[senco-forum] Those Yr8 non readers

Dear Audrey,

In addition to all the fabulous advice you have received so far, you will
need to look at the children's levels of phonological awareness.  Sound
Linkage is a one off purchase that I have found to be invaluable over the
years.  It has an easy to administer test that is given individually and
then a set of exercises to work on any areas of need.  The exercises can
easily be supplemented with other material to provide overlearning.

Dyslexia Guidance, authored by Turner & Bodien, with Collier, outlines a
system of working with literacy underachievement for ages 5-18 using
synthetic phonics.  A large part of the book is photocopiable resources.

Ear and eye tests are also advisable.  A boy at our school had a full
audiometric hearing test with pure tones this week and has been found to
have a hearing loss of 40db in the mid range (where the human voice
operates).  He had had his ears tested before, but not as thoroughly and had
been given a clean slate.  He needs a hearing aid.

There are two aspects to vision and hearing - "hardware" and "software" -
hardware being  the health of the physical equipment - eyes and ears.
Software being how the muscles, neural system and brain work with received
information from the hardware - visual and auditory processing.

I have information I can send as attachments on visual and auditory
processing if anyone wants it.

Philippa Bodien

On 10/31/07, Ruth Newbury <rmnewbury at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Audrey
>
>
>
> Review what they have all used before - before you buy anything.
>
>
>
> I used to get my students start with me in Year 9 - and have to get them
> moving from then - so I am not particularly happy to hear about any
> students
> being dismissed in year 8 as failures!
>
>
>
> I also agree with Brendan - I would be seeking statutory assessment too.
>
>
>
> However - what to do with them - nothing that looks like what they have
> done
> before.
>
>
>
> Eddie Carron Reading Library works for lots of children - so does Lexia
> and
> Autoskills.  I like the computer programme approach because working with a
> computer appears to many children to be less judgemental than people when
> they are working at this sort of thing - I would also be checking all the
> key words banks - often these are in place - it's all the other words they
> can't do.
>
>
>
> Crucial to all this is their oral work.  In class - are they like everyone
> else orally - but can't do the reading writing bit - or do they have
> trouble
> with the concepts involved in what they are doing.  99% of my students in
> mainstream were fine orally - it's that tiny minority that really need an
> instant assessment from an expert as to exactly what they should be doing.
> The majority - with motivation - may well be able to make marked progress
> with those computer programmes - gains of 3+ years were common with my Yr
> 9s
> using a variety of computer programmes.  I find it's develo0ping the
> writing
> skills that is the real difficulty - they can see their progress with the
> reading - but writing takes a great deal longer to sort out.
>
>
>
> When I look at how it is hoped that the use of ICT is embedded in the
> curriculum - when I look at what is around to help children with these
> types
> of problems - I am always sad to see what is not available as standard in
> the secondary sector.
>
>
>
> I would not want to operate a secondary SEN department without access to:
> -
>
>
>
> Eddie Carrons Electronic Libraries - the initial one and the comprehension
> one
>
>
>
> Wordshark
>
>
>
> Lexia/Autoskills
>
>
>
> Word Bar
>
>
>
> Dragon Dictate
>
>
>
> Inspiration
>
>
>
> Read & Write
>
>
>
> And I'd be agitating for Kurzweil too!
>
>
>
> And these are just my response for literacy skills - there are lots of
> other
> one off programmes I have bought in the past for specific problems with
> literacy - such as aphasic student who came on by leaps and bounds with
> her
> speech once she was using the Xavier programme that gave you a picture of
> the sound waves you made when you spoke a word.
>
>
>
> For me - these are the basics for day to day survival for the very
> students
> you are talking about - and once you have bought them - they stay as
> permanent resources for those children - who still appear year after year.
>
>
>
> Every school has students like this - year after year - who for a variety
> of
> reasons - do not "get reading" - or writing - or spelling - or whatever.
>
>
>
> Operating functioning SEN departments without tools like this is like the
> rest of the school being asked to use blackboards and slates!  We have
> come
> a long way since then - but far too many SEN departments are still the
> Cinderella's of provision when it comes to rooms - staffing - and
> resourcing.
>
>
>
> I also think that we need to look at where the SEN money is going.  LSAs
> are
> wonderful - but to make these your priority at the expense of providing
> what
> are initially expensive resources - but they will be used over and over
> again and your students may well experience their first independent
> successes once they have the use of the cream of the programmes that are
> out
> there.
>
>
>
> How many LSAs do school have?  Perhaps the next time you lose one - you
> might ask for their salary for these kind of resources instead of just
> finding an instant replacement.
>
>
>
> SEN provision is not just about extra bodies in classrooms - it is about
> provision for their needs with other resources as well.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Ruth
>
>