Anyone tried easyread.com ?

[raspberryroop]

Also the spelling program they have?

Yes, I have.

It wouldn't be the first intervention I'd recommend.

What problems does your DC have? How old are they? And what have you already tried?

Hi Indigo - 3 dc's all dyslexic and on the spectrum - Have found a behavioural optomotrist from a link you posted a few weeks ago and have had an inital assessment for my youngest - she defiantly has tracking and other problems - will be having a full assessment after Christmas when I can afford it ! looking in to Audio but lady nearest us is ill so will have to wait.

I have tried head-sprout with limited success (two oldest though are doing the comprehension and it is fab!) so was looking for alternatives and came across readeasy. Also like the look of the spelling sessions for my 9 yr old.

The wedsite looks good (but then again dont they all !) but it is quite expensive!!

Well Easyread didn't work for DD - but I did get a full refund.

I wouldn't recommend it from what you've posted.

I like the look of Reading Plus - and am planning to start it with DD at Easter after she's finished vision therapy.

Something else I like the look of (but probably won't try) is Sound Reading

(My current theory is that while DD has both vision and auditory problems, the vision problems are the ones that are holding back her reading more than her auditory problems.....)

Do you know why it didnt work? and what you didnt like in particular?

The only thing I didn't like was that it didn't work :)

I think it didn't work because it didn't solve DDs vision or auditory problems which were stopping her from learning to read.

It's an interesting program, and it does seem to work for some kids. But I'm not really sure why it works :) Or the history of the kids who it works for....

What it does is display a picture of every sound above the word (ie one picture per sound not one per letter) - so it would display 'an icecream (feeling supreme)' above 'I', 'igh', 'i-e' etc.

In this way the kid can read (by looking at these pictures) any text, so it doesn't need to be all 'cat sat on mat' type stuff.

I think the idea is that after reading lots of text like this they absorb how it all works? It never explicitly teaches phonics.

The creators believe that the part of our brain we use for reading is the part that's evolved for pattern matching. ie if you're a hunter gatherer you need to recognise what type of tree a leaf comes from - even though all the leaves look different, or if you're seeing them from a different angle etc.

So, somehow he's trying to use pattern matching to teach reading.

I do honestly believe it works for lots of kids - but I also believe lots of kids think they have dyslexia when they just have had poor teaching.....

My oldest ds13 is def dyslexic - but also very ASD -

my middle ds9 - I think is lazy and hated the 1st few years of school - teacher admitted he was just sort of hanging around all day waiting to go home! Toe to Toe has really improved his reading and I'm going to try Speed Up for his writing - may use one of those two you have reccomened as thye both do an intermediate program - he need just to catch up with the 'word gap' now between him and his peers and improve his spelling!!
DD7 - can read Look and There and thats it ! - she is verbally dyspraxic and has some general dyspraxia - last week the BO - did a brief test during a normal eye exam and she has tracking problems, no 3d and something else and that was from 5 mins ! He is fantastic and I will defiantly get the full test doen in the new year when I can afford it and also the monthly fees

And thank you - I really mean it - until I read your posts I was very much under the impression that there was very little could do except the usual over learn etc .

As you can tell I'm also slightly dyslexic !

do honestly believe it works for lots of kids -

I think you're being very kind about the programme!

To me it is absolutely counter-intuitive. Why put in an extra layer of processing (the 'picture' for the 'sound') when the letters already represent the sound?

Also, all that looking for the picture above the text while 'reading' must play havoc with the eye tracking muscles...

Your middle one does sound like an ideal candidate for reading plus. I personally think anyone who can learn to read using toe by toe isn't dyslexic (just suffered from bad teaching for some reason)

With your youngest the BO is the right way to go.

If you want to do a learn to read program with her in the mean time I'd recommend Bear Necessities - it's much better than toe by toe. And it recommends only exposing one sound at a time, so her eye tracking issues won't stop her using it.

Your eldest is obviously more complex. (My eldest also has ASD)

How is his reading and spelling? I'd recommend you read Is That My Child

I think you're being very kind about the programme! - Probably :)

But I spoke to the guy on several occasions, and believe he's very genuine, and does know a lot, and believe his stats which says it helps many kids to read.

He also tests for eye tracking, and provides an eye tracking game if you fail the eye tracking test.

Having said that, I can't think of anyone I'd recommend it to :)

Is there an online program you would reccomend ? we have tried head-sprout and she finds it quite hard - I have very limited phonic awareness and find it very hard to teach her the sounds IYKWIM

I reckon you'd cope with Bear Necessities. It's much better than toe by toe.

If you navigate to the 'bear necessities' page, and then click on the image of the book, you can look inside the whole book, and see if you can do it or not.

If she can't do head-sprout, there's no reason to think she'd be able to do any of the other online programs. Head-sprout is meant to be the best.

Alternatively, could you get a teenager to come over every day and do bear necessities with her? That can work really well, as it will be less stressful all round, and your DDs bound to adore a teenager :)