Q&A with Dr. Pierson

I’m the mother of 21 year old. We live in Illinois, my son has never been tested for dyslexia but for all the signs he shows I think he has dyslexia. He recently dropped off college because it was just too hard for him, he had trouble reading and understanding concepts, meeting deadlines to turn in homework, it was just impossible for him. As his mother I’m feeling guilty for my lack of knowledge I didn’t help my kid in his early years and may be avoid all the frustration he has right now. I would greatly appreciate if you can provide me with any information where my son could be tested and get help at low cost; unfortunately we don’t have the money to pay for any private services. Please help.

I am the proud parent of an amazing 7-year-old boy. I first became suspicious of dyslexia in kindergarten. He has struggled through first grade and with outside (privately funded through my husband and I) supplementary tutoring he struggles to be ‘grade level’. The school has made it obvious they have no intention of helping him. What recommendations do you have in sequence from most important and necessary to just advise for well being? I see signs of him struggling with emotions, self concept and confidence. I do not know who to ask for help. I live in California if that changes any answers to what you may advise.

We have a 7th grader with dyslexia and ADHD. We live in Oklahoma where resources for remediation and assistance are so scarce. He goes to a private school which has helped but I feel that he is getting more stressed and more behind as he gets older with the more reading that he will have. We are already members of Bookshare (which he doesn't use as often as he should since it requires sitting and listening). Is he just going to have to find ways of compensating? I am looking at your app list right now. Thank you.

My almost 7 year old son has had delayed speech (after 2.5) and now in first grade has had a very hard time learning his sight words and learning to read. He is many reading levels behind the other kids and we have a history or dyslexia and ADHD in my family (my father and myself) so we were pretty sure he has dyslexia.

His teacher also saw red flags and the school started the process of evaluating him for an IEP. They did the special education eligibility testing and saw many weak areas (auditory processing, working memory, picture vocabulary, sentence recall), but the scores alone didn’t qualify him because he had many strong areas as well; but based on the tier 1 and 2 interventions not working, he qualified for an IEP where he will receive Wilson method 5 days a week (60 min) and an auditory memory therapy (proven computer based program) 3 times a week.

We are very happy with the school’s plan as it seems they are being proactive and understand the importance of early intervention.

My question is, even though my son seems to be getting all the interventions he needs, should we have him officially tested for Dyslexia? My gut says ‘yes’, the more information we have about his struggling areas and the cause, the better off we will be helping him. But many people at the school and other parents have said, no, it’s not worth the money or stress since he’s getting what he needs.

I just don’t want to make the wrong decision and wish later that we had him officially diagnosed. Are there accommodations or other things that he will need eventually that would require a specific dyslexia diagnosis, because the school’s diagnosis is ‘reading disability’? Thanks so much for any information or advice.