tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274528475347869882012-02-03T14:41:58.379-05:00Power of DyslexiaMary Lynnenoreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-20379532692713907642008-06-10T16:31:00.003-04:002008-06-10T16:57:07.789-04:00

Our school year is now over and it has been a very bumpy ride. My son had a wonderful teacher this past year who went above and beyond the entire year. However, there just comes a time when you have to realize that no matter how much you love a school, it may not be the best place to meet the needs of your child.So as we continue our journey, we find ourselves driving down the road and making a

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-79839870937717104562008-03-07T20:01:00.001-05:002008-03-07T20:57:08.434-05:00

There was an amazing segment on Good Morning America this morning. The National Geographic channel is doing a documentary on Ben Kilham and his unique study of bears. This is very interesting but the part that really drew me in was that he attributes his ability to understand the bears to the unique way his brain functions. Kilham is dyslexic. According to his website, BenKilham.com, he

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-72457383977787270492008-02-21T10:58:00.001-05:002008-02-21T11:00:01.194-05:00

My son was so excited when he got home from school yesterday. We immediately read a book together using the pen. One thing we discovered is that the contrast between the page color and the letters makes a difference. It also needs to be held at the proper angle, but this is not too hard for him. He spent the rest of the night scanning every word he could find. This includes the toothpaste

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-2675497930069666032008-02-20T12:37:00.003-05:002008-02-20T12:50:42.467-05:00

I am very excited today. I just received the ReadingPen that I ordered for my son. This is a cool, handheld scanner. When you scan over a word, it will pronounce it. I have tried it out on several types of text. So far it seems to be working great. My son is still at school, so we will have to wait to see if it is easy enough for him to use.Just like most things, I found both positive and

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-32883948609840188582008-02-12T09:38:00.000-05:002008-02-12T09:41:42.512-05:00

My extra help with my son is going well. We have been doing a lot of work with breaking apart two consent sounds. Like so many other things, he understands the concept but needs a lot of practice for it to become automatic.At home I have found that he needs visual reinforcement. For us this means charts. For example, each nine weeks his teacher gives him a reading goal based on a points

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-48136227380569270352008-01-28T10:56:00.000-05:002008-01-28T11:16:03.760-05:00

Starting this week, I will be going to my son’s school once a week for a ½ hour to do some phonic remediation with him. He needs more work in phonics, but his teacher doesn’t have the time or program to do this. He has a wonderful teacher!! She is very aware of what he needs and has worked with me ALL year to be sure that we stay on top of things. I have decided to use Reading Reflex as a

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-7060922714909582352007-12-11T12:08:00.000-05:002007-12-11T12:09:07.146-05:00

There was a recent article in the New York Times addressing the fact that a surprisingly high percentage of entrepreneurs in the United States have dyslexia. Is anyone surprised by this? If you truly understand dyslexia, you know that the ability to be a visionary is a common trait among people with dyslexia. I can think of a handful of books that are out there right now written by successful

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-89522285056930028772007-12-10T17:04:00.000-05:002007-12-10T17:09:57.247-05:00

My son and I have been reading a new series of books. They are by Henry Winkler and the main character has dyslexia. His adventures center around how he deals with his weaknesses in school.I was a little nervous to read these books to m son without reading them to myself first. My son as pretty high self esteem, and I was afraid this would introduce new fears. But, I went ahead and started

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-19881863666621762492007-11-29T12:15:00.000-05:002007-11-29T12:16:04.076-05:00

My family comes from a long line of people with poor handwriting. My family laughs about how we have all had poor handwriting for generations. We also have said with pride that we come from a long line of “math people”. So it was no surprise when my son at 5 years old figured out the concept of multiplication while asking questions in the car. However, he could not write a sentence using

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-83506859208685818112007-11-21T19:58:00.000-05:002007-11-21T20:00:00.577-05:00

In case anyone wasn’t sure how happy I have been with the results of trying the Feingold diet, I have more proof. Yesterday was the “Fall Feast” at my son’s school. The teacher had a cute activity for the kids to do. They each had a cooking that they would decorate as a turkey. Of course this involved candy corn, frosting, and a gel decorative frosting. Of course, this involved artificial

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-74977646248333193862007-11-19T13:56:00.000-05:002007-11-19T13:57:44.443-05:00

Ever since we began the Feingold diet, I have been watching my son’s dyslexia symptoms. I saw improvements and was very happy from the first day. But today I am a total believer. Over the weekend we attended two hockey games. We have had season tickets for many years. I allowed my son to pick one “illegal” food per game. Over the weekend, we also had to study for a spelling retest. Boy did

