, words would blur, they would lose their place in the text. We looked into their vision, but a standard eye test showed little. We then went to the Dyslexia Research Trust and looked into the boys' problems in more detail. They had severe problems in a number of areas. You could look up Ian Jordan's posts on this website and then simply ask your son if he experiences any of these phenomena, along with his auditory problems? Perhaps you could talk to Ian to see if he can check this area for you? Has your son had his memory assessed? Part of an Ed Psych report? My son finds that, if he reads a longer sentence, he can remember either the beginning, the end, or the bit in the middle, but not all of it! He has to read things through several times to fully get the gist of things. He should really have info presented to him in short sentences. Perhaps this is why some children appear to "read" fluently, but then can't remember what they have read long enough to process it meaningfully? If all else fails, you could consider having your child assessed at a centre that specialises in dyslexia. If private assessments are out of your budget, as they were at that time for us, be aware that the Dyslexia Research Trust is a charity and only asks for "donations". Better to see somebody than nobody??? Ian's assessments look more detailed, but we can't all, unfortunately, always afford to "go private". Good luck. Let us know if/when your lad's reading takes off! Valiant_Skylark xxx