Monday, July 19, 2010

My amazing little boy

Yesterday:

So Julius wanted to turn our house into a restaurant. So I pulled out some paper and we were all set to make the signs and menu.

Julius wanted to name it "Chef Cook." So I spelled it out for him. He immediately started with a backwards C, but corrected it when I pointed it out to him. He did the same for the C in 'cook,' but happily figured out that COOK ended with a K.

Then he went to write a second sign, and put the first sign next to him to use as a model.

This is what he wrote:

FEHC KOOC.

I looked at it, and then back at him, and I asked, "Does that look the same as the other sign?" And Julius nodded his head and read it back to me, "Chef Cook."

I find the whole way he processes words to be incredibly fascinating. Georgetown University is doing a study on reading disorders. I've contacted them to see if Julius is eligible to be part of the study. http://csl.georgetown.edu/functional_mri/

As for Julius, the way I've explained it to him is that he has an incredibly cool brain. That it's so cool he can see things in ways that most other people can't. And that having an awesome brain is going to help him when he's older, but now, since he's little, he's going to need to work extra hard in having to teach his brain to read and write and spell the way most other kids do. And that it doesn't sound fair, but it's going to help him do well in school if everyone else can understand what he writes. He seemed to accept that. He's always liked to help people, so by making it seem that his brain is just so awesome and because of his superpowers he needs to HELP others, it motivated him to write "Chef Cook" the right way.

3 comments:

GillianIvy said...

Amazing boy? What about AWESOME MOM!!!! Wow, what a great way to help Julius come to terms with a reading set back. Is he actually dyslexic? Or is he just mixing them up because you know, if you look at letters backwards or the alphabet backwards, etc, you still know what they are.

Chase sometimes may do things like that and Grandpa all starts freaking out. I tell him Chase hasn't even learned how to write yet, no point in worrying about possible reading difficulties before he even manifests any. He knows which way the letters go, but sometimes when he arranges the magnets he puts the upside down or something. But in a child's brain, there really is no difference, it is the same letter whether or not it's upside down. Try explaining that to Grandpa!

just_me said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
just_me said...

Julius has all the symptoms of dyselxia. Unfortuntately, in Montgomery County, they dO not accept that term because they feel it's too broad a statement.

The reading specialist in his school however agreed that he is showing all the characteristics (processing of written language, spelling, reading, following multi-step directions, rhyming, phonics and phonemic awareness) of dyslexia.

Julius saw an academic therapist a few weeks ago who also felt that he was "textbook dyslexic."

At this point, they can call it "spaghetti" for all I care: as long as they learn how to help him learn and I am included in the process.

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