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-51690961947531523542007-11-16T10:08:00.000-05:002007-11-16T10:09:36.142-05:00

I have really been focusing a lot on our diet lately, so I though it was time that I get back to how we are dealing with our dyslexia symptoms.We have seen a really big improvement in his spelling grades. I think our time at Lindamood Bell really helped him learn to hear each sound. We also have made a point to practice his words every night. On Monday, I write the words on note cards. He

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-47285717168863469722007-11-06T10:50:00.000-05:002007-11-06T11:10:05.984-05:00

I have spent a lot of time talking about the changes and improvements I have seen with my son and his dyslexia symptoms. However, I am leaving out a big piece of information.I am also following the Feingold diet and I am seeing huge benefits. Here is a little about my background. Now that I am aware of the symptoms of ADD, I can see them in myself for as far back as I can remember. I can’t keep

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-84323493887636431072007-11-04T17:53:00.000-05:002007-11-04T18:07:50.529-05:00

Although we are still having trouble staying strictly on the diet, the dyslexia symptoms seem to still be improving. Last week there was a notable attitude change in doing his homework. Instead of fighting over each paper and spelling practice, he just did what needed to be done. Such a needed break for me! It is very draining on me as well as my son when so much energy is used just getting

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-48324197710613958232007-10-31T10:26:00.000-04:002007-10-31T10:27:27.849-04:00

First, I would like to start with some minor improvements I am seeing to the dyslexia symptoms. Of course with so many factors involved I am hesitant to say that the Feingold diet is solely responsible. However, I do feel like there is a direct connection. We are into week three and still no major melt downs. We have had some bumps in the road with behavior. These bumps always followed a

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-92016665852842409342007-10-23T10:16:00.001-04:002007-10-23T10:23:19.856-04:00

We made it through the weekend without too much trouble. The only time we really went astray was at dinner. I must say, we have only been doing the Feingold diet for a week and I can already see a difference. It is hard to know for sure if it is the diet or so many other possible factors, but we have not had a major melt down in several days.I am sure it will be some time before I can tell a

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-2042694229580876102007-10-19T09:43:00.000-04:002007-10-19T09:56:43.995-04:00

So we got our first report card of the year. All A's and B's. Whoo Hooo!! With hard work and a great teacher who understands and recognizes dyslexia symptoms, success is very possible!!So now we are getting ready to face the first trip while being on the feingold diet. My family of 5 adults and 3 kids 7 years old and under all under one roof. We are only going to be gone Friday through

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-37111188020240308262007-10-17T12:30:00.000-04:002007-10-17T12:38:48.253-04:00

I am not sure if this is going to help his dyslexia symptoms, but I am optomistic and mostly looking for improvements in the self control area. So far we have been on the Feingold diet for 2 full days. Things seem to be going well so far, although we have has some things that were not allowed. My son has been very good. He is taking his lunch and snack to school each day. Today was the first

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-18240632734566050712007-10-09T17:17:00.000-04:002007-10-09T17:19:07.101-04:00

For a few years now, I have been watching my son for signs of AD/HD. At the beginning of first grade I asked his teacher if she was seeing signs of it and she said no. He behaves very well at school, rarely getting in any trouble at all. But at home is a whole different story! He has to be moving. He would walk around as he practiced his spelling words. He would wiggle so much while reading

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-29778540672292472262007-10-09T11:00:00.000-04:002007-10-09T16:16:19.103-04:00

When my son was diagnosed with dyslexia, the psychologist recommended a book to to help me better understand what we were dealing with. As we went over the diagnosis, she referred to this book several times. I knew it must have some good information. I went out and bought it the next day. From that day forward, this has been the most helpful book I have ever read. I told everyone I came in

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-24212001900462737392007-09-10T10:59:00.000-04:002007-09-10T11:03:36.740-04:00

New Homework Strategy Last week was only the 3rd week of school, but the homework wars had already begun. I knew I needed a new strategy. My son gets tired very quickly while doing his homework, so I decided to tweak a strategy I learned for myself. So I grabbed a digital timer. Sat down with my son and talked about what we needed to get done that day. We had 4 items to complete.

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627452847534786988.post-12996331653927940032007-06-22T09:51:00.001-04:002007-08-09T20:26:56.530-04:00

Last school year was marked with some hard times for my son and I. From the very beginning of first grade I knew something was not quite right. His teacher and I worked closely together for the majority of the year. As time went on it became more and more apparent that he was most likely struggling with dyslexia. After Christmas break, it became undeniable that action needed to be taken.

Mary Lynnenoreply@blogger.com0