My 16-year-old son has been struggling with reading since elementary school. At age nine, we found a place that used the Orton-Gillingham approach, and we used that for several years. Over the years, we have supplemented his curriculum with tutors for English and math, taking online classes. (He really did not like that format and didn't make substantial gains). We also had a skills coach the last half of the school year. He’s an amazing, funny, young man who loves video games, music, and computers. When he finds something that interests him, he can focus for hours.

His struggle with executive function, prioritizing tasks, time management, awareness of next steps is an ongoing problem, but he hasn't responded well to schedules, charts, lists, alarms, etc. I'm struggling trying to find ways to help him retain information like basic math facts and grammar rules.

When we learned of the Orton-Gillingham approach for reading, it made such a huge difference. My hope is that there are things out there that have been developed to deal with his other challenges that I just haven't found.

My 8-yr-old daughter has ADHD (combined type) and will be entering 3rd grade. She currently has twice weekly private tutoring by an Orton-Gillingham-trained tutor. Her tutor and I suspect dyslexia may be impeding her reading progress as she is very smart and capable in many other areas. She is very positive and joyful overall. She loves school and would be very compliant in a testing situation. I was wondering if she would also be a candidate for diagnostic testing for dyslexia? I myself am an early childhood/elementary school trained teacher, so I know the importance of diagnosis and early intervention. If you could please provide me with any recommendations or information on testing and/or research, I would appreciate it. We understand that private testing is very expensive and insurance does not cover it.

My child was recently diagnosed with a learning disorder in written expression through Perspectives of Troy. He also has a diagnosis of ADHD and depressive disorder. I had our school do an IEP evaluation for him, and they came back and said that he didn't meet the "district standards" for an IEP for his impairment and that he didn't meet requirements for a BIP with his ADHD. I did receive a 504 for him, but I do not feel it is enough to help him get to where he needs to be.

The authors from Additude--an ADHD-focused magazine--carefully dissect popular brain training and memory games in search of an answer.

I am at the beginning stages of researching help for my 3rd grade child who has been having reading problems since kindergarten. Now that he is working below standard in all aspects of reading, writing, and math, the school suggested I talk to his doctor about ADD. His reading specialist and pediatrician both suggested that he complete a thorough eye exam. I do not have any personal experience with either ADD or Dyslexia, but after reading both descriptions, I feel that he is showing many signs of dyslexia. My question is about finding him the right person to do the eye exam. I believe that he would need a visual perception test as opposed to a regular pediatric eye exam. Do you know of any providers in Southeast Michigan?

Are you starting to apply to colleges and feeling a little overwhelmed?

Experienced teacher Joan Brennan, wanting to help her students focus on the texts they were trying to read so that they would comprehend them better, invented the Reading Focus Card.