Dear Jacqui, My child is in Year 4 and is very slow with reading and writing. He has had ear infections and delayed speech and language. He has problems with his balance and co-ordination as well. He is no longer motivated to learn, and is anxious and withdrawn. We are worried about how he will cope in Middle school. What do you suggest?
It sounds as if your son has had a number of difficulties since he was young, which are now impacting his learning and his self-esteem. I suspect that you have had some intervention in the early years but there appears to be residual underlying difficulties. From what you have told me, these would be related to listening (auditory processing), language processing (affecting written work i.e. writing stories), processing sounds and letters (spelling), writing words from the board (visual processing and tracking words), and handwriting. All these problems will mean that every day in the classroom is challenging and tiring no matter how hard he tries. This is also having an impact emotionally as he is ‘anxious and withdrawn’. I suspect he may have an aspect of sensory processing difficulties as well. You can watch my You Tube video which explains this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFHKZJG8fSQ I strongly recommend that you bring your son for a full assessment for all aspects of speech, language, listening, reading, writing and spelling (and possible dyslexia). We would also recommend a joint assessment with the sensory integration Occupational therapist and myself for dyspraxia and sensory processing difficulties.
